# Favorite Straining Methods



## Rich M (Apr 9, 2005)

I use a nylon stocking stretched over a large bowl, it's fast, gets what I want out (lets pollen through) and is very cheap.


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

Rich

having never done this I'm curious
does the honey go thru the stocking by itself, just from gravity??
I wouldn't expect that to work very well but from what I read here it seems like the case

Dave


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

A window screen isn't a bad size. The wax will all rise to the top and you can skim it off.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesharvest.htm


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

{does the honey go thru the stocking by itself, just from gravity??}

It works much better if the honey is warm. Be careful not to let it sit open too long this time of year as the honey will gain moisture and be ruined unless you want to de-humidify it.


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## Rich M (Apr 9, 2005)

Yes, just gravity. Warmer temps help speed it up a bit.


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## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

pcooley-get a plastic bucket (clean) and drill a bunch of say 3/8 ths holes in bottom, place a clean pair of pantyhose (even only one leg) over the lip of the holey bucket. Place the holey bucket over another bucket or big clean bowl and add your wax and honey to the top bucket containing the panty hose. Let it drain overnight! After the honey drains put the panty hose containing the wax into your solar wax melter and get some nice wax. Works for me.


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## girl Mark (Oct 25, 2005)

I just use a screen colander and a pot if I'm straining one or two combs, and I use a much larger bucket/windowscreen if I'm straining several combs.

Make sure and put it all into an ant-proof moat of some kind, the Tupperware storage bins work great.

Dripping for a day or two really makes most of the honey drip out (I've never seen a problem with honey becoming humid, by the way, maybe it's just where I live not being all that humid in fall/summer) I take the sugary wax that's left and if there's only a little bit of it from one comb or whatever, I stick it in freezer till I have a lot to process. When I have several combs' worth I render the wax down and strain the old brood nest cocoons out of it- I heat it very gently in a dedicated-to-this-purpose pot, then pour through a paint strainer bag (hardware stores have them for $1 they're nylon mesh) into another container.

This gives me wax floating on top of water. WHen it cools I can separate the disc of wax and if I wanted to I could melt it down further into a smaller shape

Solar wax melters are easier.

IN the past I"ve also used a strainer bag, clamped between two boards with c-clamps, and suspended above the bucket, to squeeze more honey out of the wax after I'd done the initial dripping, but I don't know anyone else who feels like there's enough honey left to chase that way.

[ June 27, 2006, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: girl Mark ]


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

You've probably all seen my honey harvest page at http://bwrangler.litarium.com/harvest/ 

I have some additional thoughts.

Smashing and straining is powered by gravity. But buoyancy is another very important force that could be harnessed improving the speed and efficiency of getting liquid honey.

To exploit this force, the comb could mashed as before. But rather than pouring it directly into the homemade bucket strainer, a clean 5 gallon paint strainer bag could be placed directly into a clean honey bucket. The mash could be poured inside the stainer bag/bucket. The bucket would then be covered with a lid and allowed to set for a few days until the wax and nylon paint strainer float to the surface of the honey.

Then the paint strainer bag, with its contained wax could be removed from the bucket and placed, intact, into the homemade bucket strainer to finish draining.

Most of the liquid honey would have separated without dripping through the homemade bucket strainer. This would create less foam and the necessity for skimming the strained product.

And a larger honey crop could be extracted, simultaneously, with the addition of a few extra paint strainers.

I am using this approach this season. If you try it, let me know how it works for you.

Regards
Dennis

[ December 31, 2006, 12:17 AM: Message edited by: D. Murrell ]


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## Dick Allen (Sep 4, 2004)

Is there a gate valve on the bottom of your honey pail? The picture doesn't show one. It seems to me that after going through the nylon paint strainer, the honey could be bottled directly from the bottom of the bucket.

[ July 07, 2006, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: Dick Allen ]


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## Scot Mc Pherson (Oct 12, 2001)

I use a type of collander used in restaurants, it makes straining easier and it also brings the drip of the honey to one stream. It fits over a 5 gallon bucket and you can get buckets that are taller than 5 gallons but at the same circumference.

Its a conical strainer. I don't use a honey gate, well simply beause I don't have one. However the gate that comes on restaurant buckets seems to work just fine.


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