# filtering honey



## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

Hooray, my first real harvest! Well, I did take some the first year, and some goldenrod last fall, but this is what I consider my first "marketable" harvest that I am resposible for producing.

My problem is that I harvested, and only filtered through a double paint strainer, and the honey looks great, but when I look at it through the light, I see many small suspended black flecks. I imagine some is pollen, etc, but I suspect some of it is from when I pulled the supers I was somewhat careless where I set them down and they got a little dirt/woodchips on them.

Will the 200 micron filters from, say, dadant, filter this out? I am unfamiliar with the sizes and don't want to buy something that won't work for me.

thanks


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

200 microns is pretty small, sometimes when pulling honey I can get a bit carried away with the smoker and I later discover a bit of carbon in the mix... me bad... 

there are lots of alternatives for fine straining; cheese cloth and pantie hose (I suggest new) to name just two. oddly if you show any flare for marketing you could make up some story about the black flecks and have a 'unique' product to sell.


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

Aren't the "200 micron" filters actually
250 micron filters?

Or did they really start selling a true
200 micron filter?

Not to worry, it will work great on a
warm day. But it will be a loooong wait
if you don't finish extracting until October.


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

We use sheer curtan material and it works very well. Of course we are not concerned about having some particulate in our honey. Like Tecumseh I think we all end up with smoker carbon in our honey. What little there is settles in the bottling tank.


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## [email protected] (Aug 1, 2004)

I don't know what the tiny black spots are, but they are there if the honey is pulled without using a smoker, so that is not the reason.

After trying lots of alternatives, the best cloth to use is 'organdy', from your local fabric store. The material is a type of nylon, that does not shed fibers, with a weave that makes a great yet inexpensive filter. But 'how to use' takes some experience.

The cloth must be supported by something. I use a stainless housing that has 1/4" holes in the bottom. It's diameter fits on top of (but also inside) my bottling tank. Regardless of the support, the cloth should be of a size that can be wholly or partially 'doubled' inside the support. When you get to the point where the honey will no longer move through the cloth, 'pull' the cloth so the area previously on the bottom is exposed, and the honey will readily drain through. Then pull the entire cloth and clean before running more honey through.

How often you have to clean the cloth depends on what pre-straining has been done. I strain right out of the extractor with a coarse metal sieve that sits on top of a 5-gallon bucket and that adds measurably to the cloth's straining life.

A real advantage of organdy is that when it is filled with debris it can be quickly cleaned in a 5-gallon bucket of very hot water. A couple of dunks in and out, a couple of shakes to get rid of excess water, and it is ready to put back on the housing. I run about 6 cloths a season so I don't have to constantly rinse. A single cloth lasts me for about 600 pounds of straining. the diameter of my filter housing (and my bottling tank) is about 18".


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

There's also "tulle", a sheer curtain material,
but if you don't get the 100% synthetic version
(nylon, most often), it will be "curtains" for
your honey!










But if you are using a 5-gallon bucket-based
scheme, rather than Lloyd's "mucher bigger
beekeeper" set-up, you really MUST try the
"paint strainers". 

...and Lloyd's not "mucher bigger" himself, he
just has more hives than one might think prudent.


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

I did use paint strainers for the first pass. I'll see if the organdy or tulle will work any better.

And the specks do seem to be settling, so that will help even more.

Thanks!

-rick


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## FordGuy (Jul 10, 2005)

Ihave wached my bees bring inpollen as black as coal dust.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Ihave wached my bees bring inpollen as black as coal dust. 

Maybe it WAS coal dust.


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## John Russell (Aug 8, 2003)

Poppy pollen is black......

Black flecks in honey....propollis?

J.R.


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