Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: Kathyp on April 06, 2008, 01:04:28 pm
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i got a 5 gallon storage bucket for honey. it has a honey gate and a close fitting lid. i put the honey from a cut out in it. my husband decided that there were folks who needed honey bears. i, the dutiful wife, went to fill the bears. have i mentioned that it is COLD HERE?
the honey began to glop out on my hand and the floor, very little making it into the bear. the lid on the bucket sucked down. even though i have a lid opener, i can not loosen the lid. it occurred to me that the buckets need and air vent. something like the ones on the plastic gas containers. small and as flush to the bucket as possible.
has any one fixed a bucket like this? do i just need to bring the honey bucket into the house and warm it in front of the pellet stove every time i want to use it?
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You have to leave the lid cracked if not off for air to get in the top. Open the gate only a tiny bit. Personally I bought a smaller valve for filling smaller containers, than the typical honey gate and mounted it on a bucket just for bottling.
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well, i got her done. a smaller gate is a good idea. maybe i'll do that on the next bucket.
no offense guys, but i suspect a man designed this bucket thing and just didn't finish the job. if you can figure out you need to vent a gas can so it doesn't burp, you can do the same with a honey bucket! :-*
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You take an Ice pick and poke a hole in the top and then plug it with a tooth pick. :-D
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jerrymac, that is a manly answer!!
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A valve in the top would overcomplicate the whole thing. Cracking the lid is quite sufficient to resolve the problem and doesn't create a new problem of how to seal the top so dirt and ants don't get in.
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My problem is with the valve, when I attach it to the bucket. Sometimes the bucket cracks because I have to tighten the ring on the valve to keep it from leaking. The valve is designed to go on a flat surface not a curved on like the side of a bucket.
Is there anything better out there?
Jim
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silicone
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or a gasket. Oh, wait--that's old fashioned.
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the gasket leaks. I'm thinking the silicone is a good idea. silicone is like liquid duct tape right? Is there a food grade silicone?
Jim
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Yes there is. I just leave the lid off as I usually bottle after it has been strained into the bucket. My problem was this honey was so thick and it was 80 in the house for 2 days and I had a heater blowing on the bucket that is flowed like caramel instead of honey. I also noticed a little of the white plastic honey gate coming off. And they had cut the hole to low and could bairly tighten the nut for the honey gate as the cornors on the nut kept hitting the bottom of the bucket. That is my only beef. We wound up putting one of those screw lids on the honey bucket and I love it. Just screw the lid on and off. Perfect.
Angi