Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: Turning solids to liquids?  (Read 1546 times)

Offline 2Sox

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 466
  • Gender: Male
Turning solids to liquids?
« on: April 16, 2013, 09:11:35 am »
I previously posted that I had 100% losses this winter - sixteen gone.  My problem is now is figuring how I'm going to turn all this crystallized honey into something to use. I'm saving the darkened comb to feed back to my new bees but I've got at least 500 lbs of good stuff to process.

I don't use excluders and I don't use foundation, generally - so I've got crystallized honey all over the place.  Naturally, I never thought this would happen and I never thought I'd have so much honey to process at once.  I'm WAY over my head.

I tried crushing and straining the liquid along with the crystallized, setting the buckets on a waterbed heater, with another heater setting on top (a good idea that I got from this forum!), and filtering it all along with the wax that melted.  But that took all darn day just to get a little over 5 gallons!  Is there any way to get this solid stuff liquid enough to make things easier??

Please throw me a life preserver. I'm drowning in honey!
"Good will is the desire to have something else stronger and more beautiful for this desire makes oneself stronger and more beautiful." - Eli Siegel, American educator, poet, founder of Aesthetic Realism

Offline beehappy1950

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 263
  • Gender: Male
Re: Turning solids to liquids?
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2013, 09:50:09 am »
For my bottled honey I set it in my refrigerator downstairs. I put a 40 watt bulb on the bottom of the frig. Leave it for 2 days. Should work for boxes of uncapped too.

Offline vmmartin

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 407
  • Gender: Male
Re: Turning solids to liquids?
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2013, 10:06:36 am »
Sox, Is the honey still in the comb?  If so, I would stack my supers in an area that I could regulate the temp and try to get it up around 100 degrees and try to get at least some of it to liquify.  Will probably take a while.  Beware, the comb will be very soft at that temp.  Maybe even break loose from the frames.  But, if it holds up, and you have an extractor, (forgot to ask that) you can let it sit out for a short time and then extract the partially liquid honey and then finish the heating process void of honeycomb.  That way you get to salvage your comb.

Offline 2Sox

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 466
  • Gender: Male
Re: Turning solids to liquids?
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2013, 12:07:19 pm »
Sox, Is the honey still in the comb?  If so, I would stack my supers in an area that I could regulate the temp and try to get it up around 100 degrees and try to get at least some of it to liquify.  Will probably take a while.  Beware, the comb will be very soft at that temp.  Maybe even break loose from the frames.  But, if it holds up, and you have an extractor, (forgot to ask that) you can let it sit out for a short time and then extract the partially liquid honey and then finish the heating process void of honeycomb.  That way you get to salvage your comb.

Yes, the honey is still inside the comb. I just have so many mediums full of honey, I'd need to heat up a small room or large closet! The inside of my shed gets pretty hot but I'd have to wait until June and then I'd have to carry all those mediums over there about thirty feet.  I got them in the basement now where I have a water supply and do the crushing.

I don't have an extractor, besides I do all foundationless.  I do have a pretty good stainless steel wine press that I use for large quantities.  If the honey wasn't crystallized, I'd be using it.  Wishful thinking.

There is a process that I've done that I could try with the press.  I crushed the stuff in small one gallon buckets and set it on the waterbed heater. In a couple of hours, everything was nice and liquid BUT if I didn't keep a close watch, the wax would begin to melt. No way to control the temperature accurately. I poured this into double bucket filter system and waited.

Instead, I could take this  warm stuff and pour it into the press, on which I have a metal bucket heater. Extremely labor intensive but it's the only thing I can think of.  What do you all think?

Beehappy,
That light bulb idea is pretty good.  Too bad I have so much to process.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2013, 12:18:52 pm by 2Sox »
"Good will is the desire to have something else stronger and more beautiful for this desire makes oneself stronger and more beautiful." - Eli Siegel, American educator, poet, founder of Aesthetic Realism

Offline sterling

  • Queen Bee
  • ****
  • Posts: 1143
  • Gender: Male
Re: Turning solids to liquids?
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2013, 01:16:19 pm »
I would try stacking the mediums 4 to 5 high with a lid on an empty deep with a light bulb in it for a few days. It may warm them enough to melt the honey. I have an insulated double deep that I keep bucket honey in and control the temp with different size bulbs. Some times I will put a couple supers of honey on it to warm before I extract.

Offline 2Sox

  • House Bee
  • **
  • Posts: 466
  • Gender: Male
Re: Turning solids to liquids?
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2013, 10:15:54 pm »
I would try stacking the mediums 4 to 5 high with a lid on an empty deep with a light bulb in it for a few days. It may warm them enough to melt the honey. I have an insulated double deep that I keep bucket honey in and control the temp with different size bulbs. Some times I will put a couple supers of honey on it to warm before I extract.

That is one great idea! Thanks.

I'll let you know how it works out.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2013, 08:32:03 pm by 2Sox »
"Good will is the desire to have something else stronger and more beautiful for this desire makes oneself stronger and more beautiful." - Eli Siegel, American educator, poet, founder of Aesthetic Realism