How To Filter Honey?

I’m looking for suggestions on how to filter the honey from the flow hive. Yes, it appears fairly clean directly from the flow cells, but the small bits of wax may be a turn off to some people. Any suggestions for what works well?

I have been using these very cheap filters I got from ebay- they work great and are easy to clean for re-use:

It is crazy just how inexpensive these filters are- given the seller must pay 10% to ebay- and also cover postage from China- I have no idea how it’s even possible to sell them for so little?? From memory mine took a while to arrive- but they did arrive.

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Hi Jason, I swapped the strainer in my bucket strainer for Termimesh which is much finer & it’s ss. For a small amount I find a tea strainer works well. Just warm the honey a bit beforehand.

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Jeff / Semaphore,

Thanks for the responses!

Jason

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I use this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PC-New-Stainless-Steel-Beekeeping-Double-Honey-Sieve-Strainer-Filter-Equip-Tool-/262614444902?hash=item3d250a6b66:g:SUUAAOSw-kdX0N7I

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I use the same as onehivehoney. Works great. I think I bought mine off Amazon.

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Just ordered one to try out. Thanks for the link! :blush:

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I didn’t filter it at all. It’s quite clean as it is.

I bought this for my crush and strain honey, which definitely does need some fine straining. :blush: I only have one Flow hive, the others are traditional.

My first harvest from a flow hive was so clean and so clear I didn’t see any point in filtering it. The second harvest was also very clean- but there were just a few particles floating on the top. Having been so spoiled the first time: I decided to strain the second batch. Since then I have harvested with a spinner- and even after fine straining it is not quite as clear as the unstrained flow honey.

I took a sample jar of flow honey to our bee society for an experienced honey judge to look at. Of maybe 15 samples bought in my honey scored the highest. He said it was clean enough to enter into competition as either unfiltered raw honey- or as processed filtered honey.

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Hi there fellow Bee keepers,
I’m new to the Flow-hive community. We’re expecting our first batch of honey soon, and have heard that it is wise to strain the honey to avoid any potential bee-stingers (that sometimes fall off from dead/angry bees) ending up in the honey that you consume. Would hate to get a bee sting to the throat. Ouch. Has anyone else heard of this and have you got a favourite tool for straining/filtering your raw honey? Any tips also welcomed. Cheers, Linda

Hi Linda, thats the first time I have heard of bee stingers in honey. Never seen it either. Straining is a matter of choice, I coursely strain as a matter of hygiene just before bottling but typically the Flow honey does not need any straining.

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I agree with @Rodderick. Bees generally do not sting their own honey, so there is little reason to worry about stingers. :blush:

In the case of traditionally extracted honey, unless you cleared the super with a bee escape, I can see that you might have stingers around, but I used to strain that type of honey to remove wax particles, not stingers.

Please keep in mind that my husband is pretty allergic to bee stings, so if we felt it was risky, we would be straining Flow honey too. If it makes you feel better to do it, go ahead, but personally I (hubby agrees) think it is a waste of time and honey. :wink:

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Hi Linda, I probably mentioned this earlier on this thread. I use a ss mesh product called Termimesh. I fitted some to a bucket strainer after the coarser mesh in the bucket strainer needed replacing. I think that Termimesh is perfect for the job.

It would certainly filter out any stingers :slight_smile:

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For traditionally extracted honey, I used to strain through a pair of ladies tights (unused). I would tie knots in the legs, and stretch the rest over the bucket. Worked very well, and they were cheap and disposable, removing the need for messy cleanup.

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I never filtered any of my flow honey. It’s totally pristine and clear as it comes out of the flow tube.
Flow Honey has all the pollen goodness. Don’t filter the goodness out.

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I suppose this is really a case of semantics and inaccurate word use. I would guess that 99% of hobbyists (who do anything) are actually straining their honey, not filtering it. As a hobbyist, you would find it a real challenge to strain much pollen out of your honey. Pollen grains are 6 to 100 micrometers diameter.

Most strainers have a mesh size larger than 1mm (1000 micrometers). I doubt that even ladies tights would stop most pollen.

Commercial honey producers use much finer filters to remove particles which promote crystallization of the honey. These are not generally available to the hobbyist, and often require a pressurized setup to get the honey through the filter in a reasonable amount of time. Here is a bit more information presented very clearly:
http://www.burlesons-honey.com/about-honey/faqs/honey-filtration-facts

Note that micro filtration does not remove all pollen. To do that, you need to go to ultrafiltration.

So straining honey does not alter the content, apart from removing wax particles, bee legs and wax moth/SHB larvae. :blush: I agree with @Webclan, filtering honey is undesirable, however, straining it does not hurt the nutritional value. :wink:

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I drained my flow hive into a large container with a honey tap before putting it in individual jars later. I found that over time the small particles in the honey either floated to the top, or settled to the bottom. When I used it to fill the jars they appeared perfectly clear.

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Thanks everyone, all very helpful information. Much appreciated.

Jason - don’t know if you found a solution but I just have - I found this - it is a tea infuser and just takes out the bits and pieces. There are super fine filters that would take forever and remove every microscopic bit but this did a good job - takes while if the honey is cold or thick. I’m sure there are other places with a similar item but this worked for me and is stainless steel so will last forever.

https://www.kitchenwarehouse.com.au/Davis-Waddell-Leaf-Bean-Basket-Infuser-8x10cm