The ball valves that Tim spoke of are available from any plumbing supply house in a handy (and cheap!) plastic version, which may wear out over time, but can be replaced about 10 times and still be cheaper than a brass valve. If you look at the bee supply catalogs, they offer very expensive brass valves with long actuator arms to be hooked to a foot pedal. One might be able to kludge up a similar mechanism with a plumbing-store ball valve, plastic or metal. I'd use a counterweight rather than a spring to close the valve, but either will work. I like electrically operated valves, but I got mine cheap from a contractor that does industrial work. I built a timer for it that allows one to adjust it to exactly fill a container with the press of a button, but I must fiddle with the timer to account for temperature (and hence honey viscosity) and the basic viscosity of the honey itself, which can vary a bit from pail to pail or (drum to drum). jim (Terror Alert Level ORANGE! Orange you scared?) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::