I think Peter  you are still not quite getting the idea of Ekobee method of  creaming  honey.

> whereas you produce seed (or starter) from honey with
> any size of crystal by cooling it to 10C and then stirring until it has a
> creamy fine grain. Is this stirring not a form of grinding?

This is not correct. You take 10 % of creamed honey  and mix that with 90 % of liquid honey when you make that starter. What is surprising is that you can use any kind of creamed honey to start with. If the original honey has some large crystals there might be some in the final honey, but only very few as most seed crystals are born during mixing at 10 C. Normally one uses the fine honey from previous batches so this happens only in the first time. I personally recommend beginners to buy a jar of honey with small crystals to start with.

This stirring is definitely not grindig. I personally do this with drilling machine and a mixing screw. 10 C is not a problem as the seed is not needed in big amounts. 30 kg is well enough for a metric ton. So an old fridge is enough to keep the seed under process. Seed honey is ready to use in 2 – 6 days depending from the honey source. Rape honey is among the fastest ones.

As P. O. explained it is the temperature that makes the trick. The colder it is the smaller crystals are born. Under + 10 the seed is more difficult to mix and the process takes longer. Your point about freezing is right. Honey in combs stays liquid much better when frozen, but extracted honey creams almost always. Rape honey normally in 4 – 5 months. Honeys that stay easily in liquid form take longer.

> After seeding you then pack it into jars and store these at 5-15C to set,
> which you say can take up to 3 weeks. This would give me a problem in the
> summer, as it would be difficult to hold large numbers of jars at 5-15C
> because I do not have refrigerated stores available. However, by stirring
> after seeding for 15 minutes, 5 times a day, I find that the honey is
> usually almost set in 3-5 days - regardless of ambient temperature; it is
> then bottled and usually sets firm in the jar within 1-2 days.

Peter,  from your explanation I would say that you honey sets easily. Most likely it has some rape honey in it. This honey sets very fast with ekobee method as well. No temperatures below 18 C are needed, but of course it happens faster in + 14 C. Still I would say that you get the same result in about the same time, but with less work.

I have talked and read a lot about creaming honey. Also I have creamed my honey for 20 years. I hold in high esteem the work the Swedes have made when creating the ekobee system.  It is the easiest and best system for all  beekeepers who pack their honey. Big packers with several tons / day all the year round have other system that might suit better for them, but ekobee is the best for the beekeepers who extract and cream their own honey.

I warmly recommend all beekeepers who produce creamed honey to try this system. To try it pays especially well when you do it before buying an expensive special mixing machine to make creamed honey as actually you don’t need one. I am trying to sell mine because ekobee is less work …..

About ekobee method
http://www.algonet.se/~beeman/research/krist-e-nf.htm

Ari Seppälä
Finland

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