At 14:05 09/10/2002 -0400, you wrote:

>I've got several mediums full of honey that's about 50% crystallized in
>the comb.  I can't extract it properly centrifigully (extractor shakes
>like hell!), and it's dark and excellent tasting (kind of malty), so I
>don't really want to give it back to the bees.  The foundation is crimped
>wire.   Any suggestions?

Earlier this year we successfully retrieved some fully crystallized honey
from oilseed rape.  We cut the comb out of the supers and chopped it into
about six-eight pieces per frame.  It went into a polythene bucket that was
then placed inside a larger polythene bucket fitted with an electric
immersion heater.  The space between the two buckets was filled with water
maintained at about 100 degrees F ( 38 degrees C) using a thermostatic
switch. The smaller bucket sat on a wooden platform inside the larger
bucket to keep it off the heater element.  After about four hours the
previously crystallised honey was liquid enough to pour off the wax through
a double plastic filter to catch any debris and small pieces of wax.  The
honey so obtained appears OK, and has regranulated in storage containers.

regards


Mike Rowbottom

Harrogate
North Yorkshire
UK




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