If you get this highly thixotropic honey often, the
best tool to use may be a bed-of-nails fixture such
as those used for heather honey.

Here are some really good photos of one "in action":
http://www.algonet.se/~beeman/biodling/ljung/ling-2.htm

I don't claim to know anything about these things, other
than knowing the word "thixotropic", which is a perfect
game-ending, shouting-match starting, OED volume throwing,
nuclear weapon in Scrabble.  (We play Scrabble for serious
money around these parts, and "X" is worth 8 points...)

Offhand, I'd guess that no on has one lying around up there,
and that the order leadtime would make it a fine Christmas
present.  Well, there's always next year...

For the comb at hand, what about simply warming the combs one
extractor load at a time by pointing two or three of the very
bright (and very hot) quartz worklamps that are sold at the
hardware store into the extractor until you raise the honey
temperature to somewhere around 110F, and then running the RPMs
well beyond any prior definition of "prudent"?  That said, the
honey is not worth anything close to what the drawn comb is worth
in my accounting, so I'd give up if I blew apart the first test batch of combs.


The astute (or perhaps very foolish) beekeeper might remove the
diac/triac electronic speed control, and replace it with a bulky
old rheostat of the proper amperage/voltage to insure that he is
truly pushing his motor at maximum rpms, but I do NOT suggest
wiring directly from the 110 or 220 plug to the motor, as the sudden
starting torque when you flip the breaker on might pull the extractor
leg bolts right out of floor, and launch it on a trajectory that would
require recovery operations to be attempted by the International Space Station.

...and while we are on the subject of unique aspects of Canadian
honey, what gives with this "wax white" honey from Canada, anyway?

It looks more like a candle in a honey jar than a jar of honey, as
the color is just "too white" to resemble honey.  Problem is, no wick... :)

It apparently crystallizes on the truck between packer and store,
as I have never seen a single bottle not crystallized, but it has
such fine crystals, it looks at first glance to have been "creamed".
But it cannot be "creamed honey", as the label has instructions for
re-liquefying the jar.

Just what IS the nectar source?


         jim (Who who cheerfully wanders into
              immensely dangerous situations
              and effortlessly makes them much worse)

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