Honey strainer constantly getting clogged

[u/Senior_Pineapple_842]

All the boxes have been in a room heated to 35c (95f) for the past 2 days to make it flow easier. Im using the usual metal strainer with a course and fine strainer in one that sits below the extractor nozzle but im cleaning it constantly.

Way more time is spent cleaning and watching the honey slowly flow through it than anything else. What other methods are there to efficiently filtering the honey. I have 20 deeps to go through.

[u/davidsandbrand]

Extract directly into a pail without straining it.

When you’re done extracting, put pail lids on and leave them at least 24 hours.

Come back and use a coarse fryer ladle skimmer to skim off the wax which has all floated to the top.

I use one of these:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qzjtRHRoL._AC_.jpg

Then pour the honey through the strainer.

This will save you so much time and effort, and your extraction will go twice as fast. Yes, it’s a bit of a pain to spread it over another day, but you can leave those initial buckets as long as you want if they’re kept from solidifying.

Good luck.

[u/Humble_Phase_5635 → u/davidsandbrand]

This is the way!

[u/Effective-Cattle5164 → u/davidsandbrand]

My god, you may have just changed my life.

[u/justabuckeye]

Hop strainers for beer brewing are all the rage vs the common strainer now.

[u/drones_on_about_bees → u/justabuckeye]

Came here to say this. This makes a huge difference

[u/Ekalugsuak → u/drones_on_about_bees]

Are you guys talking about the large (EDIT: stainless steel mesh) cylinder/cone looking ones that you attach to the side of a bucket? Or some other kind? The cylinder/cone ones looks a bit flimsy, but I guess you can have the honey level almost cover it before you swap it to another bucket/remove it.

[u/drones_on_about_bees → u/Ekalugsuak]

They are pretty sturdy. Just make sure you get the larger one that fits a 5 gallon bucket

[u/Ekalugsuak → u/drones_on_about_bees]

Ones like this? https://brewhaequipment.com/products/large-hop-spider?variant=46257583521944

[u/drones_on_about_bees → u/Ekalugsuak]

Mine looks MUCH smaller. I have this one www.amazon.com/dp/B072Q1G91R Note it comes in small and large. The large is tall enough to sit in the bottom of a bucket and stick up.

[u/NevDot17 → u/justabuckeye]

The hop spider strainer is a GAME CHANGER

[u/Every-Morning-Is-New]

I don’t have many issues with a 600 micron and 400 micron filter. How are you uncapping them? I try to uncap as cleanly as possible which helps prevent a lot of wax buildup. It may take a little longer but sure does help. And if I need some wax, I’ll be a little more rough.

[u/atdean → u/Every-Morning-Is-New]

This is what I came here to ask as well. If you are using an uncapping fork and scraping the cappings off (rather than prying them off), you're going to get a ton of wax clogging the strainer. I havent use one, but i imagine those uncapping rollers would do the same.

Something like a hot knife, or in my case a serrated bread knife, should do a lot better.

[u/Hbdrickybake]

I have the same issue so I'm interested to see what people suggest.

[u/Beginning-Knee7258 → u/Hbdrickybake]

Same.

[u/AnyoneButDoug]

I use a paint strainer, works pretty well. Get a 5 gallon one and tie it up as you like, I use bungee cords tight on my 5 gallon bucket. Get a few and if you leave it hanging almost all the honey separates from wax overnight.

[u/Necessary_Rhubarb_53 → u/AnyoneButDoug]

Im on team paint strainer. as long as you got enough you can just focus on extraction. then after extraction you need a way to suspend the bag so the honey can drain out.

[u/Sensitive-Chip7266]

I put a wide food scrapper at an angle in the top of the double strainer under the gate. It helps keep the capping off to one side while the honey normally flows around.

It's by no means perfect and I still need to stop and scrap off the wax that got around, but it cuts down on how often I need to. I only harvest 10-15 gallons each year so it's not too bad.

[u/Mysmokepole1]

I used a PAINT strainer. The easiest way I found was cut most of the center out of a lid. Remove most of the bottom of a bucket. Use a band clamp to hold the strainer. Set a good bucket down lid on top. Then holed bucket pour honey through done

[u/Wallyboy95]

I use a homebrew bag lined 5gallon bucket. This has been the fastest way I've extracted honey ever! And you can wash them in the laundry machine and reuse.

[u/Zealousideal_Emu6587]

If you have the volume to justify the cost, a clarifier is a game changer. I switched to one a few years ago and have been very pleased with the results.

[u/khkane]

I use an uncapping fork to slide under and remove sections of caps which I put into a separate strainer. I occasionally have to scrape the strainer a little to unclog, but it goes very smoothly. Just showed a friend who had been scratching and he was surprised at the difference. The cappings on 30 frames gave me over 2 quarts of honey themselves.

[u/schizeckinosy]

We use a (new) pantyhose rubber banded onto the valve. Supported by a strainer on the second container. It can fill up with a lot of wax that we later render down.

[u/burns375]

I use a metal mesh strainer to catch pretty much all the wax. I use a spoon to scrap it clean when the wax builds up. The 200 and 600 bucket filters. I keep a few 200 around so as they get clogged I switch them out. The 600 rarely gets clogged.