Oil seed rape honey help

[Silvbee]

Hi all,

I've just moved to a new apiary site and for the first time I've had to deal with OSR honey. I've taken all the honey off and it is now sitting in a tub, pure white and solid. I know the process that I have to go through to heat the honey up and then give it a good stir but I don't have any of the equipment. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me a hand processing the stuff i.e. i COULD provide a hand processing their stuff in return for doing mine or knows of some budget ways of getting the stuff into jars without IT setting rock solid.

All advice and help welcome.

SB

[greengumbo]

Hi all,

I've just moved to a new apiary site and for the first time I've had to deal with OSR honey. I've taken all the honey off and it is now sitting in a tub, pure white and solid. I know the process that I have to go through to heat the honey up and then give it a good stir but I don't have any of the equipment. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to give me a hand processing the stuff i.e. i COULD provide a hand processing their stuff in return for doing mine or knows of some budget ways of getting the stuff into jars without IT setting rock solid.

All advice and help welcome.

SB

Hi Silvbee - not sure if I can help but let us know the area and someone might be able to !

For a single bucket you could put it in your oven on lowest setting. Our oven has a 40'C plate warming setting for example. Then leave it for a day stirring every so often. Once very runny you can put it through a sieve, let it settle for a day and then jar it up using a ladle. This is how I did my first few buckets of honey before I have equipment.

Good luck !

[fatshark]

You need to seed the melted OSR with something suitable otherwise there's a danger it'll just set rock solid again.
You can either beg, borrow or buy a suitable seed. About 10% by weight is what you need.
Alternatively, take a pestle and mortar to some of the set OSR and grind it to make your own seed.

Look up soft set honey. There are some good guides online (including a nice YouTube video by somewhere in Devon? Can't remember his name.)

STOP PRESS - here it is:

[rogerb]

Gents this was written by a member called the Apiarist on the 03/06/2012;

"Extract oilseed rape honey as soon as possible from the combs. They can be taken from the hive as soon as a shaken comb does not shed any drops of honey, even though it is not capped. To achieve this it is best to put the clearer boards on first thing in the morning, after the night when the bees have not added more and have had the whole night to ripen the contents.

Extract the frames and, if there is any chance of the honey sitting in the tank and solidifying, run it immediately into 7 or 10 pound plastic pails, seal them, and put them in the deep freeze. Leave for 3-6 months. When you remove the pails, you absolutely must allow them to return to room temp before removing the lid, otherwise condensation will form on the honey surface and spoil it. When you do open them, the honey will have the consistency of thick cream and the lustre of a pearl! Now bottle it. This method is foolproof, and works every time."

I have not tried this myself, but it seems like a easy way of dealing with the issue.

Cheers Roger B

[Mellifera Crofter]

You need to seed the melted OSR with something suitable otherwise there's a danger it'll just set rock solid again.
You can either beg, borrow or buy a suitable seed ...

But, Fatshark, OSR honey has fine crystals. Silvbee doesn't need to beg and borrow more honey with fine crystals. She already has it in abundance. Stirring it as she heats it will turn it into soft-set honey - and that's her problem: heating it.
She could try GG's suggestion.
Kitta

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[The Drone Ranger]

Last year in the Scottish Beekeeper mag there was a detailed article on how to deal with OSR honey
Exact timings and temperature etc

Without access to anything big like a warming cabinet you can use a microwave
Stand the honey bucket in hot water in the sink to soften the stuff at edges of the bucket
Use a strong wooden spatula etc to chop big chunks out
Put some in a 2ltr kitchen jug
Put the jug in the microwave for a min or so
Take it out give it a stir and put it back for another min
While your stirring it a second time use the microwave to warm 4 or 5 jars
Pour the honey from the jug into the jars
It will set again but not like a brick

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[Feckless Drone]

including a nice YouTube video by somewhere in Devon? Can't remember his name.)

I do admire the clarity in communication here.

[Silvbee]

Thanks for your suggestions all. I'm based in Inverkeithing and currently have about 10 liters of set honey so not a huge amount. I'll have a look at my oven tonight and see if a 40c setting can be achieved.

SB

[Mellifera Crofter]

Just take it out often and give it a good stir each time. You don't have to get it completely runny again if you've already filtered it when extracting - just stir until it is nice and creamy, and liquid enough so that you can pour it into jars.
Kitta

[fatshark]

Off topic ... but when has that ever been an issue on this forum?

What's the yellow stuff flowering at the moment? Looks from a distance exactly like OSR, but is a good 6-8 weeks too late. There's a field of it on the A91 outside St. Andrews.