oil seed rape honey extraction

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oil seed rape honey extraction
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Pel

Joined: 29 Mar 2008
Posts: 2366
Location: Sennybridge

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 08 5:04 pm Post subject:

Dad kept 4 hives on a SSSI field at work, he gave them 6 jars free, and then sold honey to them to sell in the shop.. he sold them at ï¿½2.50 per Lb and the shop sold them at ï¿½3.75 as Llanerchaeron honey, as in theory the bees could have pollenated their flowers.

This was two years ago, this year he had to take the hives from there as they were re-fencing the field.. the bees shared the field with rams or bulls. He used to take bees down to kent from lancashire to the OSR fields and orchards.. i'll see how he extracted his honey.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 08 5:06 pm Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

TAVASCAROW wrote:

Just had a thought!!
You could dissolve it & make a big batch of mead?

How much would 1 jar make?
Is it easy to make?

I was replying to Mrs Fiddlesticks question about OSR honey.
Haven't made mead myself but I imagine 2 to 3 jars per gallon.
The commercial beekeepers love OSR because the crop is huge & dependable unlike heather & clover which are very weather/temp dependant & the bees fill supers in a few days as apposed to weeks but I agree with James, sets & tastes like a block of sugar.
Commercially they allow it to part crystalise after extraction then it is homogonised to make cream honey which doesn't crystalise after but it still tastes the same.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Jul 07, 08 5:08 pm Post subject:

James wrote:

Almost sickly sweet, with a very strong distinctice smell. Not my favourite

Tastes of very little though

StuP

Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 123
Location: Aberdeenshire

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 08 9:32 am Post subject:
I believe you need to extract OSR honey immediately. If it's left to crystallise then it's a case of mashing up the combs and gently warming to separate out the honey from the wax. You can cream OSR honey with a very heavy duty mixer to break down the crystals but it's hard work. Unfortunately our bees didn't make it through the winter. We'll see about aquiring more next year.

StuP

Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 123
Location: Aberdeenshire

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 08 9:33 am Post subject:
Oh, and as for mead, we made a five gallon drum up a couple of years ago - took about 40 jars of honey. That was one incentive to get bees in the first place.

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 08 9:36 am Post subject:

James wrote:

I was allergic to bee stings (not good with 3 hives in the garded and two wild broods in the house), so we stopped keeping bees.

Do you grow out of allergies? I'd like to keep bees again, but I'm concerned I'd swell up like a big red balloon (which what used to happen).

I don't know whether you can grow out of an allergy like bee stings but you can be de-sensitised I believe - I'd ask your GP for a referral to the local allergy clinic to be tested in a safe environment and go from there

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Jul 08, 08 11:47 am Post subject:

James wrote:

Swelling isn't a sign of allergy.
If I get stung around the face I swell badly but I'm not allergic to bee stings.
Usually the first sting or two at the beginning of the season I get swelling but after that no more than a little irritation.
Anaphylactic shock on the other hand is life threatening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphylaxis

James

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2866
Location: York

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 9:40 am Post subject:

TAVASCAROW wrote:

James wrote:

Swelling isn't a sign of allergy.

true, perhaps "allergic" is the wrong word. An extreme reaction is probably more appropriate.

No matter where I was stung, all the glands in my body, from the back of my neck to my bollocks and everything inbetween, would swell up badly. The glands at the back of my throat would swell to the point were breathing was restricted (though I never felt in any danger of not being able to breath.).

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 11:44 am Post subject:

James wrote:

I'm not medical but anything other than local reaction I would consider an allergy.
Best stay away IMO or if your determined get an epipen before you have a test stinging.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 12:00 pm Post subject:
back to OSR extraction if I may. Apparently we need a pratley tray? does that mean anything to you Tavascarow? Can't find much by googling the phrase so far

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 12:09 pm Post subject:

Having looked myself - I think this is what Thornes call a Standard Uncapping Tray at the lovely cheap price of ï¿½212+VAT - Although I suspect if you are going to have lots of OSR honey it might be worth investing

I found this bit of info from here https://www.beedata.com/data2/basic_honey_processing.htm which might help

Quote:

Possibly the beekeeper has been caught out by oil seed rape, and has combs of solid honey. Providing the super frames have never been used for brood-rearing, this can still be recovered, Try scraping the comb back to the midrib. If the granulation is not too hard, this can be achieved. If not, smash out the whole comb, break the comb up into a bucket, put the lid on and warm in a honey warming cabinet or controllable oven to 480C to liquefy the honey, but not the wax. Then it can be filtered as before. This sort of procedure will soon convince the beginner of the benefit of the centrifugal extractor.

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 12:13 pm Post subject:

jocorless wrote:

Quote:

that's what I think it means on reflection. The frames aren't solid 100% OSR but enough to make spinning difficult. I'm going to cut a frame back and warm in oven and see what happens I think. The temp thing is interesting info. Books so far had been vague and I didn't want to over heat it all.

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 08 2:41 pm Post subject:
I'm assuming that's 48 deg C not 480 C A pratley tray is exactly the same as thornes expensive uncapping tray. https://secure.thorne.co.uk/popup/extract9.htm An old fridge with a light bulb connected to a thermostat would be a lot cheaper. 50w bulb will heat a fridge to 48C easily. Wondering if you could warm the frames before uncapping & then extract in the usual way?

Mrs Fiddlesticks

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 10460

Posted: Sun Jul 20, 08 8:22 pm Post subject:
got an uncapping tray and it worked. Not quick though. Strained it through a double strainer so there is only minimal wax on top in the bucket. plan is to let that honey set and then cream it before bottling

Lorrainelovesplants

Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 6521
Location: Dordogne

Posted: Mon Jul 21, 08 10:56 am Post subject:
Our bees finish on OSR at end June. your best to take it off right away. If you cant get it out of the comb now, remove this comb and put it somewhere and replace it for winter feeding. the bees will then consume it through the lean autumn time. Did it last year, saved me feeding with fondant.

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