Settling Tanks and Strainers

Settling and straining honey is a two-stage cleaning process that separates wax fragments, bee parts and air bubbles from the honey coming out of the extractor, so that it goes into the jar clear and free of foam: first it is passed through a strainer, then it is left for a few days in a closed container. These two steps determine the honey's appearance, shelf life and crystallisation pattern. Done correctly, they preserve the honey's pollen, enzymes and traceable origin.

Why isn't extracted honey put straight into jars?

Honey flowing from the centrifuge is dirtier than it looks. It contains three kinds of foreign matter:

• Coarse particles: Fragments of cappings and comb, and sometimes bee parts. These are caught in the strainer.
• Fine wax particles: Hard to see with the eye, they pass through the strainer; they rise to the surface when the honey is left to stand.
• Air bubbles: These are mixed into the honey during spinning and pouring; when it stands, they form a layer of foam on the surface.

If these steps are skipped, a white ring of foam appears at the top of the jar and the honey looks cloudy. Air bubbles and wax particles also make crystallisation uneven.

What types of honey strainer are there?

Strainers used at beekeeper scale filter the honey not under pressure but by its own weight:

• Double stainless steel strainer: A coarse sieve on top and a finer one below; it sits on the rim of the bucket. The most common and practical type.
• Conical cloth or nylon bag strainer: Hung from a frame or the rim of a bucket, it gives a large straining surface. It must be made of food-grade material.
• Perforated sheet strainer: A coarse pre-strainer placed under the extractor's honey gate; it catches large pieces of cappings and delays clogging of the fine sieve.
• Kitchen hand sieve: Does the job for a small harvest of a few kilos, but clogs quickly.

Mesh sizes and choice of filtering equipment are covered in detail on the “Honey filtering equipment” page.

How fine should honey be strained?

The right level for a beekeeper is coarse to medium straining. Pollen grains are very small (most are a few tens of micrometres); they pass easily through the sieves beekeepers use and stay in the honey. And they should stay: pollen is what makes a honey distinctive, and it is the trace that shows the honey's botanical and geographical origin in the laboratory.

Pressure filtration through very fine filters also removes pollen. The honey looks bright, but its origin can no longer be proven. International standards define honey from which a significant part of the pollen has been removed in this way separately, as “filtered honey”. Coarse straining is both sufficient and keeps your product defensible.

The wax fragments that collect in the strainer hold some honey. You can leave this residue to drain for a while in a closed container in a warm room; the clean honey that runs off is added to the batch, and the remaining wax is collected separately for melting. Leaving the residue out in the apiary starts robbing.

How is honey settled?

1. Collect the strained honey in a container: The honey runs from the strainer directly into a settling tank or a bucket with a honey gate. Letting the flow slide down the side of the container reduces the formation of new bubbles.
2. Close the lid: Honey absorbs moisture from the air; the container must close tightly.
3. Keep it in a warm, dry place: Bubbles and wax rise faster in warm conditions. Do not leave it next to a heater or in the sun.
4. Wait a few days: The time depends on the honey's consistency, the depth of the container and the room temperature. It is shorter for runny honey and longer for thick honey.
5. Skim off the foam: The foam on the surface is collected with a wide spoon. A clean food film spread over the surface and lifted off also collects the foam.
6. Fill from the bottom: The clean honey is drawn into jars from the gate at the bottom; the foam and wax stay on top.

What should a settling container be like?

• Material: Stainless steel or food-grade plastic.
• Bottom gate: Honey is drawn from the bottom and the foam stays on top.
• Lid: Keeps out dust, insects and moisture.
• Suitable volume: Large enough to take one extraction batch; to avoid mixing different batches, several small containers can be more practical than one large one.

For types, volumes and placement of tanks, see the “Honey settling tanks” page.

Cleaning and moisture control

Honey is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air. The settling room must be dry and the containers kept closed. The surface of honey left open in humid conditions takes up water; yeasts can multiply in the surface layer and fermentation can begin.

• Strainers are washed in warm water after each batch; the wax that collects is gathered separately.
• Very hot water melts the wax and sticks it into the mesh of the sieve; warm water is enough.
• Cloth strainers are rinsed thoroughly, dried completely and stored in a closed place.
• Containers and honey gates are taken apart and washed, and are not put away until dry.

Common mistakes

• Putting honey into jars without straining it.
• Using a very fine filter for clarity, or squeezing a cloth strainer by hand.
• Leaving the container lid open.
• Heating honey to speed up straining.
• Skipping settling and filling jars from the top.