HONEY WARMER/DECRYSTALIZER by beekeeper Fred

I’ve been beekeeping for a little more than 10 years now.  Over that time my honey harvest has been gradually growing as my number hives and proficiency have been increasing.  As the volume of honey increased I have had it in storage for longer periods.  Although honey doesn’t spoil in storage it will I’ve crystalize.  The rapidity of crystallization is depend on the type of flowers used for the nectar and also the storage temperature.  I primary use 5 gallon buckets for long term storage.  Five gallon bucket heaters are readily available from most bee supply houses and will de-crystalize the bucket in a little more than a day.  The rub comes when you need to de-crystalize a large number of small honey jars.  For small quantities a simple frying pan with warm water will do the trick.  I was looking for a bigger set-up that was also less labor intensive.  

So last week I built my first honey warmer.  I chose to use an old metal army footlocker.  Some people use old refrigerators.  Footlockers are frequently available at fleamarkets for between $10 and $20 depending on your negotiating skills.  NOTE: Some footlockers are wood.  I would avoid using a wood footlocker because it may catch fire.  

HERE IS THE OLD FOOTLOCKER

Then I installed a layer of insulation on the inside.  I used one inch foam insulation with a foil backing on one side.  The insulation is held in place with duct tape.  This insulation cost me $20 for a 4’ X 8’ sheet; of which I used about half.  

My heat source was simply two 100 watt incandescent light bulbs.  The bulbs were screwed into low cost plug adapters ($2 each).  To hold them upright I purchased a five socket power strip ($5).  

Finally, there is the temperature controller.  Seeing none locally I went to Amazon.  There were two low cost controllers available.   I purchased a WILLHI 1436 controller (cost $28).  Initially I just placed the controller inside the footlocker.  I plan to permanently install it on the top of the footlocker when I get time to carefully route the wires.  Programming the controller was confusing.  The instructions were all but worthless.  After a bit of frustration and cursing, I somehow got it programmed to turn on below 99F and off above 101F.  Please don’t ask me to do it again! 

Since I placed the controller on the inside it is not possible to monitor the lights/heaters are cycling; ie not burnt out.  So I drilled a small light monitoring hole in the cover.  I just need to glance at the hole and can see the lights switching on and off. 

I loaded up it up with 30 pounds of honey in 1 and 2 pound bottles.   The controller is cycling; 20 seconds ON and 100 seconds OFF.  This is maintaining the footlocker at 100F set point.   I let it run over night and in the morning after about 12 hours the bottles closest to the lights had de-crystalized.  But those farthest away were only partially de-crystalized.  Also there was a thin layer of undesired sugar crystals on the bottom of some jars.  These crystals could act as the starting point for re-crstallization.  So I made several minor changes.  First, I repositioned the temperature to the lowest point in the box and also farthest from the heat source.  Next, I raised the jars on a grill so warm air could circulate to the underside of each jar. These changes have dissolved the sugar crystals on the bottom of the jars.   My third option is to increase the temperature set point.  Researching this issue, it appears temperatures above 120F will damage the enzymes in honey.  I will avoid this third option since I want to consider my honey as raw.  Honey in the hive probably reaches 100F on hot summer days.  

The "grill" is simply 1/2 inch hardware cloth on a wood frame. 

Two light bulbs easily keep the box at 100F and de-crystallize the honey.