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More Built-it Yourself
Honey Liquidifier
One of the perplexing problems of beekeeping is how to liquify crystalized honey. A second problem, I sure will never happen to you because you ALWAYS get all of your honey extracted in Summer, is thick honey in the comb late in the season. One method is to built a solar cabinet for your back porch, which works just fine if the sun is shining. But, if you are like us and live in a temperate climate (WET Western Oregon) and compound that by having your house on a North-facing slope, there are times of the year that sunshine is not an option (it's the time of year we call "The MUD Season"). What to do…
Well, you can easily build a honey liquidfier and help keep solid waste ouf of your landfill at the same time. Just cruise down to your local appliance repair or appliance dealer and asks them for the next large upright freezer they take-in on trade. You should be able to get this freezer for FREE, sans compressor and Freon, which at $45/# wholsale, your appliance dealer has removed for their own use. Freon (a banned CFC greenhouse-effect-producing gas) has become a very hot (to make a pun and a point) commodity in today's market to repair older ari conditioners and appliances, and your dealer cannot legally dispose of the freezer hulk without first removing the Freon. The dealer must also pay the local landfill to dump the freezer hulk, so you are doing them a BIG favor by hauling it off.
With the compressor and Freon romoved, you now have a well insulated cabinet which wil lmake an excellent honey liquidifier. Just drill a hole in the bottom or back of your "Honey Liquidifier", and run a cord through it to power a 100W light-bulb. A 100W light bulb in most freezer cabinets will heat the cabinet up to about 95°-105°F, which is right about the temperature of a honey super on a hive in Summer (the brood nest is kept at about 94° to 95°F by the bees and the honey supers get just a little warmer). Just stack your honey in bottles on the shelves and you can put a 60# bcuket or two on the bottom as well. If you were really clever and thought ahead, you made sure that the freezer cabinet will take a honey super as well. After installing your heat source (light bulb) wait a day, check the temperature in the cabinet and if it's too hot, change to a 75W bulb.
I suggest you seek out a freezer with a magnetic
catch rather than one with a mechanical latch since you will need
to remove the latch for safety (keep children away from your
honey liquidifier when not in use).