Honey press

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

This tool was used for the honey’s extraction. In spring, the bees collect and carry the nectar of the flowers to the hive and here it is transformed by other bees; then it is used for the construction of hexagonal cells and for the reserves of food. Both the pollen and honey are stored inside these cells (“vrischi”) together with the eggs from which other bees will born.

The unnecessary honey is then sealed by a wax plug (operculum) and stored. Once having collected the combs (vrischi) from the hive there is the cold extraction’s process, placing all the honey in the iron cylinder, properly plugged in order to make it decant with a light pressure through the manoeuvre of the nut, and thus separating it from both the wax and other small impurities.

The honey that flows from the small holes, is deposited in an underlying receptacle and then is kept in a jar (Brunia) of glass or earthenware. The wax which is obtained from the remains is used for the shoemakers to make more durable and compact the twine of the stitching.