A Sweet Sticky Mess
We’ve been processing honey this past week; we have one more hive to go through before we can put away this equipment for a month or more.
My method is labor intensive; and I don’t know of a way to make it not sticky.
I scrape the honey/comb into a cake pan, and then strain the resultant mixture through a double sieve into a large bucket. It doesn’t stay in this bucket more than a day or two as it is easier to fill jars using the honey gate on the bottom.
I place the frames I have processed in a large sheet pan, letting them drain more.
The wax leavings are put back into that cake pan and baked until the wax forms a layer on top, we let it cool and then pour off the honey into jars—this is honey I use for baking as I don’t think it can be called raw honey.
This honey is exceptionally dark—we’ve read it is goldenrod honey–touted to be extra nutritious and have extraordinary healing powers..
The towels on the island help to control the mess—a little bit—but there is still honey on the floor and I must wash my hands a dozen or more times.
I run all the equipment through the dishwasher when I am finished processing.
I have a hard time believing some people do this in their garage or basement.
I would never try it outdoors even on a picnic table next to a water hose.
Bees can smell that honey from miles away and it doesn’t take long before you have hundreds of interested on-lookers who want to ‘help’ you with the honey.
Sylvia Weir Art 
I definitely agree that processing any amount of honey is very messy and sticky! I found sticky spots in strange places long after we were done. But the honey is definitely worth it 😋