Glycerin drum 265kg

01 · QUALITY

Pharmacopoeia grade, not technical glycerine

The same name covers material of very different grades. This one meets the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia and the E 422 food-additive specification, and it is of vegetable origin, made from non-GM raw materials.

In figures: 99.7% total glycerol as a minimum, under 0.3% water and declared limits for heavy metals, diethylene glycol and 3-MCPD. Its data sheet adds that it contains none of the allergens in Annex II of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011.

02 · FORMAT

One single batch for the whole season

The drum is not just about price per kilo: everything you make comes out of the same container. String together jerrycans bought on different dates and any variation between batches finds its way into the honey house, and you end up not knowing why one batch turned out different. With 265 kg net that variable is off the bench.

The trade-off is logistics: it arrives on a pallet and you need a pallet truck or forklift to get it off the lorry. Without unloading gear, the format you can move by hand is the 25-litre one.

03 · DECANTING

Warm the room before you try to empty it

Glycerol melts at 18 °C, so in a room with no heating the contents thicken over winter and are hard to get out. Warming the room pays off better than fighting the transfer.

The other figure is density: 1.26 kg per litre at 20 °C, which is where the drum’s 210 litres come from. Work out the weight you transfer from the volume, never by eye. And although it is not classified as hazardous, its data sheet records eye irritation: safety goggles when decanting, and watch for spills, which leave the floor slippery.

04 · STORAGE

What costs you is the moisture in the air

Glycerine is hygroscopic: every spell left open takes up water from the air, and that water is what pulls down the purity you paid for. Draw off a working quantity into a small container and keep the big one shut. Stored dry and cool, its data sheet gives it two years of shelf life.

Its documentation names three incompatible families —strong acids, bases and oxidising agents— and asks for it to be kept away from ignition sources. Steel, aluminium, plastic and glass containers all work. And it does not go down the drain or into a watercourse, readily biodegradable though it is.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is a raw material, not a finished product. If you are putting it into cosmetics, food or any other end use, the formulation, labelling and compliance of that product are down to whoever makes it.

⚠ LEGAL NOTICE

In Spain and across the European Union, varroa treatment and any other veterinary application in the hive may only be carried out with authorised veterinary medicines and in accordance with their summary of product characteristics. The use of unauthorised products, home-made preparations or «pseudo-medicines» is prohibited under animal health and veterinary medicines legislation, and may lead to administrative penalties and, where applicable, criminal liability. This product is sold solely as a raw material; its use is the buyer’s responsibility.