Tough question (for me)

[Perry]

OK this is one I could use some help with as "science" was not one of my majors.

I am going to be pumping out a 650 lb barrel of honey once I get it liquefied enough to do so. In the past I set the pump up near the top of the barrel with an intake hose dropped down to the bottom. (orange in the pic). It has worked, but I think the pump was working pretty hard to "pick up" the honey. I believe most pumps are designed to push, not pull.
I then thought way back to my time as a young feller without much money, and couldn't afford to put gas in the car. Being a misguided punk, I did the odd "siphon" job. Not proud about it, but Perry tells the truth.
Thinking about the physics(?) of it, I was wondering if I set the pump down low near the bottom of the barrel, would the pump necessarily work as hard? (green in the pic).

[Chip Euliss]

Makes sense to me.  Your best friend is heat to make it less viscous but lowering the pump should help I would think.

[LazyBkpr]

I don't know if the honey would be too thick to actually siphon. I think a test is in order to see if it will. I am sure if it is warm enough it will.

Makes sense to me.  Your best friend is heat to make it less viscous but lowering the pump should help I would think.

  At the very least, your pump wont work harder down low than it does up high, at best it will not have to work hard at all...  I can guarantee it will have SOME affect depending on how warm the honey is.

   What do you have for a valve? Just making sure you dont fill a 5 gal bucket and come in the next day to find that 200 gallons of honey "seeped" on the floor all night.

[CBT]

Heat and pump on floor for pump to work easier. Just like the they said.

[G3farms]

If you could make your suction hose or pipe (remember it will collapse) larger that will help also (less friction). Let the heat soak longer to liquefy the honey more, pump on the floor.
Pumps are really made to push and not pull. The 4 or 5 feet of lift will be cancelled out by the 4 or 5 feet of fall to the pump (less the friction in the suction pipe and the fittings).

Heated honey will be your friend here. 

Back to your younger days with a siphon hose.............
instead of sucking on the end of the hose I find it easier to blow into the tank forcing the fluid out the end of the hose to start the siphon. I have a 55 gallon barrel full of cutting oil that I use air pressure to push the oil up a pipe and into gallon containers.

[cpekarek]

The "head" is the most important factor to determine pump performance. This site explains things. http://www.pumpfundamentals.com/what%20is%20head.htm

To reduce the distance your pump has to lift the honey you could put the barrel with the pump on a table lift. The higher you can lift the barrel while pumping, the easier it will be.

[LazyBkpr]

 I find it easier to blow into the tank forcing the fluid out the end of the hose to start the siphon. I have a 55 gallon barrel full of cutting oil that I use air pressure to push the oil up a pipe and into gallon containers.

   G3.... Sorry, but the mental image of you trying to BLOW air into a gas tank in the middle of the night (And the middle of nowhere)  just flashed through and made me laugh....  NOT... that I ever did such a thing hen I was younger...