My husband is building me a honey shed to store all my stuff in. Is it all right to keep my honey in it year around? Or will it freeze and ruin it? Michigan can get -20 below zero. Hopefully I will sell it all before then but I am just getting started and I don't know what the market is around here.
Yes. http://www.hiveandhoneyapiary.com/honeystoragetips.html
See if you can find an old busted chest freezer - they make great 'hot boxes' - or even 'warm boxes'.
LJ
I left some outside last fall/winter and it crystalized before it froze. No big deal, but you don't want it to crystalize in the frames because it's really hard to get out then.
Quote from: billdean on August 09, 2016, 12:06:35 PM
Is it all right to keep my honey in it year around? Or will it freeze and ruin it? Michigan can get -20 below zero.
The issue is when it is not 20 below. When it is around 47 degrees it crystallizes quickly so you want to store honey either very warm or very cold, not at fall temperatures.
Most beekeepers I know keep their honey indoors in a generally heated area and do not allow it to freeze. If you are planning on keeping you honey supers and any deeps in an outdoor shed that is not a problem as you hives also remain outdoors all winter. A word of advice about a shed and that is to be certain it is rodent and critter proof. I stored many of my dried supers and frames for my deeps in my barn and the raccoons created a great deal of damage.
Quote from: billdean link=topic=
Or will it freeze and ruin it?
/quote]
Put some in your freezer to find out.
No freezing does not ruin it. As said above it may crystallize before it meets the lower temps you are speaking of. Will the container it is packed in take the extreme cold?
Every thing I have read says freezing will keep honey in its same state for two years and better then other storage methods. I have also read that freezing honey will slow down (not stop) crystallation even after bringing up to room temp. I read all this on the internet and so take with a grain of salt. I read other things too but the above ideals where put forth in a way that I am going to use it first and see for myself. Is freezing needed? Probly not and an extra expence except for maby comb honey to kill bugs. If I have the room in my freezer at the time though I am going to do some and compare.
Good luck.
gww
If your talking extracted honey, I have some half pints in the deep freezer from probably five/six years ago from a massive star thistle flow and I take one out occasionally for a taste treat and it tastes just as good as the day I bottled it. Down to the last one, haven't seen such a flow since.