Thin honey?

[rookie2531]

So, I extracted 70 lbs of honey and being my first time, don't know what to do.
I bottled up 14 pounds the day my squeeze bottles arrived and stopped because I thought it might be too wet. I left the rest in my extractor (using it as a bottling tank) covered the top with a towel and let it sit in the air conditioning until my refractometer showed up.
The honey I bottled first read approx. 18.5% moisture. The rest I had in the tank read approx. 19.1%. Numbers showed that letting it sit and (dry) wasn't working, in fact it was worse, so I immediately bottled it up. It is more thinner than any bottle I have ever poured. I'm not saying it's water thin, it does stack a little when pouring, but not like thick honey does.
Few questions.
1. Do you think selling it as is will hurt future sales?
2. Should I put most of it in freezer until I sell it?
3. Or should I empty all my bottles and put it all back in buckets to dry it out in sealed room with dehumidifier?
Thanks any comments are welcomed

[gww]

I read where one guy takes a sheet of stainless steal and put it in a sealed room with a couple of dehumidifyers and pours the honey and lets it run down the sheet of stainless steal.  He said sometimes it takes a couple of passes but dries pretty fast.  I don't know the guy personally but read it on a differrent forum.
Hope this helps or at least can be understood.
Good luck
gww

[rookie2531]

Thanks GW, I think after speaking with others today, I probably am just going to give some away to friends and family. And the rest, feed back to my girls and see if they fill and cap it, then we'll see if I try again.

And, that tip is good to know if ever happens again.

[Beeboy01]

I've had luck drying out honey by putting it in ball jars and then putting the jars in the oven at the lowest temperature it can be set at for about an hour. My stove's lowest setting is 170 degrees which is hotter than I like but I only heat the honey for an hour. After an hour I'll turn off the oven and let the honey cool in the oven till I can handle the jars and put the lids on them. It's not a perfect way to dry honey but you should be able to drop the moisture by almost a full percent. It's a way to save a crop of honey even though you are heating it.

[BeeMaster2]

When I want to dry out honey, I put it in a bucket with a valve and let it drip at the smallest stream that will still flow into another bucket in my closed in patio with the air conditioner on full blast and the heater on and the ceiling fan on to keep the air moving. Sometimes I have to do it more than once but I can drop it a 1/2 to 1 degree pretty quick. I would not heat the honey over 104 degrees and try to sell it as raw honey.
Jim

[divemaster1963]

Pour all the bottles back in your holding tank and then place another bucket under and drip the honey down. Place it all in a warm dry room. Place dehumidifier in room drip really slow. This will help dry out the honey. May have to do it twice. Just get it below 18%  then it it be fine to bottle.


John

Dang sawdstmakr you beat me to the punch. One hand typing is the pits.

[gww]

Rookie
If you also posted this topic on bee scource, bee scource member sakohoney is the one that stated he made a honey dryer in the fassion that I mentioned.  You might PM him for more info.
I hope this helps.
gww

[sc-bee]

my closed in patio with the air conditioner on full blast and the heater on and the ceiling fan on to keep the air moving.
Jim

???? Air conditioner and heater on

[Beeboy01]

How about dripping the honey onto something like a cookie sheet that is angled so the honey runs into a second bucket. Put a light under the cookie sheet to warm the honey up and have a small fan blowing across it to help pull the moisture out. 

[Caribou]

How about dripping the honey onto something like a cookie sheet that is angled so the honey runs into a second bucket. Put a light under the cookie sheet to warm the honey up and have a small fan blowing across it to help pull the moisture out.

I would expect that you would have a hard time controlling the heat and you don't want to cook the honey.  I have used a similar system to keep boats dry through the winter and the metal gets too hot to touch and far warmer than you want for honey.

[BeeMaster2]

my closed in patio with the air conditioner on full blast and the heater on and the ceiling fan on to keep the air moving.
Jim

Using a heater and the AC dries the air out more than just the AC. Our humidity is real high during the summer and fall.
Jim
???? Air conditioner and heater on

[rookie2531]

Wow, so many ideas. And thanks G, I will take a look at sak.

[rookie2531]

Well it's been about 8 days since I started to try the drip from one bucket to the next, method. The bucket is half way down, so I decided to test the bottom bucket.
The results of letting about 2 gallons drip for 8 days, just on kitchen table, air-conditioned house, no heater on, is it dropped to 18.5%. It was over 19, so it seems to be working.
All other honey I have been testing has been in the 17% range.

The honey drips about one drop every 7-10 seconds. It is taking awhile, but I think I will just keep dripping until it's where I want it.
Thanks for all the info and I will inform how long it took to get it to what % I decide to stop.

[Duffydog]

If you have a heated bottling tank you will find some reduction in moisture content. At least I do. I also take a 5 gallon bucket and leave the cover partially open in a room with dehumidifier running and that may reduce content about 0.2. Then you can blend the honey in the bucket with the honey in your bottling tank if that honey is below 18.6. The FDA requirement is no more than 18.6.I try to get to about 18.3% with my digital meter.