No refractometer - how to tell if honey is ready?

beewitch · June 29, 2010, 03:45:06 PM

First year beekeeper - may have a super or two to harvest, but if I don't have a refractometer to check the moisture content, how do I tell if the capped honey is ready?
Thanks for any feedback.

Hethen57 · June 29, 2010, 03:47:35 PM

The bees have one :shock:...if it's capped, it is ready.

tillie · June 29, 2010, 04:07:45 PM

That's what I thought until this year when I harvested only fully capped frames and found honey that is thin and will ferment because it has too much moisture in it.

Linda T in Atlanta

timjea · June 29, 2010, 04:27:40 PM

I am puzzled by this as well. I just harvested 4 mediums on Sunday. Two mediums from one hive is light and thin, two mediums from another colony is visably darker and thicker. I extracted all at the same time, in white 5 gallon buckets and bottled some from each bucket. Two mediums will fill a bucket so effectively each bucket represents a seperate colony. The colonies sit 3 feet apart. All frames were 100% capped new white wax. Most of it was all new drawn comb as well.

The thin honey is the one I am concerned about. Concerned might be a bit too strong a word, but do any of you "air out" your spring honey for a few days before bottling to prevent fermentation?

beewitch · June 29, 2010, 05:35:54 PM

Linda - your problem is why I asked. Now I'm nervous about harvesting since I'm in Atlanta, too. I always thought if it was capped it's ready... Is there any harm in waiting a while longer (3-4 weeks) before harvesting?

Hethen57 · June 29, 2010, 06:00:14 PM

That's strange...I guess I have never tested what all the books say about how the bees wait until the nectar gets to the proper moisture level before capping....but I also have never harvested honey in June :roll:

tillie · June 29, 2010, 09:23:50 PM

beewitch,

I don't think the honey is less moisture laden if you wait, since it's already capped. Honey that is ripening in the hive (uncapped) is continuing to lose moisture through the work of the bees, but once it is capped there's no way for the moisture to evaporate through the wax, I wouldn't think?

I'm very disappointed - in five years I've never had a year with absolutely NO honey to be harvested.

Linda T in Atlanta

Michael Bush · June 30, 2010, 03:29:20 AM

I think it's dependant on the climate, but I've just gone with capped and it's always been fine. However people in humid climates say they get fermentation sometimes even from capped honey. Also keep in mind that honey while its being processed can gain or lose moisture.

tillie · June 30, 2010, 08:12:50 AM

I've always gone with what you said, Michael, and assumed if it were fully capped, I would not have a problem. This honey was fully capped and has been capped for quite a while.

The test other than the refractometer is the bubble test - you turn a bottle on its side and the bubble that will result will travel slowly to the top of thick low-moisture honey. In my bottles before I unbottled them and headed for the dehumidifier, the bubble rushed to the top - popped right up, as it were.

Discouraged,

Linda T in Atlanta

KD4MOJ · June 30, 2010, 08:50:09 AM

Because of the humidity around here, I put the honey buckets in a room with a dehumidifier for a copy of days... seems to work for me.

...DOUG
KD4MOJ

beewitch · June 30, 2010, 09:24:39 AM

Thanks everyone - will let you know how it goes. :-P

tillie · July 11, 2010, 11:33:09 AM

The dehumidifier didn't work for me because mine is in the very moist basement of my house and is too heavy for me to move it upstairs. After a while in the basement, the honey actually took in more moisture. I brought it upstairs and left it beside an air conditioner vent in a room with a constantly running ceiling fan. Today after four days in the den, the moisture level has gone down to 19.2. Hope for the future!

Linda T honey-less in Atlanta

riverrat · July 11, 2010, 01:58:17 PM

I have had some honey that has appeared to be thin that checks fine on the moisture content of a refractometer.

annette · July 11, 2010, 04:13:32 PM

I got some honey last year that was so liquid, but it tasted great and we ate it all. Now this probably explains to me why the honey was so liquid. I don't really get that much honey that I have to worry about storage, so even if the honey might come out thin, well I can enjoy it.

AllenF · July 11, 2010, 08:41:10 PM

Now Linda, you have me worried. I got 3 supers in the freezer waiting for a day when I can extract. I don't think the spring was as wet as last year, but all my hives are down in the hollow, well wooded. I'll let you know how wet it looks here soon, maybe next weekend.