maybe a dumb question, but why is my honey so runny....so VERY runny?

joker1656 · August 24, 2009, 09:33:57 PM

I was cleaning up my beehives. I had one super that was untouched. It had a half frame, that was drawn and capped. This frame was put their earlier, in the hopes that it would draw the bees into that super. NO dice.

Anyway, I wanted the bees to concentrate on their two boxes, so I pulled the empty super and frame. I cleaned everything up out in the yard, and took the half frame into the house. I scraped the comb into a pan and squeezed/strained the little bit of honey. Again, this was one side of a frame and completely capped.

This honey tastes fine, not the best ever, but good. It is very light in color. What is bizarre.....at least to me a 1st year beek.....is that it is very very runny. It is not of the consistency I would expect and have gotten from my other hives. It reminds me of some of the uncapped burr comb with nectar. Maybe a little thicker than that.

Why would this be so runny even though it was all capped? Probably too many answers, but maybe I should ask: Is this honey okay to eat?

John Schwartz · August 24, 2009, 10:10:02 PM

Were you feeding them syrup recently?

joker1656 · August 24, 2009, 10:16:24 PM

No, I wasn't. I wondered though, if maybe that frame was from a hive where I was feeding them syrup. It was taken from a hive quite awhile ago. I really can't remember which one, for sure. Sorry.

It tastes like honey, not syrup. ??????? Possibility I guess.

I guess I can hang on to it, and feed it to them again. It is almost too runny to put on bread.

John Schwartz · August 24, 2009, 10:17:29 PM

Sure, might be good for Spring buildup in a few months. :)

beee farmer · August 25, 2009, 12:54:21 AM

Bees will continue to ripen honey to a degree while its in the hive even after its capped. If it was freah from the hive it may have still bee "hive" temprature which will make it less viscous. It might thicken up some after its been in the house AC a while.

Michael Bush · August 25, 2009, 06:56:09 AM

I would be suspicious that it is not dry enough. Of course they had it capped, which here in my climate is a good indicator that it is dry enough. Is the weather hot? That certainly makes just as much difference as moisture. I'd keep an eye on it and see if it ferments.

tandemrx · August 25, 2009, 11:53:25 AM

do you have access to a refractometer to check for moisture content?

annette · August 25, 2009, 11:21:54 PM

I extracted a frame of honey this Spring that was totally capped on both sides. The honey was a light golden color, very tasty and extremely runny. It never did get as thick as honey usually is, but it remained very tasty and never fermented. I still have some and it remains very runny.

I found it very strange, but it is really good honey.

luvin honey · August 26, 2009, 01:35:17 AM

That sounds like honey I harvested in July. Being a newbie, I didn't realize how runny it was, really. Then I read about exploding honey and saw how thick my friend's was. Still no problems, though. I hope yours stays okay, joker :)

joker1656 · August 26, 2009, 07:53:25 AM

thanks for all the input. There is not much honey there anyway. I do not have a refractometer, yet. I guess I will just keep an eye on it. Honey in our house disappears pretty quickly anyway. :-D

tlynn · August 26, 2009, 03:38:59 PM

Here in Florida we have lots of cabbage palms, the state tree actually. They throw off tons of nectar and it's runny honey. Their season is now over, and when I extracted last I had some supers from citrus and some from cabbage palm. It was like night and day when I was slicing off the caps. Citrus honey stayed right in the comb on the way to extractor and the cabbage palm was actually starting to drip off the bottoms of the frames. I still have some from last year and it hasn't fermented. I'm not sure why it would be less viscous other than just higher moisture content, yet the bees cap them off so I assume they are good. Is that not necessarily true? Looks like a refractometer would be a good addition.

Joelel · August 26, 2009, 04:15:20 PM

Quote from: Michael Bush on August 25, 2009, 06:56:09 AM
I would be suspicious that it is not dry enough. Of course they had it capped, which here in my climate is a good indicator that it is dry enough. Is the weather hot? That certainly makes just as much difference as moisture. I'd keep an eye on it and see if it ferments.

What do you do with fermented honey ? Will the bees do something with it ?