Is it fermented? How can you tell?

[joker1656]

I have a bucket, been sealed for a week or so, of capped honey comb.  A few pieces have edges that are uncapped, but full of nectar/unripened honey.  I opened it this afternoon, because I was going to crush and strain it. 

It had a slight sour smell.  Almost like it was too sweet... if that makes sense.  Is this evidence of fermentation?  If so, is all of the honey comb to be trashed, or could the capped comb be salvaged?  If tasted it would be pretty clear it is fermented, right? 

Any help would be appreciated.

[greenbtree]

It sounds like it might have fermented.  Another sign besides smell is any foaminess to the visible honey.  You could probably salvage the capped honey, but it would be a lot of work - I would think you would have to trim/remove all the damaged or uncapped areas.  You might have to rinse what is left and then drain/dry what was left to remove all the water.  If you include any fermented honey/nectar or include water with the good honey that's left it's just going to ferment.
I'm just not sure it is doable.

JC

[JP]

There's a decent chance it is fermented. You need to place it in a sealed container or freeze it for future reference.

If it truly is fermented you could make mead with it. Don't feed it back to bees, it usually kills them.


...JP

[greenbtree]

If you are going to try mead you should quick crush and strain and freeze it.  Be aware you have a wild yeast - you could end up with something great or something awful.  Would be safest to heat the must (the mixture of honey and water you are about to turn into mead) to kill the wild yeast and then introduce a known yeast strain.  But just winging it can be fun...

JC

[joker1656]

Thanks for the info.  Making mead would be interesting.  I actually did a bit of research last night.  I will give it a go soon. 

JP, fermented honey kills the bees?  Glad to know that, because I had decided to feed most of it back.  The rest I was going to use to try to figure out how to make mead.

Thanks again, all. 

[JP]

Yes, fermented honey usually kills them.


...JP