water content of honey

chickenwing654 · January 21, 2015, 08:00:22 AM

Hi,

New to beekeeping. Wondering when you harvest honey, how many check the water content of the honey? Do you do it by sight (thick, thin). If water content is high, Do you just wait for the water content to go down (with bees help).

I've read that honey will not go bad in airtight container.

thanks
David

Michael Bush · January 21, 2015, 09:22:41 AM

It probably depends on your climate as I know people who live in humid climates who have to check the water content because the bees will cap it when it's too high. It's never been a problem here. If I don't harvest until it's capped it's fine. I've never owned a refractometer.

GSF · January 21, 2015, 08:07:22 PM

I asked the son of someone who kept bees for decades about that. He replied, "Daddy always said - if it's capped it's ready".

There may be climates where that don't apply. But I'm under the persuasion if we leave it up to the bees we'll be alright.

Wombat2 · January 22, 2015, 07:32:46 AM

Refractometers are cheap on eBay

mikecva · January 23, 2015, 01:41:02 PM

I personally have used a refractometer for many years since my club opened about 10 bottles of honey (5 from grocery stores and some from farmers markets) and we found their honey as high as 25%. Books say 18% or lower is what honey should be. Mine run 17.7 to 18.1 right out of the hive except for one year when it had been raining Monday thru Thursday and I collected on Saturday and ended up with honey at 19%. I have an old freezer with a light bulb inside I use to warm the honey before filling the bottles and a few days in there puts my honey below 18% all the time. But that's just me. -Mike

L Daxon · January 23, 2015, 04:14:40 PM

The water content of honey can range from as low as 14% to as high as 21% and still be correct. It depends on the nectar source. Different nectar sources will produce a different appropriate moisture content, according to what I have read. Just like different nectar sources will granulate at a different rate.

That being said, if the honey is capped, I usually consider it OK, though I have seen pictures of capped honey that has fermented (so the girls must have capped it with too high a moisture content.)

I also know in late summer you can have perfectly good honey in the cells an no cappings cause the flow stopped and there just wasn't enough nectar coming in to cause them to make enough wax to cap what was already in the cells.

If I have a frame of uncapped nectar/honey that I know it has been in the hive for 4 weeks or more, I turn the frame upside down and if any nectar/moisture shakes out, I know for sure the nectar hasn't cured enough. If no moisture comes it, I then check the viscosity with a toothpick and if it looks firm enough, I go ahead and harvest it. That has been my approach for 10 years, but I did just get a refractor for Christmas, but not sure how much I will use it.

BeeMaster2 · January 25, 2015, 08:56:50 AM

I use a refractometer to test my honey. Here in N FL, our humidity is very high. Even fully capped honey can be at 19%. I had a bucket full of honey ferment because I did not try to dry it.
Last year most of my bees did not cap the honey. It it was and still is a very wet here.
Jim

Apis629 · February 02, 2015, 09:56:52 PM

I've had decent luck going by the measure of "If it's capped, it's good enough." That said, I do tend to adjust my harvest schedule such that I can mix the cabbage palm which blooms in May/June with either palmetto on the early end or black mangrove on the later side, but cabbage palm is the only honey I've ever had to work around which can be capped at 19%+ moisture content.

Besides, if it's too moist, just make mead and rejoice in a couple months.