Thin honey

[beehappy1950]

I have some honey that I extracted yesterday. I think I got to many uncapped frames all at once. Can I freeze it in say quart jars or will it break them in the freezing process? I can probably mix some in with the capped stuff but my wife uses a lot for cooking so thought she might be able to use it up instead. Any help appreciated.

[johnwratcliff]

How much honey?

[beehappy1950]

Probably 40 lbs.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Cured honey will not crystallize unless seeded.  I freeze honey year round, it only thickens.  So to make it simple, place honey is a single jar, and place the jar inside a plastic bag, then freeze.  Determine the outcome for a single jar and make sure the honey is mixed well, not layered according to moisture content before placing in a jar.
Blessings

[BeeMaster2]

You can dry the honey by putting in a container that has a drain at the bottom and raise it above another container and let it slowly drip in a dry area like an air conditioned room. You may have to do this several times. You can speed it up with a small fan.
Jim

[eltalia]

You can dry the honey by putting in a container that has a drain at the bottom and raise it above another container and let it slowly drip in a dry area like an air conditioned room. You may have to do this several times. You can speed it up with a small fan.
Jim

Jes' a heads up on location for that idea... IF the only A/C space is a main bedroom,
bee aware honey - as do many liquids kept at lower atmospheres - will absorb
ordours. SOOOOO... IF either occupant is a vegan or consumer of high carb sugary
foods the honey may well 'sour'. Depending on gas levels of course, YMMV applies.

: chuckles:

Bill

[Acebird]

Cured honey will not crystallize unless seeded.

Raw honey will most certainly crystallize because it has plenty of natural seeds.  If the honey is for cooking you can heat it to 160F which will kill the yeast that make it ferment.  Crystallization is something to not worry about for cooking.

[tjc1]

Has anyone else noticed how the 'thin honey' and fat comb' threads have been back to back? (Had to post this here too, to keep them together :)

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Ace:  did we not say the same thing, just worded differently.  The point is: honey crystals need to be present for crystallization of honey to occur.   My experience is natural cured ripe honey maintains intergerty if frozen.  Folks make crystallized honey all the time, they just seed ripe honey with a honey crystal.

2,000 year old honey intact in sealed comb, not crystallized has been discovered in Egyptian tombs.  Not just one tomb, but many.

My words "cured or ripe" honey indicates the honey has 18% or less moisture, is capped and enzymes added to prevent moisture accumulation and deter microbes.  Properly cured honey will not ferment, just ask King Tut.  Lol

[Robert Fox]

Build a simple box with which you can leave a port open...for a fan, and the same size as the supers.  You can put all you need or want on top, and with the fan, dry the honey out in a day or two.

[Acebird]

Ace:  did we not say the same thing, just worded differently.

Similar.
I drew a distinction that some pure honeys will crystallize in the frame and capped no less.  I forgot which one it is but either high concentrations of fructose or sucrose lend themselves to crystallization.  It depends on what nectar the bees collect.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

There ya go, Ace,  why did you have to mention "high concentrations."  Now you make me think.  Yes high concentrations will precipitate some chemicals.  Table salt is a good example, dissolve in liquid, no crystals, then evaporate the water and salt crystals spontaneously form.  Yet other chemicals such as carbon are impervious to high concentrations and require extreme pressure and heat to make a diamond.

I believe most of us have seen liquid honey form in an unopened jar of honey.  My thoughts are the honey was contaminated with a tiny crystal unseen to the naked eye.  In contrast, I have honey, never heated, that remains in liquid state.

Now consider the honey has "high concentrations" of fructose.  Yes, agreed, this might tilt the scales in favor of spontaneous crystallization of the honey without a seed.   Now quit making me think so hard Mr Ace Einstein.  Good day, fella.

[Acebird]

Thinking so hard?  OK good day Mr Van.

[PhilK]

We produce honey from four locations in our town, and we keep the batches area-specific. One of the areas will produce liquid honey that will crystallise in the jar every time. The others will stay liquid. All the honey is treated the exact same during extraction and bottling with the same equipment.

Natural crystallisation occurs because of proportions of sugar in the honey, not because of the presence or absence of a seed (as all our honey is treated in the same fashion yet some crystallises and some doesn't).

[Robert Fox]

Well, this topic started on "thin honey"...or green honey, and the issue of how much moisture might be contained therein.  The simple answer for that is to evaporate it a bit more...and just build a box that you can circulate air for a few days will usually be sufficient.  To the issue of crystallization...there are some plants, such as canola (canola oil) that will crystalize within a few weeks or months, depending on what else the bees were harvesting from.  Other honeys, filtered well, will not crystalize much, if at all.

[mtnb]

So to make it simple, place honey is a single jar, and place the jar inside a plastic bag, then freeze.

Why the plastic bag, van?
My honey seems to crystallize within about 4-6 months. I read about the freezing thing so I tried it with a jar. It didn't break the glass. It sorta just put it in suspended animation. lol I left it in the freezer a good 6 months then set it out and let it thaw for a day or so. It was the same as it was before.

[Oldbeavo]

We have trouble with Canola honey crystalizing in the frame, seems to only take 3-4 weeks to start to crystalize in the cells.
It is rock hard when candied and won't spin out for many extractions. If it does candy in the frame some BK's will store these frames for feeding back in winter.