We plan to be at the North Myrtle Beach Farmer’s Market on Friday, July 4th
and
The Conway Farmer’s Market on Saturday, July 5th.
Moisture in Honey
For a little over $20, you can buy a Refractometer, and many beekeepers have these in their arsenals to measure the water content of their honey. But what does it mean, and what do you do if the moisture content is high?
The level of water content is very important. If the percentage is 20% or higher, over time, your honey can ferment and make it unfit for consumption. When bees store honey, they will fan the honey with their little wings until it is safe to add their wax cap over the honey to seal it for future use. The basic standard for water content is 18.6% or lower, or it is not safe to bottle.
Bees are brilliant; they cap honey that is perfect for storage. But did you know that sealed honey can absorb moisture from the air when the humidity is high? It has a slower rate of absorption than uncapped honey, but it is still “hygroscopic,” meaning it attracts and absorbs moisture from its surroundings.
Dearth and Flow
Beekeeping is an art, and if your goal is to harvest honey, then it is important to extract that honey before dearth. Dearth and Flow refer to periods of nectar abundance and scarcity. If you wait too long to extract, then the bees will eat up all the honey. Many of us will leave Autumn Flows for bees to consume the honey during the winter months, but in summer, we harvest.
What do you do when you need to harvest wet honey and can’t wait? You have a couple of choices.
I. It seems the favorite option is to place your supers of comb and capped honey in a closed-up dry space with a dehumidifier and a fan, having it blow through the frames until it reaches a safe moisture level. Some folks do this in their “honey house,” if you are fortunate enough to have one, while others create a room in a closet. We use a Grow Tent because it can be placed in the kitchen, where we extract honey following the cottage laws in our county.
II. If you’ve already extracted the honey and find it has a high moisture content, then you can still use the dehumidifying method above, but you’d need to place your honey in shallow baking sheets, so the drying process has as much surface area as possible. We have also done this in the Grow Tent using a baking rack of trays.
The drying process can take around 24 to 48 hours, depending on how much honey you have and the moisture levels.
Let me close by saying, being safe is our priority at Three River Oaks Farm. It is so important for us to be informed about safety, so I felt the need to blog about it. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
♥ Happy Harvesting ♥
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