# Can you "dry out" honey?



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You may not be able tosave the honey you have already bottled, but you can make sure that in the future the honey that you extract is of the proper moisture content by only extracting honey if 75% of the combs are covered w/ capping. The more the better of course.


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## Sarepta bees (Apr 16, 2010)

Thats good to know because most frames were fully capped and a few only had small corners that were not capped, I didn't know the 75% rule so I was cool there, just afterward I messed up, Thanks


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

So, is your problem that where you live humidity is high and you left your honey exposed to the air for a period of time? And it took on moisture? I don't have any experience w/ that happening to my honey.

I have afriend who had a barrel of high moisture honey. He also had a hot room that he heated w/ a wood stove. He elevated the barrel a little higher than the wood stove and set a barrel on the other side of the wood stove. He then ran a piece of gutter from the bottom of the elevated barrel over to the empty barrel. He punched a small hole in the barrel of honey and allowed the honey to drain from one barrel to another, over the stove which was burning. That dried it down to an acceptable level.

You probably aren't set up to do that, nor do you have enuf honey to be practical. What you need to do is expose alot of surface of the honey to warmth and driness in order to get rid of some of the moisture. I don't know how to tell you to do that.

If it isn't fermented maybe you should feed it back to the bees and try again.


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

You can dry down green honey, (nectar) and keep honey from absorbing humidity by running a dehumidifier in the room. (or multiple dehumidifiers.)


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## honeydreams (Aug 10, 2009)

do it Just like the bees do fan it. have a fan blow over air over it. and invest in a dehumidifier.


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## Sarepta bees (Apr 16, 2010)

That is an GREAT idea, I havent thought about feeding it back to them, I'd get most of it back!! Why didn't I think of that , thanks so much. What the best way to do that? Pour in shallow pan and set out close to yard? I let them clean up a broken frame that way the other day, Thanks, MIke


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## Sarepta bees (Apr 16, 2010)

How much are those testers that tell you the moisture content?


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## jhs494 (May 6, 2009)

Look at the bee supplier for a refractometer.

http://blueskybeesupply.com/blue_sky_refractometer.html

This is a link to one that Blue Sky has to offer.

Good Luck!
Joe


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

If you are going to feed it back put it in feeder in a box on top or something or you will be feeding the local bee population like the yellow jackets and bumbles also.


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## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

go to marinedepot.com and look at more refractometers...

I use them for my saltwater tank..

cheaper and more expensive ones...

what is the specific gravity of honey supposed to be?

d


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## clarkfarm (Apr 13, 2009)

I am puzzled by this thread -- seems to agree with the original poster's statement that bottling should have taken place within 24 hours and the honey at issue in the post must now be dried out or fed back to the bees. I never bottle that fast. For one thing, the air has not risen to the surface that quickly to produce clear honey for bottling. 

When I harvest, I drain the honey into 5 gallon food grade buckets and do not bottle until I am ready to use the honey. I kept some of last summer's honey this way for over 6 months and had no problem bottling it in early Spring. It was not fermented and did not crystalize either. I believe that crystalization will take place faster in a bottle than in a bucket but if that is not true, I will bottle sooner in the future. Hope someone with experience on this issue will comment. Thanks.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

I have a salt refractometer from marine depot for my 300g reef. 
How are you using it to measure honey moisture content?



avalonweddingsbcs said:


> go to marinedepot.com and look at more refractometers...
> 
> I use them for my saltwater tank..
> 
> ...


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## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

oops... i didnt know there was a difference... i thought a refractometer is a refractometer.... didnt know there were different kinds..


d


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Darn, I was hoping you would teach me how to use it for honey. 
I know they come with different scales for different purposes, but it might actually work, if we knew how to read it. Might put some good honey on mine to see if its in the scale reading. Although calibrating for salt, calibration with fresh water is set at 0.



avalonweddingsbcs said:


> oops... i didnt know there was a difference... i thought a refractometer is a refractometer.... didnt know there were different kinds..
> 
> 
> d


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

clarkfarm said:


> I am puzzled by this thread -- seems to agree with the original poster's statement that bottling should have taken place within 24 hours and the honey at issue in the post must now be dried out or fed back to the bees. I never bottle that fast. For one thing, the air has not risen to the surface that quickly to produce clear honey for bottling.


I know what you mean and generally agree w/ you, but the Author of this Thread said that the honey smelled and tasted funny, which I took to mean perhaps fermented.

The first thing to do is take a moisture content reading to see if there is too much moisture in it. Procede from there.

Maybe it's just lack of experience and knowledge of what some honeys in his area taste like. I sure can'ttell from here.


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## DRUR (May 24, 2009)

avalonweddingsbcs said:


> what is the specific gravity of honey supposed to be?


That depends on the moisture content. From "The Hive and the Honey Bee" 1975 ed. p. 498 table 4.

Moisture content of 13.2%= specific gravity of 1.4510
Moisture content of 17.4%= specific gravity of 1.4212
Moisture content of 21.0%= specific gravity of 1.3966



clarkfarm said:


> I never bottle that fast. For one thing, the air has not risen to the surface that quickly to produce clear honey for bottling.


From "The Hive and the Honey Bee" 1975 ed. p. 499.

"*The moisture content of honey may change after removal from the hive as a result of storage conditions after extraction.*"

If you seal the 5 gal. buckets I doubt that it will absorb much moisure.

From "The Hive and the Honey Bee" 1975 ed. p. 416-417.

"*Moisture can be removed through the cappings quite readily.
To accomplish this, warm dry air not over 95F is driven through stacked supers of honey. The rate of moisture removal depends upon the dryness of the air and the volume passed through the supers. Air dryness depends, to a large extent, upon the number of degrees the air temperature has been increased just prior to passing over the combs. In general, cool air which has had its temperature increased considerably will be able to remove more moisture from the honeycombs than air at room temperature which has been warmed through a narrow temperature range. The efficiency of this system may be increased by permitting the warm, moist air to escape, and by providing a separate intake for fresh air. A unit which is operating efficiently will remove from 1 to 3% moisture in 24 hours.*"


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