# "unripe honey"



## Madison68 (Jul 13, 2006)

I recently removed my super and extracted honey. Some of the frames had areas that were not capped. It seemed that they were never going to finish. Anyway my honey seems to be a little thin. Sundance suggested I get a refractometer which I will do, but what is bad about having thin or unripe honey? I'm not selling it just using it myself. Thanks for your help and advice, Madison.....


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

It will ferment.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>but what is bad about having thin or unripe honey?

Like Chef said. It will ferment.


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## Madison68 (Jul 13, 2006)

I only have about ten jars, will it ferment in days or weeks, months> THanks for the help. Madison....


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## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

Freeze what you are not consuming immediately (9 jars) but only fill three quarters full to be safe and it will be ready when you are.


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## Romahawk (Jul 11, 2005)

Use it to make Mead.


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## jamiev (Sep 14, 2005)

If you have uncapped honey at 22%, can you take the frames and use a fan, heater and dehumidifier to try to dry it in the comb prior to extraction? Can you get it down 4%?


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

You can reduce moisture slowly on a drum or pail
of honey in a lower-humidity environment,
but most "honey driers" are machines that expose
a think film of honey to warm and dry air, in
an attempt to speed up the dehumidification.

Now that fall is here, we may have less humid
days and nights, so one need not even need
fans or heaters to do the job. 

The magic number is any relative humidity
below 60%, which will, if given enough time, 
take water out of your honey until the air 
and honey "reach equilibrium", which would 
mean that your honey would be at a 17.8% 
moisture level.

So, on "dry" days, expose the honey to the
air, and seal the top again at night when
temperatures drop and dew points start to
matter, and keep the honey sealed on "damp"
days. Maybe stir the honey a bit to help
expose honey that was not near the surface
to help speed the process.

It could take a while, depending upon how
much honey is in the container (the best
case "container" being uncapped comb, which
is why one wants to use a refractometer to
test supers before even removing them from
the hives.


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## Madison68 (Jul 13, 2006)

Thank you all for the advice. Since I'm eating the honey up quickly I will freeze a few and use it up before it ferments. Next year I will be smarter about a lot of things including owning a refractometer. But then I will be bugging you all for advice on how to use it, but then again this is a great website and I know you all will be here to help, Thanks Madison..........


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## tina keller (Nov 3, 2005)

Our first year (this is our 3rd) we had a super of uncapped honey and no refractometer. I put the whole super in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. We took it out in the spring and gave it back to the bees and they finished it up, capped it, and it was perfect!!

Tina


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## Cindi (Nov 6, 2006)

I reduced the moisture content of my honey (which was measured at about 18.5%) by putting it in a small room with a heater that had a fan, I stirred the honey every day gently for about a week, I also put some silica stuff in a container to absorb moisture from the air. I was actually amazed. I have not measured the honey again, but I know that it was certainly far more thick than when it first started out. I don't think that the silica would have an effect on the honey. Comments????


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