# 19.5% moisture in honey; what to do with?



## karenarnett (Mar 25, 2012)

One of the unintended consequences (poor planning) of increasing my hives was that I have a lack of drawn comb for the flow. I've extracted some partially capped frames to keep the bees from getting honeybound, as we have a good flow this year. I used the shake test on the frames. My just purchased refractometer says18.5% for one batch, and 19.5% for another. I think the 18.5 is marginally saleable at the local farm market, with the caveat that the honey should be used fairly quickly or kept in the fridge. Apparently it won't ferment if kept at or below 50 deg. F. Wondering what to do with the other batch , which is about 2.5 gallons worth. What have folks done with their honey that's too high a moisture content? Or ethical to sell with the caveat that it was harvested slightly early and should be kept in fridge?


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## gtwarren1966 (Jul 7, 2015)

This will be my first year extracting but I have heard people put it in a small room with a dehumidifier for a few days.


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## shinbone (Jul 5, 2011)

Not sure the best way to dry your honey, but, from a consumer's perspective, no way would I buy honey that needed to be refrigerated or be consumed by a certain date. Meaning, I think you really should get the moisture content down to that of regular honey before selling it.


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## Dan the bee guy (Jun 18, 2015)

Put the stuff in the freezer and feed it to them in the fall to over winter on. The idea of putting it in a small room with a dehumidifier is done before you extract.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

It may crystalize in the fridge over time, freeze it and it won't.
I would keep an eye on anything close remember your refractometer is plus or minus a few points and the temp of the honey tested is important too. 

Use it for mead, ice tea and cooking it will go fast. Even if it starts to ferment (tiny little bubbles) it's fine for personal use. 

When your hives are out of room you got to do what you need to do. And if it means you have a bunch of honey you have to consume then so be it.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Short answer is dehydrate it. Honey equalizes it's moisture content with its surroundings, put it in a dryer environment and the moisture content will decrease. BS has some threads on different approaches. 

Legally you can't sell 19.5% as grade A or B and 18.5% is just below the minimum. (not that most consumers have a clue, i.e. honey is honey) I've included a link to the honey standards and a short explanation on going from soluble solids to moisture content 

determining the acceptable moisture content for your "extraction/harvest" to be officially considered honey, you almost have to back into it from table III and IV (numbered pages 9 & 10). On page 7, read paragraph 52.1401a, while it doesn't explicitly state the soluble solids and moisture content are inverses of each other with the sum always equaling 100, table III confirms the correlation. Table IV lists the three grades of honey but nowhere does it list a moisture percentage. Since we all would like grade A honey, determine the Analytical Percent Soluble Solids (min) which is 81.4; reference that number on Table III and you'll discover the Percent Moisture is 18.6 (81.4 + 18.6 = 100). 

I hope that answers your question.


https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/extracted-honey-grades-and-standards


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## Wetsu151 (Apr 20, 2016)

commercial beeks put a band heater on a drum that warms the honey, the resulting moisture rises and collects on lid, lid removed carefully and wiped down, or they install a filter into bung in drum top to collect moisture


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

First year I was extra concerned about moisture content. 
Bought a refractometer and found it was high before I extracted. Poked frames and measure the honey.

It was really humid and hot outside. Air conditioning was running all the time so I made a stand for the honey supers. (inside the house yeah) Have a tile floor so it's ok. Put a window screen on the bottom of an empty box then stacked all the honey with a fan on top pulling air thru the stack. Primitive but it worked well. 

Have bottled hundreds and hundreds of plastic bears and so far only one has fermented. By some odd chance it was in our personal use honey. One 12-ounce bear.


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## vdotmatrix (Apr 5, 2014)

Mix them together you'll be just fine 19% just a little bit high you are probably with in the margin of error .. honey water content >25% may ferment. Bad juju. I think you are good to go. Bottle your product, keep it above 50 degrees, and watch it for about a week..or two then sell it eat it enjoy the fruits of your labor....


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## karenarnett (Mar 25, 2012)

I tested several samples of honey from Trader Joes with the refractometer and some were 18.8% at 75F, which means maybe even a few tenths of a percent higher. So I realize I needn't worry too much about this. Nice to have the refractometer to monitor each harvest though.


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