# The shake method versus all capped.



## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

Hard to say, as I just took a frame (fully capped) the honey tested at 20% water, which is too high.


----------



## beedeetee (Nov 27, 2004)

I don't buy the shake method. I have a refractometer and have tested 20%+ honey that didn't shake out. Now if the other 80% of the honey is 16%, the shake method probably has some validity as it wouldn't bring the average above the allowable moisture content.

But if you use the shake method for all of your honey, I believe you are asking for trouble. I live in a area with fairly low humidity (except when it rains). This means that it is fairly easy for my bees to dry the honey. My capped honey is always 15.5-17.5%. The open honey on frames that are 75% capped is usually around 17-18%.

At the end of the flow when they can't fill up cells of already drawn comb, they won't cap those. This is the reason that I got the refractometer. I would have quite a few frames of completely uncapped honey, but they couldn't get it out to the top of the cells so they wouldn't cap it. It is possible that they would have eventually consolidated the honey and capped some, but I only extract once so waiting was a hassle. I noticed that none of the uncapped frames that I didn't extract and kept over winter fermented.

If you live in an area of high humidity, I think that a refractometer would be an important tool.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

If you only extract the capped frames, what will you do w/the ones that aren't fully capped, put them back on the hives? Otherwise they won't get dried down and then what will you do w/ them?


----------



## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Thanks guys. The stuff that doesn't get capped at the end of the season will be good for making mead. In the meantime I'm hoping they just finish them off. 
Adrian.


----------

