# Honey not looking too good



## jooky (Mar 18, 2016)

what did you do.. is that little air bubbles?


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## Davers (Aug 6, 2014)

The top is like a tan paste and I have to scoop it off. I don't believe its air bubbles. The honey looks tan. In the past when I extracted it looked like honey should look. I'm not sure with using the electric extractor for the first time had something to do with it.


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## Bee Havin (Mar 1, 2017)

Just throwing this out there. I'm sure there are some here more qualified than I to advise. Did you let the extracted honey sit at least over night before bottling? This allows the air bubbles to escape so they are not present in the honey. From the pics it looks like it is starting to clear. On another note, moisture of 19% is usually considered high. 18.6% is considered grade A. Above that the honey doesn't store well and can ferment or crystalize faster. I don't think that is your issue here yet, but just saying. Was all the honey capped? I did extract some this year that was mostly capped. I gave it the shake test and added it with the capped. Final moisture came out 15.2%. So it doesn't mean it all has to be capped, but most any way. I'm not saying I'm right. It is just what I think I know.


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## Irmo (Jan 9, 2012)

Let it sit for a few days before you start worrying about it. 18.6% moisture content is high, but not terrible.


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## Davers (Aug 6, 2014)

I would say it was 95% capped and did the shake test on the uncapped honey and nothing came out. Besides the color of the honey, the top had a paste and didn't seem like air bubbles. I scooped it off the top and will wait. Thanks everybody for responding.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Was the extractor shut off valve open all the time; thinking of high honey levels and getting whipped / churned by the cage. Might try warming a few jars as that will speed up the air bubbles escaping.


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## jooky (Mar 18, 2016)

crofter said:


> thinking of high honey levels and getting whipped / churned by the cage.


i agree


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## RedBarn (May 31, 2017)

Looks like air bubbles to me. How much did you extract ? On larger volumes, ya can get a foam on the top in the storage / bottling bin/container.


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## Davers (Aug 6, 2014)

The extractor valve was closed and since I was decapping the frames, my daughter was monitoring the extractor and could have whipped it up too much and it was too full in the extractor. I extracted about 9 gallons. Normally I put the honey into jars after going through a screen and haven't had any problems in the past, but next year I'll let the honey sit until the next day for the air bubbles to rise and let the honey release sooner from the tank so as not to get it whipped up. Thanks everyone.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

The valve on the extractor should be _open_ when you are spinning frames. 

The following is specified for hand crank extracting, but could apply to motor driven also ...
https://www.betterbee.com/images/ALL_Hand_Crank_Extractor_Instructions.pdf

Put a bucket or other container below the valve to catch the honey coming through the valve.


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## Groundhwg (Jan 28, 2016)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> The valve on the extractor should be _open_ when you are spinning frames.
> 
> The following is specified for hand crank extracting, but could apply to motor driven also ...
> https://www.betterbee.com/images/ALL_Hand_Crank_Extractor_Instructions.pdf
> ...


If you keep the level of honey below the basket why would you need/want to have the gate open? Our largest extractor only holds 36 frames but we can spin two sets before opening the valve and lowering the level of honey below the basket.

Regarding the OP after letting your honey sit a couple of days see if it clears up. If so place back in a bucket, let it settle, and then bottle a second time.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Getting honey into the bottom bearing of the extractor reel is not a desirable feature. :shhhh:

From my earlier link ...


> 1. Open the honey gate before extraction and place bucket under valve. *Do not extract with the honey gate closed, as rising honey can damage the bearings and interfere with the rotation of the basket*.
> 
> https://www.betterbee.com/images/ALL_Hand_Crank_Extractor_Instructions.pdf


Similar advice here:
https://www.brazoria-county-beekeepers-association.com/resources/club-extractor/
http://www.summitbeekeepers.com/resources-2.html


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## Davers (Aug 6, 2014)

All good suggestions. Thanks everyone


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## Groundhwg (Jan 28, 2016)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Getting honey into the bottom bearing of the extractor reel is not a desirable feature. :shhhh:
> 
> From my earlier link ...
> 
> ...


It never gets that high on our extractor before we bleed some off. Like most stuff just have to follow directions and it is not needed to open all extractors, all the time.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I dunno, why you would run it with the valve closed, you gotta open it at some point anyways, why bother opening and closing at all. I will say, if you extract on a cooler night or something, the cage clearance from the side wall is pretty small, at least on my ML 18/9, and some honey may bead enough to bridge the gap then it also starts getting whipped and you then have a layer of honey continually being whipped which makes it cloudy as your picture.


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