# How to lower moisture content



## Chick (May 21, 2009)

As additional info, the humidity here has been very high. I am stirring the honey in the affected bucket, a couple of times a day. I imagine there is not much else to do, but does anyone have any idea how long it will take to bring the moisture content down? The other buckets are fine, just this one.


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## datsdajoke (Aug 17, 2012)

I think the issue is that with honey in a pail there is very little surface area for moisture to evaporate. A solution would be a very large shallow pan but that's impractical. Or maybe hang a bucket full of honey with a small whole in the bottom so it slowly drips a few feet into a bucket below and is exposed to the dry air? Might work after a couple cycles of dripping. Just some wild thoughts and ideas.


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## Chick (May 21, 2009)

The bucket dripping is a good idea. Yes, I am concerned with the small surface area, and why I keep stirring it. Thanks!


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

You might also try placing a small fan on a chair next to the bucket, or a clip on fan, so that the fan blows right onto the surface of the honey in that room you have setup with heater and dehumidifier.


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## Chick (May 21, 2009)

This really aggravates me. This happened to me back in 1984, and now again. Both times we were hit with a lot of rain and continual high humidity.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

what percentage of the honey was capped? I thought the bees wouldnt cap it until it was below the threshold. Just wondering. Good Luck. G


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## Chick (May 21, 2009)

Very little, but, the humidity is so high, it might have absorbed it during extracting.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I don't know if this will help much, since you seem to be doing about as much as you can, though you could do something different, I guess.

Anyway, a friend of mine had a barrel of high moisture honey. His hot room was heated by a wood stove in the center of the room. He raised the barrel above and beside the stove. He set another barrel on the opposite side of the stove. He took a section of rain gutter and spanned the distance between the bottom of the raised barrel to the barrel on the floor across the top of the stove. He punched a hole in the side of the elevated barrel just above the bottom of the barrel, allowing honey from the elevated barrel to run the length of the gutter into the barrel on the floor, across the burning wood stove. That did the trick for him. Maybe that will inspire your creativity, maybe not.

One bucket? Feed it back to your bees? Harvest it again when moisture is right? Next time don't extract so much open celled honeycomb? Check moisture content before extracting? I don't know. Just thinking out loud.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

I hear a lot about testing before extracting on frames that are not capped. How do you do that? You have 10 or 20 frames, 2 sides each, thousands of cells per frame, do you pick a dozen and run it though the refract meter and hope for a decent cross sample?


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Take some of it out and heat it gently in your kitchen (with the ac up and the humidity low) until it thickens as much as possible then mix that back with the wet honey.


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## Chick (May 21, 2009)

Moisture is down to 18.5% today, so it is coming down. I will work on it another day or so. Thanks guys!


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

BTW, a couple of years ago I had a good bit of honey which did ferment - and it was delicious, everyone loved it.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Make a tent of plastic film and put the dehumidifier and the honey container inside. Have seen a similar idea used for a small scale lumber drying kiln. Much more efficient because you get a lot dryer air when it is not diluted by the whole room.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Chick said:


> Moisture is down to 18.5% today, so it is coming down. I will work on it another day or so. Thanks guys!


Where did you take the sample to check the moisture content? I surface I bet.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

After reading this thread i tried this experiment today - line a cooky sheet with parchment paper, fill with a shallow layer of honey, put in a warm (mine is 170 f) oven for 3-4 hours. Cover and freeze. Results in a solid taffy like candy that releases cleanly.


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## NowThen (Nov 26, 2008)

Here are some photos of my 'drying hut'. Since these photos were taken, I have added more bracing for stability and have started hanging the fan from the ceiling to improve air flow. There is also a very small electric heater (set as low as it will go) and dehumidifier in the hut. It takes about 15 minutes to set up and take down and is made with PVC pipes and fittings. Generally, about a week in the hut is all that is required before a box is ready for extraction.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

You can also use an old air conditioner. As long as the air is chilled below the dew point the moisture will fall out. If the discharge hose is long enough the room will reheat the air before it goes into your drying room. Not saying to go buy an air conditioner but more have AC than dehumidifiers (especially in TX). It is how us facility guys ‘ring’ water from the air. You need to bring the heat back up but in TX I would think heat would not be a problem.


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## mike martel (Jun 20, 2012)

if you knew a hvac guy you could pour into a pressure cooker and he hooks up his vacuum pump
it would be bone dry in 24 hours. too bad your so far away from here.


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## Chick (May 21, 2009)

HA! I got a vacuum pump, but never thought about that. And I have a large pressure cooker. I would have to look at installing a barb fitting in the R/V port. 

I am using a dehumidifier, but it quit coming down. I have been stirring it regularly, and take a sample from the spoon, after stirring. If this doesn't come down soon, I am just going to feed it back to the bees and let them take care of it.


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## mike martel (Jun 20, 2012)

oh boy, i was just wondering if you pull a deep vacuum on the honey, would it turn to a near solid?
hmmm. maybe sometime will try it.


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## Lady Devana (Oct 5, 2016)

Some of my honey had too much moisture in it so I put open frames in a bathroom with the door shut and a dehumidifier on. I left someone else in charge while I was out of town. They left the dehumidifier on for a couple of days. 
Today I used a defractometer and the capped honey and the uncapped honey were both at 15 1/2 percent. This is the first year I pulled frames of honey for myself in the past I always stored the honey to give back to the bees. I'm thinking this might be too much moisture gone from the honey??? Not sure what to do at this point. Also this is the honey I pulled in July I just wasn't able to spin it yet. Anyone have any knowledge about this. I know the moisture content is good at about 18% but Not sure what to do about this.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

I believe 17.8 and under is what people shoot for to prevent fermentation. I would bottle the honey and be happy is was that low. The only drawback is that it may crystallize faster. But honey is hygroscopic so it will absorb water from the air. So, it might be higher by the time you process it, depending on the humidity in your honey house/room. J


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## Lady Devana (Oct 5, 2016)

Since this is the middle of winter how would you recommend getting the honey "warm" enough to be able to spin it? It's in my house but I keep my house at 65 degrees daytime and 48 at night.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

There are threads on here about how to stack your supers over a light bulb which will warm them up nicely. If you don't want to mess around too much, you could try a "trouble light" under the supers. Be sure that the light is protected from honey dripping on it. Drape a comforter over the boxes. You could also put a space heater in your bathroom. Might take a few days, but it will work. Of course, keep safety in mind. J


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## Robert Holcombe (Oct 10, 2019)

Removing or the ebb and flow of moisture from honey to air or back, or into wood and back to air is a slow process. Ever wait for a pot to boil? 

I live in a high humidity area near the sea. I have a bee shed in which I have installed both a dehumidifier and a heater. When extracting I keep the room dry, less than 55%, and warm, above 80F, like 90F to keep my uncapped frames from absorbing water and to dry any sets of frames with high water content. I dry them in the salad spinner, uncapped. 

Technical issues: refractometer reading are sensitive and should be calibrated. I was having trouble with mine and discovered it was a sucrose refractometer and not corrected for honey ( glucose & fructose, mainly). Nor was the supplier able to explain how the device, marked ATC, actually compensated for temperature - I think it means to allow time for it to stabilize to 68F. 18% MC means 18% water at a specific temperature of 68F or correct it for the temperature at which you measure it. I have also noticed that a 5-gal. pail will "split" with lower, denser honey at the bottom and higher moisture levels at the top - just like honey in a comb cell. I borrowed a calibrated digital refractometer ($350-500 type) to examine and find all these issues. I may get one for peace of mind.


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