# How to tell when bees have uncapped their honey?



## magromarkbee (May 24, 2014)

Its July, nectar flow has passed, honey in my super is not fully capped. I do not have a refractometer to tell the moisture of the honey/nectar... how can I tell if the uncapped nectar/honey is actually uncapped nectar other the uncapped honey being used by the bees as energy to fan the hive for cooling due to the current heatwave? Does capped honey that is uncapped by bees have a distinct pattern or structure? I would like to harvest it but I am worried it might not be ready... at the same time id like to maximize my yield.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Do you have white specs of wax on the bottom boards? I take uncapped frames and shake them vigorously down and sideways to see if droplets of honey are ejected onto the cover I use for the check. If there are no dots of honey, it is dry enough. Also, if a flow stops, bees often leave the last of that varietal honey uncapped. For instance dandelion is often left uncapped in one of my locations. It gets so dry it sits like little rubber plugs in the cells after trying to spin them out. So uncapped honey is in no way a reliable indicator of the moisture content of honey


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

What Vance said. But you can buy a refractometer for about $40 on Amazon. Also note that most will harvest even when all cells are not capped because when mixed with the majority of capped honey, you will come out dry enough. J


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## jjayf (Aug 15, 2020)

Fivej said:


> What Vance said. But you can buy a refractometer for about $40 on Amazon. Also note that most will harvest even when all cells are not capped because when mixed with the majority of capped honey, you will come out dry enough. J


 as Fivej stated get a refractometer...I think I actually paid 18 bucks for mine shipped on amazon and got it in two days...just make sure you one for honey, the first one I bought was calibrated to measure coolant and it was so cheap I didn't bother sending it back


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