[ocba] refractometer

kawayanan kawayanan at gmail.com
Mon Jun 2 12:06:20 EDT 2008


tom wright wrote:
> kawayanan wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I harvested a small amount of honey over this holiday weekend, and 
>> since this is my first time I am a little paranoid about it being to 
>> high in moisture.  I would hate for my first small crop to spoil.  
>> Does anyone in the group use a  refractometer to measure the moisture 
>> content of their honey?
>>
>> Sean Palmer
>> _______________________________________________
>> ocba mailing list
>> North Carolina Beekeeping
>> http://www.theocba.org/
>>
>>
>>
>>  
>>
> If the honey was capped, there should be no problem with fermentation. 
> When you have a frame with some (not a lot) that is not capped, do the 
> "shake test" before extracting.Hold the frame horizontally and 
> vigorously shake downward over a sheet of paper. If nothing comes out, 
> it's OK.
>
> Of course, you can always Pastuerize after it is bottled. Put in a hot 
> water bath and heat slowly. Not sure of temp but think it is 140F, you 
> can check on that. Purists say that it degrades the flavor.
>
> Tom
Thanks everyone for the replies.  From most of the "rules of thumb" I've 
heard, I think I should be ok.

Just because I like gadgets and I was able to find one at a reasonable 
price, I went ahead and got a refractometer.  My honey turned out to be 
about 18.4-18.5% moisture.  After asking around and a bit of research, I 
guess the FDA limit for grade A honey is 18.6%.  Anyway, everything 
should be good.  If anyone needs to check their honey, I have a 
refractometer now.  :)

Sean


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