Interactive lesson

Honey quality and storage, step by step

Interactive lesson: from a drop on the refractometer to a jar in the pantry — water and fermenting, heat and HMF, crystallisation, soft-set honey, liquefying and storage.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Water in honey

Water content is the most important figure for a home beekeeper: it decides whether honey keeps for years.

Calibration — As the maker says, with calibration oil or a calibration block, at room temperature. Without calibration the figure can be 1–2 % out.
A drop from the middle — Take a drop of honey from the middle of the container, not from the surface. Liquefy set honey first in a small closed bottle at 40 °C (104 °F) and let it cool.
Reading — Close the prism and wait 30 seconds for the temperature to even out. Look towards the light and read the line between the light and dark fields.
Cleaning the prism — Wipe the prism with lukewarm water and a soft cloth, never anything abrasive.

Why: A refractometer measures how much light bends in a drop of honey and shows the percentage of water. Up to 18 % water is safe; 20 % is the legal limit.

If the refractometer has no automatic temperature compensation (ATC), measure at 20 °C (68 °F) or use the table in the instructions.
Measure the water for every batch and enter it in the quality record under the batch number.

2. Fermenting

All honey contains sugar-tolerant yeasts: while there is little water, they lie dormant.

Up to 18 % is safe — Store honey with up to 18 % water normally. From 19 % it ferments easily: keep it cool or in the freezer and use it within the first year.
Signs of fermenting — Froth on top, a smell of yeast and a bulging lid mean fermenting: there is too much water in the honey.
Can't be fixed — Fermented honey can't be fixed by heating or by mixing it with better honey; it isn't sold and isn't fed to bees. Slightly sour with no mould, it can go into cooking or mead; if it smells of vinegar or has mould, throw it away.
Closed and cool — An open bucket in a damp cellar takes up water through the surface. A cool store below 15 °C (59 °F) slows yeasts even in honey of 18–19 %.

Why: With more water the yeasts get to work and the honey froths, turns sour and smells of alcohol. Up to 17 % water the risk is almost none; above 20 % honey will ferment, the only question is when.

Extract only ripe honey and keep the honey room dry, with air humidity below 60 %.
Extracted honey isn't dried at home by heating.