A general rule of thumb for harvesting honey is that honey is “ripe” when the bees have capped it. This is generally true, but definitely does not apply 100% of the time.
If you keep bees in a humid area, you may find that your honey has a high moisture content even when you harvest fully capped frames.
When in doubt: Measure your moisture
A honey refractometer is an inexpensive and extremely useful tool for harvesting and processing honey. Most online stores will sell them for about $20 US. When purchasing,
make sure you look for a “honey refractometer”. There are brewing refractometers that appear exactly the same under the same brand names, but the scale will be
incorrect.
How to use a refractometer
- Likely the instrument will come with instructions. If not, read on…
- Calibrate your refractometer each season. The inexpensive instruments seem to wander. You can buy expensive and precise calibration fluid, but a very inexpensive subsitute is extra virgin olive oil.
- Place a couple of drops of EVOO on the sample area.
- Close the cap and wait about 30 seconds.
- Look through the viewing lens and hold the instrument such that light enters through the sample area.
- You should see a blue region and a white region. The line where the blue and white meet should cross the Brix scale at 71.5
- If you do not see 71.5 brix, loosen the adjustment screw and carefully adjust it until you get 71.5 brix, then tighten the locking nut.
- Note that EVOO does vary. Your end moisture may be off by about 0.5%. Take that into consideration.
- Measure the moisture of the honey using a similar procedure to calibration. You will want to test several cells scattered across your harvest and get a feel for moisture.