Blending honey to reduce moisture content.

[Newbeeneil]

I have been going through the dregs of my stores today and found a bucket with about 25lb in it with a m/c of 20%. I don't want to jar it as it is as it may ferment so I was wondering if mixing it with another bucket of about 10lb with a m/c of about 16% was a good idea?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes but stir that honey very well first. It may be better than 20 %

 

[Beefriendly]

What's the problem with a 20% water content?.
That won't ferment.

 

[masterBK]

Oh yes it will (nearly panto time. Sorry). I have had 20% ferment in the past and now don't sell anything over 19% and if possible mix even that with 16 or 17% in the proportions to achieve 18% as my customers don't like their runny honey too runny.

 

[Beefriendly]

And in Panto tradition "OH No it Didn't".
Either you read the concentration wrong or it started absorbing water by a badly fitted lid or water concentration increased between crystals as it crystallized.
It happens....
But 20% honey does not ferment.
Even heather honeys between 20-23% rarely ferment. I've had one bucket start fermenting in god knows how many years.

 

[masterBK]

Not simply down to water content as I am certain that you with your science background will know. Storage temperature and yeast count are also important.

Osmophyllic Yeasts occur naturally in the nectaries of flowers and the yeast spore count in "raw" honey can range anywhere from one to tens of thousands per gram. Honey with a low spore count of one per gram will usually not ferment with a moisture content of up to 19%. Honey with a spore count of ten per gram needs to be 18.6% moisture or lower to be safe. A high spore count of 1,000 or more needs to have 17% moisture or lower, or fermentation can occur.

 

[Beefriendly]

Zygosaccharomyces rouxii is the one you need to look out for as it's about the only one capable of proliferating at the extreme osmotic environment found in honey.
It's always puzzled me that these number of yeast is a factor as non (except rouxii) can proliferate at these extremes. Remember that an osmophilic yeast is generally defined as one that can proliferate at greater than 20% sugar solution....honey being a nominal 80% sugar presents an extreme osmophilic environment. So the only reason I can think that the numbers of contaminating yeast is important is that it increases the likelihood that one of the many different yeast strains present is rouxii....which incidentally can be active at 90% w/v sugar solutions (Leandro et al 2011). So theoretically no honeys are safe.....but I'll stand by the practical side which at 20% water content your chances of fermentation are so low as to be not worth worrying about.

 

[Jimmy]

Does storing drawn frames wet over the winter and consequently in my experience having several supers that have a definite fermentation smell in the spring increase the background yeast spore count?

I find the whiff of alcohol soon dissipates - present when a sealed stack of supers is first disassembled but hard to detect a few days later. Bees don't seem to mind anyhow.

 

[drex]

I would beg to contradict Beefriendlywho is much more experienced than me, but this year I have had two batches ferment stored in ideal conditions. I never jar over 20% moisture content honey. However some jars in same batches are still OK. I repeatedly check water content and stir the tank as I am jarring, as not doing that has caused difficulty for me in the past

 

[Beefriendly]

rouxii rules in Essex?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Just thought I'd update regarding the honey that was just over 20%.
In the end I put it in my honey warmer at 30 deg for 7 days with the lid off the bucket. I stirred it every day and the moisture content reduced to 19%.
I used http://www.sheffieldbeekeepers.org.uk/important-temperatures-beekeeping/ to be sure I wouldn't damage the honey during this period.