Does honey expand?

[whynothot]

I have several boxes of last years honey in storage. When I checked on them recently, there was a very large puddle of honey underneath the boxes. The majority of the jars seemed to have leaked - although they were also jarred up carefully. No jars had tipped over and I don't how the honey has got out. Does it expand as it crystalises, as this is the only difference? The honey was liquid went jarred up and it well crystallised now. I moved and cleaned all the jars into new boxes, but the problem still seems to be occuring?

Any ideas why this is?

 

[Jimmy]

I have several boxes of last years honey in storage. When I checked on them recently, there was a very large puddle of honey underneath the boxes. The majority of the jars seemed to have leaked - although they were also jarred up carefully. No jars had tipped over and I don't how the honey has got out. Does it expand as it crystalises, as this is the only difference? The honey was liquid went jarred up and it well crystallised now. I moved and cleaned all the jars into new boxes, but the problem still seems to be occuring?

Any ideas why this is?

Sounds very much like fermentation. Are there small bubbles in the neck of each jar that weren't there when it was jarred? Does it smell alcoholic/not right?
I've had OSR honey at 17% ferment, the best explanation that I've seen was that as the sugar crystallises out of solution, the liquid left is high enough moisture content to allow fermentation.

 

[enrico]

I have several boxes of last years honey in storage. When I checked on them recently, there was a very large puddle of honey underneath the boxes. The majority of the jars seemed to have leaked - although they were also jarred up carefully. No jars had tipped over and I don't how the honey has got out. Does it expand as it crystalises, as this is the only difference? The honey was liquid went jarred up and it well crystallised now. I moved and cleaned all the jars into new boxes, but the problem still seems to be occuring?

Any ideas why this is?

Oh dear! It has fermented! Good for cooking! Check by opening lids, if they hiss as you open them then ......

 

[Ely]

Would it be good for mead? Or wrong type of bacteria?

 

[user 819]

Have to agree fermented honey, I have a small 15lbs bucket that has fermented from last year and noticed a small crack in the lid so it hasn't been sealed properly , reads 21% and is set honey with a small amount of wet on the top . I'm using it for my self in tea as the taste is still quite good and not fizzy on the tongue.

 

[enrico]

Have to agree fermented honey, I have a small 15lbs bucket that has fermented from last year and noticed a small crack in the lid so it hasn't been sealed properly , reads 21% and is set honey with a small amount of wet on the top . I'm using it for my self in tea as the taste is still quite good and not fizzy on the tongue.

Cook loads of honey cakes and freeze them!

 

[The Poot]

Through the heat of Summer, was it stored in a place that became very warm for some weeks? I found a number of Jars of my last years honey had “separated“ - the heavier honey sinking leaving runny honey above, which as @Jimmy said can lead to the honey in the top layer fermenting. I drained the runny stuff off into a container and made jars up from the “heavy stuff” as an experiment. The runny stuff fed the bees and as of today, the heavy stuff has remained stable - no sign of fermentation. Check what yours is doing and if it is fermenting, then the above advice is sound. You could make mead, but you may have to boil the honey and water mix to kill the wild yeasts before adding wine yeast later. Good luck - I hope you find a good use for it.

 

[pargyle]

Does Honey expand ? Try dropping a small jar of honey onto the kitchen floor and see how far that expands - At a flow rate that far exceeds anything when you are trying to jar the stuff up !

 

[Ian123]

Does Honey expand ? Try dropping a small jar of honey onto the kitchen floor and see how far that expands - At a flow rate that far exceeds anything when you are trying to jar the stuff up !

I can tell you how far a 30lb bucket will go on a new travertine floor I’d laid in the kitchen, the handle on a bucket freshly out the kochstar broke. I ended up sweeping it towards the untiled section waiting for the rest of the new units. Once re filtered it still made perfect gifts for the in-laws…….only joking

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

Most likely y've swung your honey with a to high moist lvl and it fermented,we only swing under 18% and never have this happening,maibe can consider to try to make mede with it,there is a market for that stuff.Two advices,either only swing fully capted frames or get yourself a moist messurer.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Honey can indeed expand as it crystallizes, especially if there is a high concentration of glucose, which tends to crystallize faster than other sugars in honey. As the honey crystallizes, it forms solid crystals that take up more space than the liquid honey, potentially causing the jars to leak.

never seen that happen, unless the honey has fermented

 

[Newbeeneil]

I thought that “frosting” was due to honey shrinking away from the glas when it crystalised! Have I got that wrong?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I thought that “frosting” was due to honey shrinking away from the glas when it crystalised! Have I got that wrong?

nope, you are right, I've had honey crystalizing in jars for years - one customer especially as she has an animal feed business so the shop is pretty cold, even in the summer, she just keeps the crystalised honey as a lot of people prefer it.
Never had one report yet of jars exploding, or honey drippling out under the lid.
I once had to take a load of honey back from customers years ago with honey bubbling out, it was heather and although well within the 'safe' water content limits, it was particularly feisty that season. One customer though (a butcher) took it all off me as he reckoned it was superb for glazing his baked hams

 

[Sutty]

Some supers that are stored wet smell a bit of fermentation, but the bees don't seem to mind.
Can you feed a bulk of fermenting honey back to bees? Presumably if so they would recycle it.

 

[Garry R]

Honey is hygroscopic ie it attracts moisture in the open air/unsealed container. Thus in a super of extracted comb the moisture content of the honey rises and gets to a level where it can ferment hence the fermented smell. It's a small amount of honey which I give back to the bees in the spring and they soon clean it up and indeed I find it encourages the bees to repopulate the supers. I don't give the supers back in the autumn for them to clean up as I find that the wax moth are not so keen on wet comb as against dry comb.

 

[Sutty]

Honey is hygroscopic ie it attracts moisture in the open air/unsealed container. Thus in a super of extracted comb the moisture content of the honey rises and gets to a level where it can ferment hence the fermented smell. It's a small amount of honey which I give back to the bees in the spring and they soon clean it up and indeed I find it encourages the bees to repopulate the supers. I don't give the supers back in the autumn for them to clean up as I find that the wax moth are not so keen on wet comb as against dry comb.

I realise that, and do similar.
I was wondering if feeding a substantial amount of fermenting honey is problematic - if not it would be a method to recycle it.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I realise that, and do similar.
I was wondering if feeding a substantial amount of fermenting honey is problematic - if not it would be a method to recycle it.

Can you heat it to 80C and sell it as bakers honey?

 

[Sutty]

Can you heat it to 80C and sell it as bakers honey?

Not me - I was thinking of the OP

 

[Erichalfbee]

Not me - I was thinking of the OP

Oops.

 

[jarmo henttu]

Would it be good for mead? Or wrong type of bacteria?

Fantastic opportunity to ruin your liver.