How to test yeast in honey ?

[Mr C]

Wots the best way to test yeast in honey?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Test the yeast for what?

 

[Mr C]

Is it not yeast that makes honey ferment or is it water?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Yes, among other things.

Test the honey with a refractometer.

 

[Midland Beek]

It doesn't much matter what micro-organisms are in honey as long as the sugar content is high enough to prevent their multiplication. If the sugar content isn't high enough it means there is too much water in your honey, so testing with a refractometer is the accepted method.

 

[psafloyd]

Yes, among other things.

Test the honey with a refractometer.

I have had some honey ferment this winter which was less than 19% according to my refractometer.

I did calibrate my refractometer again against my olive oil test sample, but it done go fizzy.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I have had some honey ferment this winter which was less than 19% according to my refractometer.

I don't trust the stuff above 18%, prefer it to be 16 to 17.

 

[masterBK]

Don't forget that storage temperature is also an important factor in all of this. If I had honey at 16% I would keep it for show purposes. Unusual in my part of the world to get honey with such low % of water.

 

[Hivemaker.]

If I had honey at 16% I would keep it for show purposes.

What, three or four tonnes of it just to show?

I will send you some to show for me.

 

[itma]

I have had some honey ferment this winter which was less than 19% according to my refractometer.

I did calibrate my refractometer again against my olive oil test sample, but it done go fizzy.

1/ Honey can ferment with 19% water. (The limit is considered to be around 17%)

2/ But Olive Oil is really poor for calibrating a refractometer (because different olive oils give a different reading).
The best you can hope for with it is to use a stored sample of the specific same oil to restore the instrument to its original settings. But that isn't "calibration".

3/ Fermentation requires yeast, enough water, and a temperature where yeast can multiply (approx 14 to {BBKA} 29C - though as a baker, I'd suggest that yeasts work nicely at temperatures above that, perhaps up to around 40C).
So, the higher the water content, the more you should bother with cool storage, below 12C, ideally fridge cold around 4C.

 

[Mr C]

Thanks for your help in understanding more about fermentation in honey

 

[psafloyd]

2/ But Olive Oil is really poor for calibrating a refractometer (because different olive oils give a different reading).
The best you can hope for with it is to use a stored sample of the specific same oil to restore the instrument to its original settings. But that isn't "calibration".

Perhaps I should have said recalibrate, as a sample I used when I first received my refractometer.

I even ordered some mineral oil for calibration, but it didn't say what it should read as, and being from mainland China, there was no point in asking. This was why I used the olive oil and kept a sample for that reason.

Anyone know where I can get some proper oil I will know the index of to calibrate properly (without buying gallons or spending an arm and a leg).

 

[alanf]

...Anyone know where I can get some proper oil I will know the index of to calibrate properly (without buying gallons or spending an arm and a leg).

The official answer would be that you're looking for UKAS accredited suppliers. Quick search turns up refractometershop.com which appears to be operated by Bellingham and Stanley. They supply to labs and food processors and the name rings a bell from years ago. Bad news is a glass test plate for the honey range is 99 quid plus postage plus VAT. Only you know if that counts as an arm and a leg.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Anyone know where I can get some proper oil I will know the index of to calibrate properly (without buying gallons or spending an arm and a leg).

Mann Lake.

 

[Ruary]

If your honey has partially granulated, then the moisture content of the liquid part will have increased. this would allow fermentation.

 

[alanf]

Mann Lake.

So they do; the small glycerol pack is listed on the UK site. Just the soft of item that they could do well, sourcing the specialist bits and pieces that no other UK beekeeping supplier sells. From the US you might hope for NIST certification but no mention of it; cheaper than any of the UK lab suppliers though.

 

[Mr C]

If your honey has partially granulated, then the moisture content of the liquid part will have increased. this would allow fermentation.

So what can I do to stop this happening?