Uncapped honey

[Finman]

.
I have a heater cabin where I put 200 kg honey to be warmed before extraction.
If I warm frames 4 days, honey dryes up throungh cappings so much that there is difficulties to exctract it and to be sieved.

That is one way to dry up uncapped honey.

 

[melias]

Finman, what's the temperature of your warming cabin?

 

[oliver90owner]

"other alternatives".

They are simple ploys. On about the same par as the suggestion of movig the frames closer together? No far better than that. Very easy to think of at least two ways of getting it done, I got to three in much less than thirty seconds. Let's see what some can come up with as I am not intending doing your thinking for you on this one.

 

[Finman]

Finman, what's the temperature of your warming cabin?

it is 35C like in the hive

.

 

[melias]

I regularly find that I have uncapped honey with water levels below 18%.
In the case of OSR, where you don't want to leave honey in the hive too long, I always extract uncapped honey so long as its ripe.

 

[tudorcd]

"other alternatives".

They are simple ploys. On about the same par as the suggestion of movig the frames closer together? No far better than that. Very easy to think of at least two ways of getting it done, I got to three in much less than thirty seconds. Let's see what some can come up with as I am not intending doing your thinking for you on this one.

Thanks, Socrates.

1 Don't put on too many supers - but enough, experience helps
2 Wait but not too long - bees eat honey or move it to the brood box when the flow is over
3 Use shake and 80% capped guidance, check with refractometer if you are unsure

Regards.

 

[meatsy]

What % off water should there be in honey

 

[Finman]

What % off water should there be in honey

Wait that bees cap the honey. Then you do not need to measure it.
I cannot see any reason to exctract non capped honey. In autumn last extraction is different.

What are you in a hurry with hobbiest 15 kg annual yield.

We have here raspberry flow and bees bring honey 4-10 kg a day.
It is very moist nectar and it takes its own time that it is capped.

A week ago I looked my biggest hive. It had 50 kg honey, but not practically any frame capped. I must wait that they bring more and some day I have first capped super. It is 25 kg rippen honey, and I believe that it has again 50 kg uncapped honey in lower boxes. Hive is now 3 langstroths + 3 mediums.

If you put into Google Earth adress "Sippola", you see the satellite landscape.

Balance hive map from Finland. My hive is Kouvola, second in south east.
http://koti.tnnet.fi/web144/vaakapesa/selaa.php

Biggest yields are coming now from east-south from raspberry. On west coast raspberry is not yeat blooming. They have got there heavy rains.

.
.

 

[MandF]

Wait that bees cap the honey. Then you do not need to measure it.
I cannot see any reason to exctract non capped honey. In autumn last extraction is different.

What are you in a hurry with hobbiest 15 kg annual yield.

.

Oh, I can see why a hobbyist beekeeper would want to make early extractions.

For example, right now if you extracted you would have (primarily) spring or "blossom" honey. It is interesting, for me at least, to see and taste the different honeys. Rather than always leave it on until autumn and get an annual blend.

Generally speaking anything under 20% is ok, but some honeys will have a higher water content - not really an issue unless you take your bees to the heather, or you know they have been primarily on clover for example.

Again, generally speaking if you have partially capped frames, and you do the shake test and nothing comes out, it is safe to extract it - even if there are some higher water content cells, the average across the frame will be low enough.

If you do take a small batch, which has a few mainly uncapped frames, then use a hygrometer to confirm the water content.

For me, a major benefit of being a "2 hive hobby" beekeeper is being able to take small batches when I can. And I will do again soon after the lime flow hopefully!

 

[Finman]

Oh, I can see why a hobbyist beekeeper would want to make early extractions.

100% splended explanario!

- why to exctract moist honey

- beekeeper would want to make early extractions

WoW, nice answer

 

[MandF]

100% splended explanario!

- why to exctract moist honey

- beekeeper would want to make early extractions

WoW, nice answer

?

You asked why anyone would want to extract any uncapped honey.

I explained why, because the honey within is of a particular type you wanted to sample, like spring honey, or lime honey, and you know the overall water content would be ok.

Versus not choosing to extract because no frames are 100% capped, and missing out on trying that type of honey.

I extracted just 14 frames a few weeks back so I could have some 'blossom' honey. Most were 80% capped. Some were 20% capped. None were 100% capped. None dripped when shook.

The overall moisture content of the whole batch was either 17.8% or 18.2% (I cant remember exactly now).

So, I WANTED to extract SOME uncapped honey, as I knew the overall water content would not be significantly affected. And by doing so I got almost 30lbs of Spring honey which I would not have gotten if I only extracted fully capped frames.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me?!


Oh, and I have also previously, out of interest, compared the water content of capped and uncapped honey on the same frame, and the uncapped had a lower water content. As you know, being uncapped does not mean it isnt 'honey'.

 

[itma]

.
I have a heater cabin where I put 200 kg honey to be warmed before extraction.
...

Saunas are much more usual in Finland than in the UK ... ?

 

[Finman]

?

You asked why anyone would want to extract any uncapped honey.

I explained why, because the honey within is of a particular type you wanted to sample, like spring honey, or lime honey, and you know the overall water content would be ok.

Versus not choosing to extract because no frames are 100% capped, and missing out on trying that type of honey.

I extracted just 14 frames a few weeks back so I could have some 'blossom' honey. Most were 80% capped. Some were 20% capped. None were 100% capped. None dripped when shook.

The overall moisture content of the whole batch was either 17.8% or 18.2% (I cant remember exactly now).

So, I WANTED to extract SOME uncapped honey, as I knew the overall water content would not be significantly affected. And by doing so I got almost 30lbs of Spring honey which I would not have gotten if I only extracted fully capped frames.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me?!


Oh, and I have also previously, out of interest, compared the water content of capped and uncapped honey on the same frame, and the uncapped had a lower water content. As you know, being uncapped does not mean it isnt 'honey'.

Bad to say anything to that.

.

.

.

 

[Finman]

Saunas are much more usual in Finland than in the UK ... ?

it needs 2000 kg honey in frames

.

 

[MandF]

Seems entirely possible to me, unless bees only store one type of nectar on any frame?

 

[Finman]

.
vain to debate with 2 hive owner.

.

 

[MandF]

No debate about it. I tested both honey from an uncapped cell and capped cell on the same frame, to see how much higher the uncapped honey was, and it was lower.

Fact. Witnessed by several people.

Finman, you dont even own a hygrometer, never mind having tried this yourself!!

 

[YorkshireBees]

100% splended explanario!

- why to exctract moist honey

- beekeeper would want to make early extractions

WoW, nice answer

I agree totally that there is no point extracting unripe honey or any that is so close to the threshold that it may ferment.

However the MAIN reason for extracting honey early (now) is that most of the crop is from OSR and if it is NOT extracted soon then it will set solid in the supers and not only can it then not be extracted but it makes a mess of the super frames!

Other people may have different reasons for extracting at different times but the only reason I do it is because of OSR.

 

[oliver90owner]

Finman, you dont even own a hygrometer,



What would Finman, or most any other beekeeper want one of those for? Budding meteorologist?

 

[MandF]

Hilarious.

I am studying for a pilot rating/exam, which includes meteorlogy, hence the typo.

Glad I cheered you up though, hope you didnt wet yourself and moisten the atmosphere too much.