Why won't my honey crystallize?

[Erichalfbee]

But two jars of soft set from the supermarket and use that as a seed

 

[Karol]

Fridge is a year old and works perfectly. It's a pound of honey in a food grade plastic container with a seal and it clips round the edges.

Try cracking open the lid slightly so the honey is covered but not airtight and give it an occasional stir. That might help seed your honey.

 

[Jonnyl]

Ah yes, that great oasis of truth and wisdom
It's obvious that the honey you have is of a type that is ever so slow to crystalise so your only option is to seed it.When I seed a batch (10% seed) it gets seeded at around 30-35°C, is quickly brought down to 13°C and is evident that it's setting within 24 hours

Thanks JBM. I know, I know. You Tube. But I don't have anyone local to help so I try and learn what I can with what I have. Yeah it does look like I'll have to cheat and buy some shop stuff. Not my first preference but hey-ho I did try. I got one of those jam preserver pots from lidl so I'll pop 9lbs in a bucket and bring it up to temp, empty the shop bought into it and then take it to the cool garage to lower the temp as you advised. Cheers

 

[Jonnyl]

But two jars of soft set from the supermarket and use that as a seed

Yip, nothing else for it or so it seems. Feels like cheating but I did try.

 

[Tony Slater]

I’ve made 20 pounds of soft set, seeding it with 2.5 pounds left over from last year. The seed honey was about 30 degrees when I mixed it with the liquid honey. The jars are now in a cold box in the garage kept as close to 15 degrees C as possible. After a week, it’s setting well.

 

[janetbee]

Low temperatures slow down crystallisation. It happens fastest at 14 degrees C.
I would say that you are lucky to have honey that isn't showing signs of crystallising! Just a pity that you fancy some soft set. Try the seeding method that has been described.

 

[GuyNir]

A bit warm now for soft set. I plan to do a couple of soft set batches around Oct-Nov time.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A bit warm now for soft set. I plan to do a couple of soft set batches around Oct-Nov time.

I use my honey warming cabinet, just turn the thermostat right down (so it's more of a thermometer than anything else) then chuck in three or four coolbag icepacks to get the temperature down, then just swap one or two blocks over every evening and morning to maintain the temp. at 13°. A few years ago I made a batch like this during a July heatwave to prepare my Royal Welsh winning exhibits.

 

[enrico]

By not spending a fortune sending honey away to be tested for something as basic as water content.

Oh! Thanks I realise what he means now. I didn't put two and two together!

 

[GuyNir]

I use my honey warming cabinet, just turn the thermostat right down (so it's more of a thermometer than anything else) then chuck in three or four coolbag icepacks to get the temperature down, then just swap one or two blocks over every evening and morning to maintain the temp. at 13°. A few years ago I made a batch like this during a July heatwave to prepare my Royal Welsh winning exhibits.

My warming cabinet is actually a fridge. fitted a heating bulb and a fan inside, but could also be used as a normal fridge. I’ll do a quick test to see if it can maintain 14c.

 

[Beegarden]

No it doesnt cost anything, they even supply the return envelope stamped. You just fill three plastic vials and put the date and area on the labels provided and send it back. It's a bit of a gimmick but a little bit of fun as eventually they send the results of what the honey consists of in terms of forage.

Do you mean you sent it to the National Honey Monitoring service?

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's a bit of a gimmick but a little bit of fun as eventually they send the results of what the honey consists of in terms of forage.

It’s actually a serious bit of data gathering.
This year a pesticide analysis is being included.
The results, as far as pollen DNA analysis are concerned, simply show which plants the bees visited not what honey they made

 

[Ian123]

You don’t just want any old honey setting. Pick something slow setting and you get a large Crystal that’s like having a mouth full of sugar crystals. You want a fast fine crystal setting honey like rape/clover. The reason why they say spring honey is a lot contains rape maybe dandelion. If it doesn’t contain any you may as well use a summer honey. Go get a couple of jars of rape or even foreign clover if it’s for yourself. Fridges are fine and will get it started.

 

[Jonnyl]

Do you mean you sent it to the National Honey Monitoring service?

Yes, that's the one.

 

[Jonnyl]

It’s actually a serious bit of data gathering.
This year a pesticide analysis is being included.
The results, as far as pollen DNA analysis are concerned, simply show which plants the bees visited not what honey they made

Oh I'm sure it is as they wouldnt be funded or offer the service for nothing in return. Data mining I expect and a multitude of other worthwhile reasons, but for the average beek it doesn't really mean anything, certainly nothing I can influence. I accept that it's not actually what the honey is made of but it's likely an accurate indicator. As I said previously it's not definitive and is really only a curiosity for me. If it helps scientists then so much the better.

 

[Amari]

I've been trying to have a go at soft honey using the internet website etc. However even after putting in the fridge since June it's still not crystallizing. I've had it sent away to the 'lab' thing and it's 17.2 so it's proper stuff, or so I believe. What am I doing wrong? Thank as ever.

What colour is it? Borage honey is almost water-coloured and takes ages to set.

 

[Jonnyl]

What colour is it? Borage honey is almost water-coloured and takes ages to set.

Oh just regular wildflower/blossom honey. There's no orchards or fields of specific crops for bees nearby.

 

[holmbee]

My customers are all asking for some soft set. Easy when we had OSR around - far more difficult now. Will shortly be trying out my new honey churner on some spring honey. This is the same piece of kit that was mentioned in The Apiarist earlier this year.

 

[ericbeaumont]

even after putting in the fridge since June

This puzzled me because no Dyce process I've read mentions that need.

Fridge is too cold - you want to maintain its temperature at around 12 to 14°C

JBM speaks from experience, but also check out The Apiarist's easy description of making soft set honey, one that doesn't involve fridges.

 

[Erichalfbee]

My customers are all asking for some soft set. Easy when we had OSR around - far more difficult now. Will shortly be trying out my new honey churner on some spring honey. This is the same piece of kit that was mentioned in The Apiarist earlier this year.

That doesn’t produce soft set.
The churner makes runny creamed honey