Honey Refractometer

[omnimirage]

What kind of refractometers are best for beekeepers? Are cheap ones adequate, or are the ones that cost over a hundred dollars worthwhile? What sort of oils should be used for calibration?

Here in my country, it's legal to sell honey if it has no more than 21% moisture. I read though that it can ferment when it's at 19%. At what moisture level is it inclined to ferment? If it is at a higher range, are there actions that I can take to prevent it from fermenting? Should I ever be concerned if the moisture level is particularly low?

[apisbees]

The cheap ones are fine. they will give you a close enough moisture reading. that being said there are differences between different units I will post from eBay Australia and explain the differences.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ATAGO-Honey-moisture-Refractometer-PAL-22S-Digital-Hand-held-Pocket/183178420127?hash=item2aa648df9f:g:wFwAAOSwrOtZuf1i
This is a digital refractometer that give moisture to .1% very accurate and easy to use even in poor light or with bad eye site.  But it is expensive!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sweetness-Test-Refractometer-Reader-Meter-Range-Brix-Honey-Sugar-Solution-CW/273057654634?hash=item3f9381276a:m:mapBL3SukSRWVnhPzbKG1pg
This one only has a brix scale so you would need to have a conversion chart to calculate what the moisture content is in the honey. These will give you a reading to about .5% in water content.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Honey-Refractometer-Tester-Bees-Beekeeping-58-90-Brix-Baume-with-ATC/172613040318?epid=730667989&hash=item283089f8be:g:dVYAAOSwB-1Y5bbY
This refractometer has both the brix and moisture scale so no conversion scale is needed. It's moisture scale reads in 1% increments but can be guess calculated to .5% moisture.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RHF-30ATC-W-10-30-A-Bee-Keeping-Tool-for-measuring-the-WATER-CONTENT-in-honey/181996120842?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20140106155344%26meid%3Da319b6b2a8004ff3ad5f11a31ea5ca34%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D2%26sd%3D182275676141%26itm%3D181996120842&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
This scale is listed in moisture only It has a defined scale that allows the moisture to be read to .2% his is the unit I would consider.

Moisture and Fermenting Honey

There are yeast spores in all raw honey Pasteurization kills these spores. non pasteurized honey can ferment if the conditions are rite. The absolute safe moisture to garentee that fermentation of raw honey does not begin is to have it moisture content lower than 17.3%, is is at the point of sugars saturation that honey can not start to ferment in regardless of the storage temperature. As the moisture content rises above 17.4% The honey becomes acceptable to fermentation, How much higher is determine by the number of spores that are present in the honey. The more spores in the honey can effect whether fermentation begins. But what has even a bigger effect is the temperature the honey is stored at, The optimal fermentation temp of honey is 85 deg. So as the storage temp of honey gets closer to 85 Deg the less spores and lower moisture above 17.4 in the honey are needed to start the fermentation.

Be aware that there are 2 different standards for moisture in honey depending on whether the honey has be pasteurized or not. Also grade #2 honey can also contain more moisture as most # 2 honeys are sold in bulk to packers that blend their honey

[omnimirage]

Fantastic information thanks a lot. I think I'll buy the last one, the one that you suggest to consider as it looks great. It says that it needs calibration oil. Should just regular olive oil work with it?

I'm surprised the law is to not sell honey with greater than 21%, when it can ferment at 18%.

I didn't know the room temperature influenced fermentation.

[apisbees]

From the wright up.
"As the model RHF-30ATC is a model which doesn't have the ZERO line, so, the distilled/pure water can't be applied to calibrate this instrument, it requires calibration oil and reference stone for calibration when the calibration work is required. This price don't include calibration set, if you need feel free to contact us! The cost $5.5/set(not shipping cost included).)
I would contact them and get a calibration kit added to the order get them to combine shipping. at $5.50 a kit, I would not screw around with olive oil.

It comes pre-calibrated and as long as it is treated with care is should not go out of adjustment. Don't bang it. keep it out of direct sun, Keep it from extreme temperature changes expansion and contraction can effect it along with if it gets dropped.
On some the adjust screw is poorly designed and in a bad spot so it is easy to knock it out of adjustment just with using it. If you do use Olive oil you need to make your test sample. read its moisture content and mark it on the side of the test sample air tight vial so when you are checking the calibration later on you know what the refractometer is suppose to read with that oil.

Lets face it most the honey sold in the developed world is pasteurized, thus eliminating yeast spores that could start fermentation. With modern warehousing and air conditioned stores the stores are kept cool, even our houses are cooled with air conditioning. So even though the honey could ferment. Due to the temperature that we like to live in the chances of the honey fermenting is very low.

So the debate is at what percentage of moisture does nectar turn into honey. There has been a push by the honey packers to get the allowable moisture content to be higher for the all grades of honey.

[omnimirage]

I bought the refractometer, because I was concerned that my honey was fermenting. I was going to process a bucket, but it suspiciously smelled like wine and also had a subtle tangy flavour to it. Now, I've opened it two weeks later and it barely smells like wine.

The calibration oil hasn't came in yet with the refractometer, so I haven't verified accuracy, but it's allegedly shipped already calibrated so I figure it should be good. It was difficult to read the results as it was quite small, but the line was inbetween 18 and 19. There's 4 line/mark/notches in there, and the reading was just below the 3rd line/mark. I'm not too sure what percentage that actually is. My unit's supposed to be accurate within 0.2%, so it seems that this honey could possibly be over that 18.5% fermentation mark. I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to tell.

Seems useful to reduce moisture content in it. It's been suggested to use a dehumidifier (which I don't own) or some sort of aircondition, but these too costly to be practical. A fan has also been suggested, which strikes me as more cheaply and viable. Evaporation through heat is interesting, one could use lightglobes, but I do already have a chest freezer with an oil heater in it to enable an effective crush and strain operation, and to decrystalise honey. I can leave the bucket of suspected honey in there, with the lid off, and the chest freezer slightly open so moisture can escape. I'm just not sure how high I should heat it to and at what range of temperature would the honey start to become damaged and lose it's flavour, but I suppose accepting some damage is better than it fermenting. I'm also not sure about this approach, because I wonder too myself, wouldn't heating it up speed up the fermentation process? Or have I got that all wrong?

[apisbees]

Not all wrong Omni. but first what is the Relative humidity in your area? I do not know your neighborhood that you live in but this is the readings at the Adelaide airport. Look at the 9 AM and 3 PM readings. this is the average for each month through the year. During the day as the temperature rises the humidity drops. Bees raise the temperature in the hive so to reduce the ambient relative humidity in the hive so they can dehydrate the honey. During most times of the year in your area, open containers of honey will absorb moisture.
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_023034.shtml
From Dr Eva Cranes Book of honey is a chart of the Relative Humidity of air in percent, and the corresponding percentage of Moisture in the Honey.
RH of air %                    50%     55%     60%     65%     70%     75%     80%
% of water in honey     15.9      16.8      18.3     20.9     24.2      28.3     33.1
Given your location, heat and a dehumidifier may be needed to effectively reduce the moisture in honey. But first I would invest in one of these. https://www.amazon.ca/AcuRite-00613B-Indoor-Humidity-Monitor/dp/B0013BKDO8?th=1&psc=1&source=googleshopping&locale=en-CA&tag=googcana-20&ref=pd_sl_4vniibwt0r_e
then you will know if what you are doing is reducing the ambient humidity enough to dry the honey.

[CBT]

If you place a bucket of honey in your heated freezer with the lid on but not too tight overnight then lift the lid straight up and out when you turn it over water drops will be all over it. Wipe and dry with a clean towel and place back on close freezer. Repeat at night and in the morning testing the honey every few days and write it down. You may be presently surprised. If this does not work you may have to invest in a bucket heater (temperature controlled) where the surrounding air is cooler than the inside (honey) temperature drawing the moisture out and collecting on the underside of the lid.

[omnimirage]

I happened to own a device that could measure humidity, I've just never thought to use it. I played around with it today, found that, from morning to dusk, the humidity level was between 41 and 53. Inside the chest freezer, it was in the low 30s. Having the heater on, and off didn't seem to change the humidity level much. There's already a gap in the chest freezer, where the electrical cable for the oil heater sits, it needs to plug into the powerpoint outside the freezer so it leaves a slight gap open where moisture might be able to escape.

That is fascinating CBT, I'll give that a try. Any idea what sort of temperature you'd need for the moisture to rise to the top of the lid?

[apisbees]

To dehydrate honey you need to move the cool moist air out so a ventilation fan is needed and the air needs to be heated. It is important to note that a temperature of 45° C. assures that the inlet air stream will not be saturated with water vapor no matter how high the ambient humidity. For example, air having 99% humidity at 38° C. is only 73% saturated at 45° C. and is only 35% saturated at 60° C.

The contacting between air and honey is carried out in thin film. If the honey were contacted in bulk, little drying would occur because the extreme viscosity of honey would slow water equilibration throughout the bulk honey and thus permit only effective drying of the surface. Generally, the thin film varies in thickness from about 0.5 to about 5 mm. The larger the surface area the faster the dehydration will occur.

[rober]

a word of warning about the calibration oil. my refractometer came with the oil & a small block of plastic ( they call it a calibration stone ) which is used with the oil for calibration instead of the lens cover. after checking the calibration ( it was fine ) i did not clean the oil off the glass lens good enough. when i flipped the cover back onto the lens the residual oil etched it so it was no longer clear although with a strong background light i could still read the scale. the supplier sold me a replacement cover