Lesson 70: When Honey Is Ready

How bees ripen honey, how to tell it's ready to take, and why water content matters

Taking honey too early is one of the most common beginner mistakes. Unripe honey has too much water, and it ferments. This lesson explains how bees finish honey, how to judge when it's ready, and how much to leave for the bees.

How bees ripen honey

Nectar is mostly water. Foragers bring it home and pass it to house bees, who work it in their mouths and add enzymes, then place this unripe honey in cells. Then the bees evaporate the extra water, fanning their wings to move air through the hive. How long it takes depends on the kind of nectar, the temperature and the humidity. (Lesson 10 covers this in more detail.)

Honey is ripe when it's less than about one-fifth water. Bees bring it down to about 18% water, then seal the cell with a wax capping. Capped honey is considered ripe.

Why water content matters

• Honey keeps indefinitely because it's too concentrated for yeasts and other microbes to grow. When honey has too much water, yeasts can grow and the honey ferments: it foams, smells sour or alcoholic, and spoils.
• U.S. grade standards set limits for extracted honey. For U.S. Grade A and Grade B, honey must have at least 81.4% soluble solids, which is 18.6% water or less. Grade C allows up to 20.0% water; honey with more fails the grade. Fermented flavor also lowers the grade.

The practical goal: harvest honey at 18.6% water or less.

How to tell it's ready

1. Look at the cappings. Frames that are fully or nearly fully capped are ready. Frames with lots of shiny, uncapped nectar are not.

2. The shake test. Hold an uncapped frame flat over the open hive and give it a sharp downward shake. If nectar sprinkles out, it's too wet to harvest. If nothing comes out, the uncapped honey is probably close to ripe.

3. Measure it: a honey refractometer. A refractometer is a small, inexpensive instrument that reads percent water from a drop of honey. It's the same method used in the official grade standards. Test a few cells from different frames, or a sample of the extracted honey. - Readings are made at 68°F (20°C); many refractometers correct for temperature automatically. Calibrate it as the maker says. - Aim for 18.6% or lower. If you sell honey, a refractometer is well worth having (lesson 77).

If some frames aren't ready: leave them on the hive for the bees to finish, or give them back to the bees. Don't mix wet frames into your harvest; a few can raise the water content of a whole batch.

Other things to decide before you harvest

Leave enough for the bees. The honey is the colony's winter food. How much a colony needs to get through the winter depends on your climate; your Seasonal Guide gives the target for your area and when your main harvests usually come. When in doubt, leave more.

Only harvest honey from supers, never from the brood nest, and never honey that was on the hive during a mite treatment unless the label allows it (lesson 57). Honey made from sugar syrup you fed isn't honey; don't feed syrup while supers are on (lesson 39).

Keep different honeys separate if you want to. Honey color and flavor depend on the flowers. Lighter honeys often sell for more, and some flows are prized. Beekeepers sometimes pull supers between flows to keep a dark honey from mixing with a light one. Your Seasonal Guide notes the main flows in your area.

What to remember

• Bees evaporate nectar to about 18% water and cap it when ripe.
• Too much water = fermentation. U.S. Grade A/B honey: 18.6% water or less.
• Ready: frames fully or mostly capped; uncapped cells don't sprinkle in the shake test; a refractometer reads 18.6% or less.
• Leave enough honey for winter (see your Seasonal Guide), harvest only from supers, and never from supers that were on during a treatment the label forbids.

Quick check

1. What happens to honey that has too much water?
2. What's the highest water content for U.S. Grade A honey?
3. You shake an uncapped frame and droplets fly out. Should you harvest it?

Adapted from: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Standards for Grades of Extracted Honey (effective 1985); Delaplane, Honey Bees and Beekeeping (UGA Bulletin 1045, rev. 2017); Purdue Extension, Learning About Beekeeping (4-H-1057) and Understanding the Honey Bee (4-H-571); UF/IFAS Extension, Honey and Its Uses (AA154).

Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.