Stirring Honey
Arbeiten am Bienenstand
Stirring is done so the honey crystallizes fine and spreadable instead of coarse and hard.
Stirring is done so the honey crystallizes fine and spreadable instead of coarse and hard. The right moment has come when it becomes slightly cloudy, meaning the first crystals are forming. Then stir five to ten minutes once or twice a day; after about five days it is done. Crystallization can be controlled with seed honey; the figures for the proportion range from three to ten percent.
The stirrer stays below the surface; no air must be worked in, since honey stirred into a froth is considered a defect. The stirring disc must not touch the container wall, otherwise plastic particles get into the honey. After stirring, let it stand for at least ten and at most twenty-four hours so the bubbles rise. Storage temperatures of around 15 degrees Celsius are given.
The most important figure is the upper limit: the honey must never go above 40 degrees. Above that, heat damage occurs, the HMF value rises, and the invertase level drops, and invertase shows this earlier than HMF does. The Honey Regulation (Germany) allows at most 40 milligrams of HMF per kilogram; the German Beekeepers' Association requires at most 15 for its jar and at least 64 invertase units. Freshly harvested honey normally sits at around 2 milligrams of HMF.