Measuring Water Content
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Measurement is done with a handheld refractometer.
Measurement is done with a handheld refractometer. The Honey Regulation (Germany) allows at most 20 percent water, 23 percent for heather honey from Calluna and for baker's honey. Anyone filling the German Beekeepers' Association's jar may have at most 18.0 percent, 21.4 percent for heather honey.
The reading also depends on the instrument. Scales with graduations of 0.2 percent or finer and a blue-backed prism are advisable; devices meant for urine sugar are unsuitable. Refractometers are calibrated at 20 degrees Celsius: without temperature compensation, 0.08 percent is added for each degree below and subtracted for each degree above. Recalibration is done with the supplied solution or the calibration plate. In a check at the Celle bee institute, the majority of instruments sent in were incorrectly set, so it is worth taking a look at yours.
The shake test on the comb is a useful preliminary check but does not replace the measurement. Capping is not a reliable criterion, because bees sometimes cap honey above 20 percent too. Honey above 18 percent is considered at risk of fermenting; it is only truly stable in storage well below that. Subsequently drying honey is not permitted.