Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
You may ask: 'Where can I get a hydrometer?' The answer is from a bee-supply
company, but they are very expensive and you may have to borrow one (see Figure
23). Or, if you have ensured that you have definitely extracted honey only from frames
that were at least three quarters capped (preferably more), you can rely on luck. Most
new beekeepers do and, indeed, I did for years and had no problems at all. In fact, even
after I eventually bought one in a bid to look more professional, it was only two years
later that I found all my readings were wrong because the hydrometer wasn't correctly
calibrated. So much for professionalism!
Granulation
Another problem that may occur is that your honey soon sets in the containers and so
that it is very difficult to get it out of and into jars. There are several things you can do
here. First, you can spoon it out of the honey buckets as and when you need it and warm
it gently in small quantities. Or you can place your containers in a warm room, if you
have one, or even the airing cupboard. It will take a while but, eventually, it will soften
and become easier to handle.
Other methods of preventing granulation include freezing the honey, which greatly
retards granulation. When you defrost it, however, the honey it returns to its original
state. Controlled granulation and creaming are other processes used by commercial
packers that prevent honey becoming rock hard, and these are described later in this
chapter.
Hydroxy-methyl-furfuraldehyde (HMF)
There is a danger that if you heat your honey too much in order to liquefy it or to
make it easier to pack into containers, a breakdown product called hydroxy-methyl-
furfuraldehyde (HMF) will increase in quantity in your honey, and there is only a
certain amount of this that is legal. HMF is formed by the breakdown of fructose in
the presence of an acid, and heat increases the speed of this reaction. The authorities
use HMF as an indicator of heat and storage changes in honey, and this can be a real
problem for producers in hot developing countries who may have inadequate storage
facilities. You won't be able to measure HMF easily, but Table 3 is a rough field test for
this. In most countries and the EU, a level of HMF above 40 mg/kg is illegal. It can
be seen from the table that honey held at an ambient temperature over 30° C for six
