Understanding Honey For the Beekeeper

Honey is like money in the bank to a beekeeper so it's important that you look after it during harvest, processing and packing to keep the honey in top quality condition.

Honey is considered to be in prime condition shortly after it has been capped by the bees. Once you have harvested it, it becomes the beekeepers responsibility to maintain the honey in peak condition.

In fact even the timing of your harvest can affect the quality of the honey. Honey needs to be harvested as soon as practical after it is all capped by the bees, as left in the comb it will darken over time.

The other factors to consider when harvesting your honey are the weather conditions and how soon after harvest you will be able to extract the honey. Honey absorbs water from the atmosphere, it is what's know as a hygroscopic material. In the hive the bees maintain the temperature and ventilate the hive to keep the air as dry as possible which maintains the quality of the honey.

Once harvested, particularly in wet or humid conditions the honey begins to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. As the water content of the honey rises the quality deteriorates. Eventually when the water content is high enough, naturally occurring yeasts present in the honey begin the fermentation process.

The longer the interval between harvesting and processing and packing the more water can be absorbed. So as well as harvesting when conditions are as dry as possible, it's also important to reduce the time between harvest, extraction and packaging.

Some customers like to buy "raw" honey which has not been filtered or heated. Raw honey has a shorter shelf life than processed honey and it is more likely to crystallize sooner.

Consumers who prefer "raw" product feel that heating and filtering reduces or destroys some of the health benefits of raw honey, they are prepared to accept the reduced keeping time and natural crystallization for the added benefits.

Honey is heated during processing for two reasons, it makes it much easier to extract and filter the warm honey and the heat treatment destroys the yeasts which occur naturally in honey. Once the natural yeasts have been killed the shelf life of the honey is extended and this is preferred by most market outlets.

Over heating however is another way to compromise the quality of your honey. Too much heat breaks down the sugars in the honey making the honey darker and destroying the more volatile flavors which give honey its distinct local flavor attributes.

Once the honey has been carefully extracted, heated and filtered it can be stored in
air tight bulk containers or packaged and sealed ready for sale. The processed honey should be stored out of direct light, and in cool place but not refrigerated.

Carefully timing the harvesting, quickly processing at the right temperatures will keep the honey's quality so that you and your customers can enjoy the honey at it's best.

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