Subject: how much unsealed honey is allowed for extraction?

From: [email-masked] (John or Sonja Hoxeng)
Date: 21 Aug 1996 20:51:04 GMT

Hello,

    We want to harvest our honey now so we can medicate our bees for mites 
but when we took out some of the frames, there were unsealed areas on
them.  What is the percentage of unsealed honey you can extract if any,
before the whole batch is ruined?  Thanks for your time...
                                                           Sonja

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From: "Victor C. Rimkus" <[email-masked]>
Date: 22 Aug 1996 14:10:08 GMT

>before the whole batch is ruined?  Thanks for your time...

The rule of thumb I use is; Hold the frame flat and give it a good 
downward jolt to see if any little drips fly out. If the honey is thick 
enough that it doesn't shake out it will be fine for harvesting. I think 
the generic number is 70% capped but I have a couple hives that are very 
slow to cap the last two frames. If you are extracting a full super with 
a couple frames that are not capped it should be fine as long as the 
uncapped cells are not watery thin.

Victor in Albuquerque NM
[email-masked]

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From: Gerry Visel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 13:41:41 -0700

As long as a good shake doesn't shake out any nectar, you can probably 
extract the frames just fine.  I try to make sure the cells are more than 
about 3/4 capped or so.  If most of it is, it will even out any 
differences in percentage moisture in the uncapped.
Gerry

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From: [email-masked] (Allen Dick)
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 96 22:18:59 GMT

>uncapped cells are not watery thin.

Depends where you are and who your customer is.

Up here on the Canadian prairies, we can often extract combs that are 
completely uncapped and still have acceptable moisture (below 17.6%).

During heavy flows or wet spells, more care is needed.

Some packers are glad to take honey as high as 20% moisture to blend 
-- if you make arrangements *before* you ship.  Such honey cannot sit 
in a back warehouse for months, it should be blended ASAP.

You'll notice that although most honey shipped to packers is under 
17%, most honey on the shelves is over 18%.  Hmmm.

You take a small penalty in price when you ship wet honey, but it only 
amounts to a deduction equal to the weight of extra water.

Regards

Allen

W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                    VE6CFK
Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada  T0M 1Y0
    Honey, Bees, & Art <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka/>