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| Shiny uncapped honey in one of our bee hive frames! |
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| A.J. suited up! |
A.J. was out to the garden today to check on the bee hives. What he found was a lot of new honey! He brought one of the frames for a close-up so that we could see all of the fresh uncapped honey.When the bees collect honey, the moisture content is very, very high, about 80% moisture. Honey cannot be extracted and used at this high moisture content because it would ferment before it could be consumed. The moisture content of honey should be dried to about 17-18%.
How is this done? Well, A.J. lets the bees tell him this!
When the moisture level is correct, the bees will cap off each honey comb. Before it is capped off, bees dry the honey by beating their wings. Once the moisture content is down to that 17-18% level, they cap off the honey comb to prevent the honey from absorbing any moisture.
Those honey bee's, and A.J. our beekeeper, continue to teach and amaze us!
- Contributed by Joni Fletty
