I let the bees measure the moisture. Around here they don't cap it until it's dry enough. But if you actually want to measure it, you'll need a refractometer. Available from all of the bee supply places. I've never owned one. Actually I've only SEEN one and never even USED one. They used to run several hundred dollars but cheaper ones are now available.
Thanks. Yes, I've seen some ads for the refractometer. Sounds too rich for my curiosity. But I'm still puzzled about this. It seems as though the gauge measures the color or light attenuation through the honey, somehow correlating darkness to less moisture? Or do I not understand?
See reference:
http://www.honey.com/downloads/exhoney.pdfBut this doesn't match my experience. As you can see from the video (link above) both jars have exactly the same color (as far as my eyes can tell), yet one takes much longer for the bubble to rise. OTOH, I have some store-bought honey, that is quite a bit darker than my own, yet the "bubble-speed" is even faster than my fastest honey. So if less moisture = darker color and less moisture = slower flow, then why does the darker honey from the store beat mine in a race? Why do two honeys with the same coloration have such different speed?
If you can BORROW one and find a jar of yours that is your target moisture content, you can seal it tightly and use it for measurment. Simply get both the new honey and the known honey the same temperature (by leaving them at room temps overnight) and then flip the jars over and time the bubbles. Faster bubbles are more moisture. Slower bubbles are less moisture.
That's what I thought. This is exactly what my video clip demonstrates, yet the coloration is exactly the same. (The video should play with Windows Media Player by clicking on the link)
http://www.brobergs.us/video/honeyX2.avi