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Offline Willow10

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Candied honey
« on: September 03, 2018, 02:41:33 am »
Hi Everyone!

I have a question about honey candying.  From what I understand, candying is a natural process and the speed and amount of candying depends on the flora the bees are using.  I also see that it candies more in the cooler months.  Is this all correct?

Our honey seems to be candying a lot!  Here in Australia we have just moved into spring.  My hubby robbed the hive about two weeks ago and we got about 20kg out of it.  I've just gone to bottle it up and the whole lot has candied.  The top layer of the batch is almost completely solid.

Are we doing anything wrong?  Could there be any other reasons?

Thanks in advance,
Lyn

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2018, 07:28:21 pm »
Welcome to Beemaster.
Did you put the honey in a refrigerator? That will cause honey to crystallize quickly.
Some honeys crystallize faster than others.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Michael Bush

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2018, 11:54:36 am »
The ideal temperature for crystallization is 57? F (14? C).

Look at "creamed honey" on this page: http://bushfarms.com/beesterms.htm#c
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
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Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2018, 11:53:06 am »
Our spring honey candies very rapidly. Making creamy honey out of it is the solution.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #4 on: September 05, 2018, 07:26:23 pm »
BFB,
That is kind of ironic. My spring honey rarely crystallizes but my summer honey usually will in about 6 months. We have a lot of Black Gum nectar in our spring honey.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #5 on: September 06, 2018, 03:59:24 am »
Welcome to Beemaster.
Did you put the honey in a refrigerator? That will cause honey to crystallize quickly.
Some honeys crystallize faster than others.
Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the welcome.  No, we haven't put the honey in the fridge.  I think I made a mistake in my original post, though, and said the hive was robbed at the beginning of spring.  Actually, come to think of it, it was at the end of winter, so perhaps it was still chilly enough to crystallize it quicker than normal?  I am beginning to think that our honey must be one of those that crystallize faster than others.  Just wanted to check it wasn't because of anything we might be doing. 

Thanks,
Lyn

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #6 on: September 06, 2018, 04:05:06 am »
The ideal temperature for crystallization is 57? F (14? C).

Look at "creamed honey" on this page: http://bushfarms.com/beesterms.htm#c
[/quote

Hi Michael,

Thanks for that information.  We were just coming out of winter when we extracted and it's been a colder winter than normal.  We've had temps go down to about 6 degrees celsius, so perhaps that has contributed?  I know that our honey during summer rarely, if ever, candies, so the warmth must make a real difference. 

Thanks,
Lyn

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2018, 04:07:07 am »
Our spring honey candies very rapidly. Making creamy honey out of it is the solution.

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.  So, the quick candying honey isn't to do with anything we're doing?  It's just the way it is sometimes? 

Yes, I just looked into making creamed honey and think I might give it a try next time.  Do you have any tips for doing it?

Thanks,
Lyn

Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2018, 08:53:24 am »
oops. almost missed that post.

Our flows almost all cristallize more or less rapidly. Those are stirred.

There is several ways. I used to stir twice a day in the bucket with a "small" bakery machine with a special honey stirring-tool.
that went well sometimes and sometimes didn`t. maybe I should have stirred more often. But 40 buckets four times a day (nights???)...
There is machines doing it for You. Not extremely cheap. Should be available anywhere???

I tried out a "Rapido" stirring-tool with a strong power drill just lately. This one can stir an already cristallized bucket of honey into creamy consistency in a few minutes. The drill got quite hot. Maybe a mortar-drill would be better.
I don`t know if there is a similar tool availabe in Your country.

Really well done creamy honey is really delicious.

Offline Skeggley

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2018, 01:45:35 am »
My understanding is that honeys high in glucose candy faster than those high in fructose. Particulates will also cause it to crystalize, hence the ultra fine filtering in the commercial process. Rice syrup, high in fructose, has been known to be fed to bees in some unscrupulous contries to mitigate this.
The temp of 14?C is mentioned as the temp which is most likely for honey to crystalize does this mean higher and lower temps delay the process?

Offline blackforest beekeeper

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2018, 02:22:26 am »
My understanding is that honeys high in glucose candy faster than those high in fructose. Particulates will also cause it to crystalize, hence the ultra fine filtering in the commercial process. Rice syrup, high in fructose, has been known to be fed to bees in some unscrupulous contries to mitigate this.
The temp of 14?C is mentioned as the temp which is most likely for honey to crystalize does this mean higher and lower temps delay the process?

apart from the rice syrup - I don`t know about that, everything seems right what You wrote.

As far as stirring creamy is concerned: This year I applied a method the first time: When I was ready to stir I gave a little amount of already creamy honey from last year to the fluid new honey and started stirring. In that way it happens faster. So I gave some particulates.
From the fast candying spring honey I always give a few glasses into the freezer. Comes christmas, we have FRESH LIQUID spring flower honey on the table.
I also do this with comb honey, as we have almost all flows candying. So I take them out as I need them.

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2018, 04:08:40 am »
oops. almost missed that post.

Our flows almost all cristallize more or less rapidly. Those are stirred.

There is several ways. I used to stir twice a day in the bucket with a "small" bakery machine with a special honey stirring-tool.
that went well sometimes and sometimes didn`t. maybe I should have stirred more often. But 40 buckets four times a day (nights???)...
There is machines doing it for You. Not extremely cheap. Should be available anywhere???

I tried out a "Rapido" stirring-tool with a strong power drill just lately. This one can stir an already cristallized bucket of honey into creamy consistency in a few minutes. The drill got quite hot. Maybe a mortar-drill would be better.
I don`t know if there is a similar tool availabe in Your country.

Really well done creamy honey is really delicious.


Thanks for that advice.  Yes, I could imagine stirring 40 buckets of honey would be a challenge!  Thankfully, we only have one.

I have already bottled our candied honey.  It was quite gluggy, but I was able to pour most of it out - very slowly!  I'm going to stick them out in the sun after this rain has gone.  Our weather is on the warmer side, so the sun seems to give enough heat to "melt" the crystallized honey back to liquid. 

Next time, though, I'll try stirring.  I'm also interested in trying to make creamed honey out of it, so that's another option, I guess.

Thanks again,
Lyn

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2018, 04:42:48 am »
My understanding is that honeys high in glucose candy faster than those high in fructose. Particulates will also cause it to crystalize, hence the ultra fine filtering in the commercial process. Rice syrup, high in fructose, has been known to be fed to bees in some unscrupulous contries to mitigate this.
The temp of 14?C is mentioned as the temp which is most likely for honey to crystalize does this mean higher and lower temps delay the process?

Thanks for your reply.  Yes, I'd heard that about the candying, too; that it's to do with the glucose and fructose levels.  Just wanted to be sure that it was correct.  I didn't know about the particulates.

In relation to temperature, I've read that it does affect the speed of crystallization and I'd say that has contributed to our last batch candying so quickly.  We were at the end of winter and the temps were lower than normal. 

Thanks,
Lyn


Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2018, 07:32:45 am »
Lyn,
Somewhere on this site is a set of plans on how to make a honey heater. It is designed so that you set the temperature to 104 degrees and it will not go over that temp. I built two of them, one for me and one for a friend  and it works very well. I used the temp switch from hot water a heater.
I will see if I can find the thread.
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #14 on: September 07, 2018, 07:37:34 am »
There are a few more beeprojects on the site too!
http://www.michiganbees.org/beekeeping/in-the-beekeepers-workshop/


Jim
« Last Edit: September 07, 2018, 07:48:08 am by sawdstmakr »
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Willow10

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Re: Candied honey
« Reply #15 on: September 09, 2018, 01:06:51 am »
There are a few more beeprojects on the site too!
http://www.michiganbees.org/beekeeping/in-the-beekeepers-workshop/


Jim

Thanks for that link.  There's some great things on it!  Love the solar wax melter, too!  How nice of this guy to put these plans up for others to use. 

Thanks for sharing.  Much appreciated! 

 

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