Hervé Logé wrote:
>  > The glucose content of honey is the main factor in
>
>>granulation, so a
>>high sucrose honey would be less prone to
>>granulation.
>
>
> I disagree on this point. Precisely, the book's author
> I have here disagrees. Quotes are my free translations
> :
> "The higher the ratio fructose/glucose, the slower the
> granulation. Theorically, honey remains liquide when
> the ratio fructose/glucose is higer than 1.3"
> from Être performant en apiculture, Hubert Guerriat,
> 2000 - p.363
>
> So I understand that honeys with higher glucose
> content granulates faster.

We are saying the same thing but using different measurements and
references. The Hive and the Honey bee uses glucose concentrations as
the measure of granulation. It is the excess glucose that precipitates
out and forms a lattice-work that traps the other sugars and is the
state we call crystallized honey.

Nectars can be a combination of sugars and concentrations.

If we start with pure sucrose the bees will add enzymes which invert a
portion of the sucrose to glucose and fructose. If the nectar
concentration is high, the conversion will be less than if low. The
ratio of fructose to glucose will be the same for pure sucrose as a
starting point, but the amount of glucose will not, depending on the
starting concentration. So glucose concentration will be a better
measure of granulation speed. The fructose/glucose ratio will be
constant with sugary syrup as a starting point.  However, you will get
different glucose concentrations as a part of the whole, depending on
the starting concentration of the sugar syrup.

A high moisture content honey will still have inversion taking place so
you will end up with a higher glucose content and, faster granulation.
(Which is also in agreement with your post.)

To get a different fructose/glucose ratio you need to start with a
different combination of sugars, not pure sucrose.

A low fructose/glucose ratio nectar will granulate faster (as you noted)
since you start with a higher glucose concentration. Using the
fructose/glucose ratio to evaluate different nectars gives a good
comparative measure of speed of granulation. High glucose gives a lower
ratio and the lower the ratio the faster the granulation. (The sucrose
level will have little effect, since it inverts at a constant ratio.
However, concentration of the nectar will have an effect since it will
change the amount of glucose - which again agrees with your post.)

So we agree with what happens and that it is directly tied to glucose
concentrations. You use the fructose/glucose ratio (which is a measure
of the starting glucose level therefore a good indicator of nectars
which granulate faster) and I am using the glucose level as a part of
the sucrose, fructose, glucose combination.

Bill Truesdell (who hopes I have not added to the confusion)
Bath, Maine

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