On Thu, 8 Aug 1996, Mark D. Egloff wrote:
 
>      This is the first year I have had a crop to speak of and I am
>      wondering about the ripening of honey.  I know that honey is
>      "ripe" when it is capped, but what if it is not capped.  Is it
>      no good?  What is the impact of harvesting honey that may not
>      be totally ripe?   Will it ferment?  Will it harm those people
>      I sell it to?  How should I deal with unripe honey?
 
        Rule of thumb- if 3/4 of the combs are capped- no problem.
Sometimes bees will slow down the capping process when the flow stops.
Probably because it requires new wax. In this case the honey will be
pretty ripe even though the cells are open. If the extracted honey looks
thin you can check it with a refractometer. Unripe honey will not harm
anyone but may ferment. The only time we have had a problem was one fall
that was very wet and humid. The honey had high moisture even though it
was well capped and some of it fermented.