> If I had seen the "beerkeeping" error in the ad back then, I would not
have bought it.

I think we all would find it much more difficult to keep beer than bees.
My beer always ends up consumed by friends much more quickly than I expect.

For the record, the plastic $60 Chinese refractometers work just as well as
the fancy $300 Japanese ones.

Many, many moons ago, I was convinced (ordered? brainwashed?) by Ann Harmon
to spend the extra money on a genuine Atago refractometer.  (Trivia: the
"Atago" was a Japanese cruiser sunk in WWII by the Darter, SS-227, which
then ran aground on a shoal, and had to be destroyed, after evac of the
crew)  I used that refractometer for many years, and it did save me "more
than it cost" as Ann promised, as supers that tested "too wet" could go back
on its hive for further evaporation.

But one day, it took a one-way trip down some concrete stairs, and ended up
in bits and pieces.  So, I bought a cheap plastic Chinese one, as it had
Automatic Temperature Compensation (a crucial feature you absolutely must
have in a refractometer) and it worked just as well, so I bought several
more, and really made them "pay".

The idea was to spot-check in the yard before pulling supers.  The next year
we got aggressive, and started testing and pulling supers before they were
fully capped, as why wait for the bees to work on capping, only to make the
beekeeper work on uncapping?

We would turn around supers as quickly as possible, working around the
clock, and get them back on the hives to be refilled, as the Tulip Poplar
bloom at elevation in VA was often long enough to run into the basswood
bloom.

So yes, refractometers are well worth the investment.   
And honey shows are events where working beekeepers go to check and
calibrate their refractometers against the honey judge's refractometer, and
no one can remember who won the competition 20 mins after the awards are
handed out.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html