The really important thing is to be sure the moisture content is low enough
so that the honey won't ferment.  In many climates where the relative
humidity tends to be low, you can be confident that capped honey is 'dry'
enough.  In some of the more humid places, even that isn't a sure bet.
 
There's a crude method for testing whether or not your honey is ready when
it isn't capped. Hold the frame over the open hive with the uncapped side
of the comb facing (parallel to) the top bars.  Give the frame a hard
shake.  If the nectar sprinkles across the surface then it's too wet to
extract.  If it all stays in the cells when you shake it, it's ok to
extract.
 
The other factor to consider is how much good dry honey you have to mix it
with.  If the percentage of wet, uncapped honey is very small, it won't
raise the overall moisture content of your crop very much.
Michael
----------
> From: Bob Billson <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: what to do with partially capped frames?
> Date: Friday, September 05, 1997 1:39 PM
>
> On Fri, 5 Sep 1997, Bob Billson wrote:
> >outermost frames.  A couple are capped on one side but not the other.
The
> >bees started capping one side while other is still uncapped.
>
> I meant to say that *one* of the outside frames was partly capped on side
> and completely uncapped on the other.  The other outside frames were
> uncapped on one side and completely capped on the other.
>
>         bob
> --
> Bob Billson, KC2WZ                                email:
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> first year beekeeper, 2 colonies
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>
>   (\       MS-DOS, you can't live with it.  You can live without it.
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>   (/                                                                    \)