> You need to compare to a known standard.  A refractometer is nice,
> but a sample of known moisture in a similar bottle filled equally
> and at identical temperature makes a good comparison.

But you can't do that until AFTER you extract, which will be too late.

If you don't sort your supers by moisture content before you extract,
you both loose the ability to dry out "wet" supers before extracting,
and lose the chance to blend "wetter" with "drier" to yield "on spec" honey.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd much rather deal with moisture
issues when the honey is still in the comb.  There have been no SHB
outbreaks near here, so we can warm and dehumidify full supers for a
few days if we have to, and we seem to have to do this to about 1/4 to
1/3 the supers we harvest every year.

For those who persist in thinking that refractometers are only for
honey judges and big beekeeping operations, recall that an $80.00
refractometer is less expensive than even a single 5-gallon pail
of honey at wholesale prices  (60 lbs * $1.33 = $80.00).  So even
if you save only one 5-gallon pail (2 to 3 medium supers) of honey
from fermenting, the refractometer pays for itself in the first season.

Social-political and geo-economic concerns aside, the ones from
Red China are not as bad as you might think.  I bought an "RHB-90ATC"
from Dadant (their model M00596, the middle-priced of the three available)
for $79.95 when my much more expensive Atago took a one-way trip down a
flight of stairs, and I can't complain at all.  Nice bright and crisp
display, automatic temp compensation, and good linearity/stability as
compared to refractometer wielded by honey show judges.  The only
drawback is the cheap plastic box it comes in.  Be advised that I was
warned away from the cheapest ("economy") refractometer offered by Dadant.


      jim  (The war on terrorism? "Mission Accomplished", then
            "Mission Miscalculated", and now, "Mission Impossible")

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