Refractometer for honey

If a person has decided to take up beekeeping, then he cannot do without a refractometer. After all, the water content in honey must be limited, otherwise it will begin to ferment, which will lead to spoilage of the product. For this reason, it is important to understand what a refractometer is and how to use it to determine the quality of a bee product. This will also have to be done because all buyers of the sweet product check it for water.

What is a honey refractometer

Thanks to such a small device, it is possible to measure how much moisture is in the product. With this in mind, it will be possible to determine whether the honey is ready for pumping, or even let it stand in the hive. As experienced beekeepers say, only those combs that are three-quarters full should be removed, otherwise the product will not be as useful and of high quality as it should.

Refractometer for honey

What is Honey Refractometer Calibration

To determine the calibration, you need to drop one or two drops of special oil on the glossy surface of the prism. It is sold with the device. Now you need to open the lid of the device, where to place the prism with a drop of oil. Press lightly on it with your hand, but so that the device is held inside. Next, unscrew the adjustment screw until the border appears between the two fields:

• light;
• dark.

Instructions to help you set up and use the device

There are 3 basic steps required to set up and use the device:

1. First you need to open the lid of the device, where special oil is dripped with a pipette. Two or three drops are enough. Now the lid is closed so that the liquid spreads over the entire surface of the prism, there should be no air bubbles and empty spaces. You should wait up to 30 seconds.
2. Now you need to direct the device to the light so that the scale of the device is clearly visible. You may need to focus the clarity of the image. Wait until the top of the refractometer is dark and the bottom is light.
3. The last step is to adjust the adjusting screw so that the border between dark and light colors is at the level of 78.4%. This is the middle of the scale of the device.

How to use the device: description

The use of the device is possible after its final setting. To do this, you first need to calibrate it. It is important to adjust the device, since only in this case it will be possible to obtain accurate indicators of density, sugar and moisture content during operation.

To understand how to use the device, you should take the instruction or user manual. There you can read how to calibrate the product. Such assistance will allow you to accurately determine the density of honey and the content of sugar and moisture in it.

The higher the density of the product, the better. This will ensure it has less moisture and less sugar. This is clearly seen when one or two drops are dropped onto the prism, after which it is given the opportunity to spread. Then, covering the prism with a lid, you need to direct the device into the light. This is the only way to see what the moisture content of the product is. This will be indicated by the refractometer on its scale, which is usually blue.

Thus, only thanks to the product described above, it is possible to guarantee the quality of the product supplied to the market, since any knowledgeable person, especially the buyer, will definitely check the percentage of moisture in it. The device will also come in handy on the farm if the beekeeper does not plan to sell honey in order to know exactly the composition of the collected nectar. The less water is in it, the better and longer the bee product will be stored.