Avoid contaminating honey

How to avoid honey contamination

Bees collect nectar from various flowers and use it to create honey, during this process enzymes are added and the water content is reduced to 20% and below. They store the honey in cells of honeycomb and seal these cells with beeswax when honey is ripe. Honey which has been sealed is clean, pure and of perfect quality. The low water content of ripe honey enables it to be stored for long periods without going bad.

The color and taste of the honey depend on the types of plants on which the bees have foraged.

A beekeeper who wants to sell honey into a high value market must harvest honey without reducing its quality. Bits of wax, propolis, brood, dead bees, and dirt contaminate honey.

If the water content is too high it will ferment. Honey is hygroscopic and that means it readily absorbs water. Care needs to be taken to ensure that the exposure of honey to moisture is minimized by packaging it in airtight containers after harvesting.

Too much smoke stains honey and a beekeeper should be very careful while choosing the fuel to use in the smoker. Items such as plastic, cow dung, and mango leaves give off smoke with a bad odor!

Good quality honey is:
-ripe honey from capped honeycomb
-free from scraps of wax or any other contaminants
-processed using clean equipment
-stored in a clean and dry environment

Therefore a beekeeper should do the following to avoid contaminating the honey:
-Use less smoke while harvesting to avoid staining honey.
-Never use materials which give a smelly smoke.
-Don’t mix brood combs with honey combs
-Cover honey in airtight bucket to avoid ants and dust from contaminating and avoid the honey absorbing additional moisture from the environment
-During harvesting maintain hygiene standards – clean hands and use clean buckets, knives.
Avoid crushing bees; always brush off bees from combs before adding them into the bucket
-Keep your apiary clean always to avoid contamination like weed seeds and leaves from mixing with honey during harvesting.