It’s a bit of a taboo topic, but bulk storage fermentation issues are more common than you think. If your bees are struggling to pull moisture out of the honey, they are less likely to cap it off, and we all know that uncapped honey isn’t really classed as honey.
While you can’t turn bees into dehydrators, did you know there’s highly specialised honey extraction and processing equipment to help you finish the drying process and produce the purest honey possible? Well, there is, and we all know pure honey = maximum profits.
How do you know if you’ve got fermentation issues?
Bees do their best to dry their honey before putting a wax cap over it, but with seasonal changes and global warming, we’re having wetter springs and summers, which means at certain times of year your honey might have a higher moisture content.
High moisture honey can lead to fermentation. Here are some other telltale signs you’ve got fermentation issues:
Is your drum expanding in size, or looking like it’s going to pop?
Are your bees struggling to dry honey in the frames?
Is your honey coming off the frames already fermented?
Do you have a history of fermented drums after extraction?
Are you worried about future environmental impacts on the quality of your honey?
How to prevent fermentation and increase profits
If you’re working in honey extraction or processing, it’s important to get your honey into drums as a high value product, not as a potentially low value product.
How, you ask? It all comes down to having the right equipment, such as our new, high-tech MegaBee Honey Dryer which reduces the honey moisture content to help preserve and stabilise your honey for long-term storage.
The right equipment will greatly reduce the likelihood of fermentation and give you confidence in long-term storage for high value growth. With the right calculations, we can help you figure out what temperature your honey should be stored at for optimal growth over a period of time, allowing you to maximise your honey value at a later date.
While our goal is to help you stop fermentation problems before they arise, we can also deal with any current issues you may have – contact Logan on 027 667 7588 and he’ll come out and meet you on-site (New Zealand or Australia) and chat through some ideas...
…and if you need urgent fermentation assistance (such as yeast and mould treatment, honey drying, moisture removal or controlled pressure release of drums), or maybe you’re looking for somewhere to store your honey long term, talk to us about our sister company, Manuka Orchard.