Honey Storage

Honey storage means keeping extracted honey in leak-proof, food-grade containers in a dry, cool, dark and odour-free place so that its quality is preserved until sale or consumption. Ripe honey does not spoil for a long time under the right conditions; almost all spoilage comes from moisture uptake, excessive heat and unsuitable packaging. On this page you will find why honey does not spoil, how it does spoil, and how to manage your stock batch by batch.

Why doesn't honey go off?

Ripe honey is a solution with little water and a very high concentration of sugar. Microorganisms cannot find water in this environment. Add to this the natural acidity of honey and the compounds formed by enzymes the bees add, and yeasts and bacteria cannot multiply.

The key to this balance is water content. Bees thicken the nectar in the hive and seal the cell with wax; well-ripened honey usually has a moisture content of around 17–18 percent. As moisture rises, the yeasts naturally present in honey become active and there is a risk of fermentation. International standards and the Turkish Food Codex set an upper moisture limit of 20 percent for most honeys; for safe storage it is not enough to stay below this, you should aim for below 18 percent.

Does honey absorb moisture from the air?

Yes. Honey is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water vapour from the air. Ripe honey is in equilibrium with air at around 60 percent relative humidity; if the surroundings are more humid than this, the honey starts taking up water at the surface. The top layer becomes watery first, and fermentation often starts there too.

That is why in storage an airtight lid and a dry room come even before temperature. A bucket with its lid left open, a tin standing in a damp cellar or honey left open in a steamy kitchen soon takes up moisture.

• Close containers fully: The lid should go on as soon as filling is finished; buckets and drums should have sound seals.
• Choose a dry store: A cellar, a spot next to a barn or the foot of a wall with a water pipe running through it is not suitable.
• Use a dehumidifier: In humid climates, a dehumidifier in the store and extracting room makes a big difference.

Under what conditions should honey be stored?

How does heat affect honey?

HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural), naturally present in honey in small amounts, increases as honey is heated and ages, while the activity of the bee-derived enzyme diastase decreases. Laboratories look at these two values to assess whether honey has been heat-treated or how old it is. Honey that sits for months in a warm store can exceed legal limits even if it has never been heated. Keeping honey cool is the only way to preserve its "fresh honey" characteristics, even years later.

What container should honey be stored in?

Honey is acidic and corrodes unsuitable metals; dissolved metal passes into the honey, spoils the taste and creates a food safety problem.

• Suitable: Glass jars, food-grade plastic buckets and drums, stainless steel tanks, tins with a food-grade inner lining.
• Not suitable: Uncoated iron and steel, copper, zinc, galvanised containers, aluminium, and any container that has previously held chemicals or fuel.
• Lids: Metal lids must have an intact inner coating and seal. Honey in contact with the lid dissolves rust over time.
• Filling: Containers must be clean and completely dry; even a little leftover washing water can start fermentation.

Bulk honey stock

Keep bulk honey that will wait until sale in food-grade buckets, drums or stainless tanks. Fill the container as full as possible; a large air space at the top causes condensation as the temperature changes and can make the surface watery.

Why does honey crystallise, and is crystallised honey bad?

Crystallisation (setting, granulation) is a natural process, not a sign of spoilage or adulteration. Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution, and the glucose in it forms crystals over time.

• Fast crystallisers: Glucose-rich honeys (e.g. sunflower, oilseed rape, cotton) can set within weeks.
• Slow crystallisers: Fructose-rich honeys and honeydew honeys (e.g. acacia, chestnut, pine honey) can stay liquid for a long time.
• Temperature: Crystallisation is fastest at about 10–15 °C; in the freezer it almost stops.
• Seeds: Pollen, wax particles and air bubbles are nuclei that start crystallisation.

How do you liquefy crystallised honey?

1. Put the container in a warm water bath: The jar or bucket should warm up slowly inside a container of water whose temperature is controlled.
2. Keep the temperature low: The honey temperature should not exceed about 40 °C; high heat rapidly increases HMF and irreversibly damages enzymes.
3. Do not use a direct flame or a microwave: Local overheating burns and caramelises the honey.
4. Be patient: Large buckets can take more than a day; stirring now and then spreads the heat.

How should comb honey and unextracted honey be kept?

Supers taken from the hive should be extracted as soon as possible. While combs full of honey are waiting:

• Pests: Conditions become favourable for wax moth and the small hive beetle.
• Moisture: In a damp room, honey in uncapped cells absorbs water.
• Cold: In a cool room the honey thickens and becomes harder to extract; some honeys crystallise in the comb.

If you cannot extract straight away, keep the supers stacked in a dry, warm room that bees cannot get into, with a drip tray underneath.

How do you manage honey stock?

Good stock management both preserves quality and shows where each honey came from if a problem arises.

1. Assign batch numbers: Give each extraction batch a number that includes the apiary, forage period and date.
2. Record moisture and observations: Keep the moisture reading, colour, crystallisation state and any laboratory results with the batch.
3. Keep a reference sample: Label and keep a small jar from each batch; it will be useful in the event of a complaint or inspection.
4. First in, first out: Sell older stock first; honey ageing in the store loses quality.
5. Think before blending: Combining honey from different sources in one container removes any monofloral or origin claim.