Grade A honey is defined as: it has to taste like honey and the moisture has to be
18.6% water content or less.
To find out the water content of honey it needs to be measured with an instrument called a refractometer. A refractometer takes a small sample of honey covering the lens of the instrument. Light passing through the instruments lens refracts the light and the result is read on a scale the user sees by looking through the eyepiece.
My preference is a light reading refractometer with a thermometer for temperature compensation. It is accurate and easy to use. All refractometers need to by calibrated when new and periodically after that. Calibration is done with a sample of liquid that has a predetermined set point and adjustments are made to this scale.
Some refractometers are digital, some are light reading. There are many scales of measurement in different industries. Beekeepers use a refactometer with a honey scale. With any instrument you get what you pay for. Refractometers range in price from $75 - $400.
Here at Nature's Nectar LLC we check honey samples for free. Please no more than three samples at a time. Always bring a full container for a sample. The sample should be free of wax and we only need a thimble size for the sample.
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| Refractometer, the plastic cover is raised and honey is put on the purple lens |
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| This is the scale inside the eye piece. This sample is reading 19.5%. There is a thermometer on the bottom of this instrument for temperature compensation. The thermometer read to take off 1% of the scale reading. So this sample of honey is 18.5% moisture content and is Grade A honey. |
