Honey refractometer with LED light and calibration liquid

01 · WHY YOU MEASURE

18% is the line

The whole keeping quality of a honey fits into one number: the water content. Below 18% honey is stable and takes storage without surprises; as it rises, so does the risk that the yeasts that are always present start fermentation — and a fermented honey cannot be rescued. Measuring before harvesting, not after bottling, is what turns that number into a decision: harvest, wait or dehumidify.

02 · HOW YOU MEASURE

One drop, and the sample at room temperature

Put one drop on the prism, close the lid and read the scale; the LED in the lid solves the reading in the shed or at dusk, which is when you actually measure. It has automatic temperature compensation, but that does not excuse the basics: the sample must be at room temperature and representative — honey from several frames and several parts of the super, not the first drop that falls. Wipe the prism with the cloth after each reading.

03 · CALIBRATION

With its oil, and now and then

It leaves the factory calibrated, but it is worth checking every season and whenever it has taken a knock: put a drop of the calibration oil supplied, take the reading, and use the screwdriver to bring the screw to the reference line. A warning you will thank us for beforehand rather than after: that oil smells strong and the smell stays on your hands, so use the pipette and wash up afterwards.

04 · WHAT IS IN THE BOX

Complete, and with spare batteries

It comes with the refractometer in its hard case, two batteries, a pipette, an adjusting screwdriver, a cleaning cloth, the manual and the calibration oil. It is a light instrument, meant to travel in the toolbox and be used in the field — not a laboratory device to be handled with gloves.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The manual is in English. The procedure is simple — one drop, read, adjust the screw — but it is worth knowing before you open the box.