The 13 Bees Blog

This year has been unusually wet and as a result has caused lots of problems for beekeepers and especially for commercial honey producers. The problem was one of timing – the flowers blossomed but the rain also fell, meaning that by the time the bees could fly out, all the nectar had been washed out or the flowers had died off. The extra humidity has meant too that honey this year is proving to be too ‘wet’. The rule of thumb is that the moisture content of honey must not exceed 18%.  When bees collect nectar and store it in wax cells, the moisture content can be up to 80%. An enzyme is injected by the bees into the nectar which transforms complex sugars into simpler ones, and the nectar is gradually dried by a constant stream of air being passed over it by the bees beating their wings. After a short while the moisture content will have reduced to less than 20% and the bees will seal the cells with a wax cap. This year the French Union of Beekeepers (UNAF)