I have had several recent questions about uncapped honey, from a few cells to several frames, in supers. They fall into two catagories: the issue of whether or not to extract, and concerns about moisture content if the honey is extracted.
In answer to the first, I say go ahead and extract it. It is possible that the moisture of the honey is fine and that, due to the season, the bees have not capped it. For several reasons, I think it best to get the supers off the hive in the fall, remove the honey, and store the boxes and frames. First of all, we want to protect the drawn comb and to encourage the bees to put fall honey in the brood boxes. Also, if you need to treat for nosema or varroa mites, you must first remove the honey supers from the hive. (Most varroa products and Fumagillin, the only recommended control product for nosema, require that all honey supers be taken off before treating.)
Next, what about the possibility that the uncapped cells contain high moisture honey, and how much of a problem is it if they do?I never worry about a small percentage of uncapped cells, or even frames, when extracting my honey. Small amounts of high moisture honey will not increase the overall moisture any bucket of honey significantly; it averages out. How can you determine whether the overall moisture content is too high? I have a refractometer, but rarely use it. I can get a pretty accurate idea of how much moisture the honey contains by observing how it flows when I drain it from the extractor and when I bottle it. After bottling, turn the jar upside down (with the lid on) and watch the bubble of air float up. Compare the speed with which the bubble rises to that of a bubble in a jar of honey which you know is low moisture. The faster the bubble moves, the higher the moisture content. The relative rates will give you an idea of how liquid the honey is without the need for any instruments.
The problem with honey that does have a high moisture content is that it may possibly ferment. Honey below 17.1% cannot ferment. In practice, honey below about 19% is safe from fermentation. That is why the USDA Grade “A” honey standard calls for a moisture content of 18.6% or lower. For honey to ferment – even at high moisture – sufficient yeast spores must be present. Of course, yeast spores are abundant in the air (that is how we make sourdough starter) and so are likely to be present in your honey. However, that does not mean that it will ferment automatically. If it does, it may not do so immediately. There is clearly no problem with your personal use of low moisture honey. Just use it before it has a chance to ferment, or give it to friends and tell them that it is a little thin and they should “eat it up quick”. They can still enjoy it – just over a shorter time.
Fermented honey is not harmful; it just has a fermented taste. It can be just as good as other honey for cooking and baking. If it does begin to ferment, the process can be stopped, for the time being, by heating. On occasions when I had a lot of high moisture honey, I have pasteurized it by heating it just enough to kill the yeast cells. Of course, once a jar of this honey is opened, yeast spores may re-enter and begin the process again, but heating will prolong its shelf life.
In conclusion, don’t worry about honey that is a little thin. Cook with it, eat it on pancakes or French toast, but eat it soon!