Refractometer ATAGO Master-Honey/Bx

01 · CALIBRATING IT

60 % sucrose solution

It is the question we get most, and the answer is in the range: a honey refractometer does not reach zero, it starts at 58 Brix. Distilled water, which reads 0, falls off the scale and is no use as a reference — unlike a must or 0-32 Brix refractometer, where it is the standard.

What you use here is a 60 % sucrose solution, which falls inside the scale and is made up from weighed sugar and water. That is the real saving against commercial calibration fluids. Adjustment is by a small screw, and it is worth checking it at the start of each season, not halfway through extraction.

02 · THE TWO SCALES

Moisture to sell, Brix to compare

The one that decides is moisture. Above 19-20 % the risk of fermentation is real, and European rules set the ceiling at 20 % for honey in general — heather being the exception, which goes higher. Below 18 % fermentation stops being a practical problem.

03 · HOW TO TAKE A READING

And why crystallised honey misleads

Two or three drops on the prism, spread over the whole surface and free of bubbles, close the cover and read against the light. Then wipe the prism with a soft damp cloth: dried honey on it is the commonest cause of an odd reading.

And the mistake that repeats most: you cannot measure crystallised honey. The crystals are sugar that has come out of solution, so what stays liquid holds more water than the whole honey and the instrument reads high. Liquefy and homogenise the sample first.

04 · TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION

What it does and what you still have to do

Automatic compensation is what separates this model from the cheap ones: it corrects the reading for temperature and saves you the correction table. It is where the ±0.2 % accuracy comes from.

What it does not skip is the wait: leave the sample half a minute on the prism before reading, so honey and instrument are at the same temperature. Measuring warm honey on a cold instrument gives you a number, but not the right one.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

This is the refractometer: