1.
This is the refractometer that I have. It does have ATC for temp ranges between 10-40C. I was having a lot of trouble with my manual ones this year for some reason, so I wanted to check how accurate my readings were without breaking the bank on one specifically geared towards honey when I thought this one would do the job (it was on a list for best refractometers for honey despite only have Brix measurements, oddly enough).
2. Since I live in a neighborhood, there's a large variety of plants they get their nectar from. Last year's honey was also drier last couple of years than this year in general - then again, we've had a lot more hot/humid stretches of weather this year over past ones too.
3. Answered above, I think. Though admittedly, I think I might not have waited long enough to take my readings, though the results did pretty much line up with what I thought the manual ones gave me if that's worth anything. I'm a bit impatient and dumb, haha.
4. The battery was new (came with the instrument).
5. I'm extremely small-time (2 and a half hives - bit of a story on that one), and only pulling from my two langstroths, so there's not really enough to warrant dealing with 5-gallon buckets - it gets crush-and-strained and then poured right into jars (some with cut comb, but more without). I'm going to take the suggestion of putting the open jars with cheesecloth over top of them and leave them into a room with a dehumidifier for a few days and see how that pans out. We might even put it in larger containers so there's more surface area to help dry it out.
One thing's for certain, this year has been a lot more work than last year.