#2: Not knowing the difference between primary and secondary fermentation.

Short:

The difference between primary and secondary fermentation lies in the general window of time
you mead is in. The primary stage of a mead is generally within the first 60 days of a meads life.
However, this can vary greatly depending on how active your fermentation is. Some meads ferment
very quickly and might finish in 2 weeks while others might finish in 8 weeks. You simply need to
watch and see how quickly your airlock is bubbling.
Once the bubbling has slowed down you can rack your mead into secondary fermentation
where you can either restart the fermentation by giving the mead more honey or by adding further
ingredients. If you simply rack the mead over and let it sit you have not entered secondary
fermentation. There will still be some fermentation that occurs but the bulk of it has occurred. If you
choose to add more ingredients into the mead after primary fermentation you have entered secondary
fermentation and often times the yeast will kick start back up and start using the new resources to
further ferment.
A lot of people will put their fruits and other various ingredients into the secondary fermentation
because the new alcohol content that the yeast have created act as a protective barrier against bacteria
and often times fruit rotting. I myself will put my fruits and other ingredients into the secondary for this
reason. In gist, primary is the initial fermentation stage where the bulk of the fermentation occurs while
the secondary stage exhibits a lighter fermentation and is often used for adding the desired flavors to
the mead.

Long:

There are multiple stages in the mead making process and they are all very important. The
primary stage is when the yeast is going through the bulk of its fermentation process. This is generally
happening in the first 1 – 60 days of your meads life. The range for primary fermentation can vary
depending on how active the mead is. You can tell how far along a mead is within a stage by how
active the airlock is. Watch your airlock and see how rapidly the mead is bubbling. Most people go
with the rule of thumb that once the bubbling has slowed down to a single bubble every 3-10 minutes
the primary fermentation is slowed down and is almost done.
You can very easily start up a meads fermentation by giving the yeast more nutrients or oxygen.
Often times, unless all the yeast have completely died, the yeast just need a little more energy to keep
going. A good indicator that your mead has ran its course during the primary stage is to check its
gravity. Hopefully you have taken the initial gravity reading when the mead started. If your initial
reading was 1.12 with all your honey and water mixed together and your reading at the end of the
primary fermentation is 1.00 your mead has most likely level out and hit its peak ABV.
Once the primary stage has completely stopped you can choose to enter the secondary
fermentation stage by either adding either new ingredients into the mead or simply adding more honey
and nutrients. The secondary stage is often the time when people will put their fruits or other
ingredients into the mead. It is safer to add your new ingredients, especially fruits, into the secondary
fermentation because the alcohol content that the yeast have created will allow for the ingredients to
experience less bacterial influence. In the secondary stage you can leave your fruits in the mead for
longer because they have a far lesser chance of harvesting bacteria when they are in the alcohol.
The secondary fermentation stage does not have a specific day range like the primary. You can
leave a mead in secondary fermentation for as long as you want. However, it is encouraged to take your
fruits out after 4-6 weeks because some fruits aromas can harm the mead. In the same light some
outwardly seeded fruits, like strawberries, can create off flavor if left in for too long.
The last thing to note about the difference between primary and secondary fermentation is that
you can have mixed results when including varying ingredients. It's a big debate between people on
whether or not to include your fruits and ingredients in the primary fermentation or the secondary. In
my own experience I have had better luck putting my extra ingredients into the secondary fermentation
rather than the primary. My melomel meads have done better when I have put them into the secondary
fermentation and because of that I most often will follow that pattern with my meads. You may choose
whatever way you want. In truth there is no perfect method and experimentation will only provide you
with data on what things have worked and what haven't. I hope this has cleared up the difference
between primary and secondary fermentation!