Honey FAQ

DO NOT feed your baby honey. - Honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores that can cause infant botulism - a rare but serious disease that affects the nervous system of young babies (under one year of age). C. botulinum spores are present throughout the environment and may be found in dust, soil and improperly canned foods. Adults and children over one year of age are routinely exposed to, but not normally affected by, C. botulinum spores. Unlike milk, fruit juices and other foods, pasteurization will not kill these spores because honey cannot be heated hot enough to kill the spores without burning the honey.

Storing Honey - Honey should generally be stored at room temperature. Do not store honey in the refrigerator as this will cause it to crytalize faster. For long term storage honey may be frozen to slow crystalization. This is especially true with comb honey or chunk honey because it is not easy to liquify honey comb without damaging it once it has crystalized.

Crystalized Honey - Nearly all honey will crystalize over time. Just how fast depends on the floral source of the honey, the temperature it is stored at and contaminants (wax/pollen) in the honey. Some types of honey crystalize very slowly and others will crystalize before it can be removed from the beehive requireing special equipment for harvesting it. Crystalized honey is not bad and can be liquified by heating it in a hot water bath. A microwave or direct heat is not recommended because the honey can quickly be overheated and burnt.

Strained Honey - Honey is passed though a nylon cloth or stainless steel mesh to remove the larger pieces of wax and pollen from the honey. It has no real affect on the taste or quality of the honey.

Filtered Honey - Honey is passed though a filter, often under heat and pressure. This process removes the smallest particles of wax and pollen from the honey. This prolongs the period of time before the honey will start crystalizing giving it a longer shelf life on the store shelf.

Pasteurized Honey - Honey is heated to 140 degrees F for 30 minutes or even higher temperatures for a shorter period of time. This kills the yeast that naturally occurs in honey and prevents the honey from fermenting when the water content in the honey is too high. Pasterization does tend to affect the flavor and properties of honey.

Raw Honey - Raw Honey is Honey that has not been filtered or pasteurized. It may be strained to remove the larger visable particles of wax, pollen and propolis. It may be sold in liquid or creamed forms. It does tend to crystalize faster than honey that has been filtered. All of our honey is raw (ie. it is not filtered or pasteurized.

Completely Raw/Really Raw (tm)/Entirely Raw Honey - Completely Raw Honey is Honey that has not been strained, filtered or pasteurized. It differes from Raw Honey in that it has not been strained, thus it it will contain particles of wax, pollen and propolis. Often raw honey is sold creamed because it gives a more presentable product it has a higher tentency to crystalze and the wax, pollen, and propolis tends to float to the top of the jar.

Creamed Honey - Creamed honey is honey that has been allowed to crystalize under controled conditions resulting fine crystals giving the honey a creamy texture. Also called Spun Honey, Whipped Honey, Churned Honey, or Candied Honey.