Raw Honey

Congratulations! You have purchased raw honey produced by honey bees that have been bred and born locally and have foraged on local flora in the foothills of the Allegany Mountains.

What is raw honey?

Raw honey is honey that has been taken directly from the hive. After extraction from the comb, the only process used to bottle it is gravity filtering through a mesh screen to remove wax particles and bee parts. Mild heat may be applied to make the honey flow for filtering and bottling. This means that the pollen, enzymes, minerals and yeast that give honey it’s healthful benefits are present in your honey.

My honey is cloudy, what happened?

Raw honey is not pasteurized, and it is not micro filtered like most store honey. This means the honey contains pollen that can give it a cloudy appearance and it can form crystals which make the honey cloudy, thick, difficult to pour and have a grainy feel in the mouth. You can dissolve these sugar crystals by gently heating it in a pot of water with occasional stirring. Be gentle and keep the heat low to retain the benefits of raw honey. The crystals will dissolve immediately in your tea or coffee and will not effect recipes when used in cooking or baking.

You can also embrace the crystals. Raw honey generally forms small crystals especially if stored at about 50 °F. Raw honey that is fully crystallized is called Creamed Honey, no cream involved, a delicacy in some countries. Creamed honey is 100% honey, spreadable, won’t drip, and is a bit like a “honey butter”.

My honey has white foam on the top.

This is called honey foam. Bubbles form in the honey during extraction and bottling. The foam is the result of bubbles rising to the top after bottling. It is creamy and delicious. Don’t fight over it, eat it before anyone else sees it.

Cautions:

• Raw honey should never be given to children under one year of age.
• Honey allergies are extremely rare but if you’ve never had it before, taste a bit, a teaspoon or less, to make sure you are not allergic.
• If you have questions about your honey call us, and we will do our best to answer them.