Thank you, Lena and Marshall. I have always said, if I live long enough I just might learn something and you two have educated me about honey and honey crystals. I won't be so quick to judge various honeys by that useless yardstick anymore, right? ..lol. And it makes sense. Various fruits and veggies have a variety of glycemic values... why wouldn't the nectar of flowers? Again.. thank you both. Lola
On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 9:26 PM, Lena Guyot <drumr...@stny.rr.com> wrote: > Hi Marshall, > Yes, crystallization isn't necessarily a sign of being 'sugared'. Indeed, > I'm more apt to be suspicious of honey that doesn't crystallize. Our honey > always crystallized (lots of goldenrods and two different asters of late > summer). The only heat our raw honey ever knew was from the capping knife; > other than that, it was pure, raw, untreated in any way. Our old beekeeper > mentor told us to feed sugar syrup in the winter if too many thaws made the > bees use up their stores and the supers went 'light'. We only did that > once, then always left enough supers of comb to guarantee they'd get > through to the gathering season. > > We no longer keep our 14 hives (too taxing when my Lyme disabled me, and > swarms always seemed to happen on the hottest, most difficult days of > summer) but friends 'round the block keep bees now, and the neighborhood > honey is as wonderful as ever. > > It's so important to have *local* honey from the same flowers and > grasses, the same pollens that get up our noses and irritate. Local honey > in hot tea in the Spring will usually offset this problem. > > Be well, > Léna > > On Aug 16, 2013, at 9:07 PM, Marshall wrote: > > On 8/16/2013 6:55 PM, phoenix23002 tds.net wrote: > > 'They' say a good test to know whether your honey has been 'sugared' or > not is whether any of it crystallizes in the bottom of the jar over time. > We have a local beekeeper whom I get honey from, 3 - 4 jars at a time. The > jar of honey we are using now has been opened for at least 3 - 4 months and > I bought it last summer. We don't refrigerate it.. just leave it on the > shelf in the pantry or on the kitchen table. So far, not a speck of > crystalized sugar in the bottom. > > > Not really. All honey is a super saturated solution of glucose and > fructose (mostly). If seeded, all will crystallize. Some honeys, those > that contain more glucose, crystallize readily. This includes dandelion, > aster and goldenrod in my area. What a lot of people don't know is that > if you have a jar that crystallizes, and you end up with a layer of liquid > on top, that liquid will contain mainly the fructose and the water from the > part that crystallized. The additional water can make it ferment. Here is > a good article on it: > http://www.montcobeekeepers.org/Documents/Honey_Crystallization.pdf which > has a table of which honeys crystallize fastest. > > > I used to buy my honey from Vermont Country Store and it was wonderful > quality. They quit carrying locally gathered honey for some reason and I > had to look around for another source. It was my good fortune to locate a > beekeeper locally. > > > Good. > > Marshall > > Lola H. > > On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 5:54 PM, Marshall <mdud...@king-cart.com> wrote: > >> The large companies heat their honey, more to thin it for filtering than >> for bottling. If you exceed about 120F it kills the enzymes. Small local >> beekeepers generally will never heat their honey, nor filter it. They >> will simply strain it through some cheesecloth, or an unused paint strainer. >> >> Marshall >> >> On 8/16/2013 2:39 PM, finplan65 wrote: >> >> Does the term unheated mean raw? Also I was told all honey actually is >> heated by necessity to enable it to be poured in to the container. >> Otherwise it is too viscous...true? Thank you >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Cyndi <cyndi...@gmail.com> <cyndi...@gmail.com> >> *To:* silver-list@eskimo.com >> *Sent:* Thursday, August 15, 2013 3:22 PM >> *Subject:* Re: CS> >> >> On 8/14/2013 10:12 PM, finplan65 wrote: >> >> Any brand names of the few percent that are authentic? >> >> >> What matters is that it is honey local to you because then it's made from >> pollen in your area. A national brand will never meet that criteria. You >> also want it raw, not processed. Not only is it helpful for arthritis but >> allergies and many other conditions, especially when mixed with organic >> apple cider vinegar. Together it's called honeger . I get my honey from >> local feed stores. >> >> Cyndi >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> No virus found in this message. >> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com >> Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3211/6083 - Release Date: 08/16/13 >> >> >> > ------------------------------ > > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3211/6083 - Release Date: 08/16/13 > > > >
