Question about Honey

[master4g]

Hey everyone. I am in the process of finding a honey supplier and would like to get some good stuff. I was curious what classifies as Raw honey (or natural honey, if it is the same thing). I was told that honey which goes through processing and heating can lose some if its goodness and healing properties. I was also told that heating is done to prevent crystallizing but kills some of the good enzymes in the honey.

I called Costco's honey supplier and they said they get the raw honey from the beekeepers and they heat it up to 170F (for 6/7 minutes) and then filter it through filter paper.

I also talked to a local honey place and they are selling 40lb buckets for $80 and they said the honey is put in a room which is heated by hot water pipes (so heated to 110F) and then cloth strained to seperate the wax and bee legs etc. They said they do not pasteurized.

My question is, would the honey from Costco or the local place be considered raw, or natural? Any good? Thanks a lot

 

[commonsenseman]

I don't know if the local honey technically qualifies as "raw", but I don't think 110 degrees is hot enough to kill anything. I'd go for it, I betcha it tastes 100 times better than costco honey.

As for natural, anything that is 100% honey, without any additional ingredients qualifies. I've heard that some store-bought honey has other ingredients added to it & it does not taste as good as the real thing.

Rumor has it that if it's local it can help with allergies too, since it comes from plants in your area. I imagine that's especially true with wildflower honey. When in doubt, go for the local stuff.

 

[stephm]

I was looking at ordering my honey from GloryBee in Oregon, but the shipping was a bit $$.

A friend turned me on to honeyvillecolorado.com, flat rate shipping!!!!! And they were amazing to work with. I haven't gotten my honey yet and they are the reason in a good way. They wanted to make sure that the honey didn't sit in a hot truck over the holiday weekend (and in his words cook until it wasn't raw honey anymore). They suggested that they ship it instead today so it would arrive quickly.

We shall see, but they are all local Colorado (except for one guy in Wyoming(i think)) and I will be making my FIRST MELOMEL next week!