Hello Honey

[JHolmesJr]

Got a question on honey produced in thailand .... Asking in cm forum as most of it is produced around there im told.

I use a floral honey that comes in a 1000g plastic bottle labelled as "100% natural wild floral honey" and says "no sugar, preservatives or additives added" .... The bottle also has a sticker saying HACCP/GMP....question is, can these labels be trusted?

The best honey is unheated and untreated....theres a lot of fake shit with sugar added....so what are the chances this honey is the real deal? Ive also bought honey from the royal project shop that looks tastes very similar...price is a shade under 300b for 1000gm bottle.

Kosher or rubbish?

[NickJ]

I read that ants will not go for 100% pure honey. They will if there are additives/sugar.......When it comes to marketing and advertising there are lots of ways to word things that fool people.......

[JHolmesJr]

Dats true....i have some 100% original manuka honey rated umf 16 and never see ants around it....never saw ants around my thai honey either.

[NickJ]

I just looked into the ant thing.....some do some dont....oh well. Another idea I read is that honey with sugar gets grainy in left out.

I know that lots of the. honey here has sugar.

[JHolmesJr]

Another idea I read is that honey with sugar gets grainy in left out.

I know that lots of the. honey here has sugar.

The thai honey i have does not get grainy at all.

Yes I now there's a lot of adulteration by sugar in the honey industry, not just in thailand but worldwide.

Just thought some wise expat up north had the lowdown on this.

Never mind, it will come.

[NeverSure]

Real honey can get grainy too. There are ants that like sugar and some that don't. In a dodgy place like Thailand I would only buy honey from a vendor that sold me the comb too.

Cheers.

[stillbornagain]

Another idea I read is that honey with sugar gets grainy in left out.

I know that lots of the. honey here has sugar.

The thai honey i have does not get grainy at all.

Yes I now there's a lot of adulteration by sugar in the honey industry, not just in thailand but worldwide.

Just thought some wise expat up north had the lowdown on this.

Never mind, it will come.

Actually, if honey is unheated and unfilter it will crystallize If anyting, honey that doesn't crystallize is more likely to be adulterated. Also, I think it also depends on the balance of the 2 kinds of sugars found in honey: glucose and fructose. I believe that if the honey is very high in glucose it's more likely to crystallize. The balance of sugars depends on the nectar(s) the bees have gathered.

[NancyL]

How do you get honey out of the comb if it isn't heated?

[Farma]

The usual method of extracting honey from a bee box comb is using a centrifical extractor.

A comb knife removes the top layer of comb exposing the honey. The extractor i've used is a drum that allows 2 combs to be loaded. A geared handle on top of the drum spins the combs forcing the honey out to the sides of the drumwhere it drips down to the bottom of the drum. It's then tapped off and filtered.

[brommers]

Centrifugal force Nancy. In the old days a hand cranked spinner, after slicing open the cells.

[stament]

And there was me thinking this was another girl thread, no money no honey T-shirts immediately entered my head when seeing the topic for some strange reason!

[NickJ]

I think it still holds true even on this thread....No money, no honey.....at least for the imported stuff......Im looking for a premium pure Matcha powder now. Really healthy stuff.

[stament]

i get the pure honey from my wife's village in the whiskey bottle. I don't trust the stuff they sell in the markets in similar bottles as being pure, need to know the source.

[Konini]

I've always heard that the way to test for pure honey is to put some in very hot water and if it is sugar syrup it will dissolve - I once tried this with an imported honey, a reputable brand which I trust to be what it said on the label and it dissolved.

Did I do something wrong? Water too hot? Is there another test?

[stillbornagain]

I've always heard that the way to test for pure honey is to put some in very hot water and if it is sugar syrup it will dissolve - I once tried this with an imported honey, a reputable brand which I trust to be what it said on the label and it dissolved.

Did I do something wrong? Water too hot? Is there another test?

I don't see why that would work. Honey is 99+ percent fructose, glucose, and water. Fructose and glucose are both very soluble in water.

[JHolmesJr]

The usual method of extracting honey from a bee box comb is using a centrifical extractor.

A comb knife removes the top layer of comb exposing the honey. The extractor i've used is a drum that allows 2 combs to be loaded. A geared handle on top of the drum spins the combs forcing the honey out to the sides of the drumwhere it drips down to the bottom of the drum. It's then tapped off and filtered.

You seem to be a honey connoisseur…so any advice? Is the honey from chiangmai area/royal project shop trustworthy…or just sugar mixed into crap honey thats been heated and had its nutrients destroyed? Is the HAACP/GMP thai label for organic produce the real deal….or just some made up rubbish?

Ive had really raw honey and it looks like a yellow congealed paste….and it costs a bomb….this stuff is like 12 singapore dollars (300 baht) so it made me think.

[Farma]

By no means a connoisseur or expert on honey. Just memories helping my father out with his hobby as a kid. He kept up to a dozen hives then changed to native bees later on when african bees introduced to improve yields started mixing with his European bees. It made them a bit too lively for his liking. I wasn't into pain so let him rob the hives while I helped out away from the bees. We would move the hives around to take advantage of various trees in flower.

The honey colour and flavour changes with the flowers they're collecting from. It will also crystallize if stored for awhile. Soaking the jar of honey in warm water will return the contents to liquid.

I can't speak for the various labels you find but know a lot of Thai honey sold in markets has sugar added. It's a matter of finding a good source like stament found.There's also common commercial brands available in tescos and other supermarkets if you want pure honey.

[Konini]

I've always heard that the way to test for pure honey is to put some in very hot water and if it is sugar syrup it will dissolve - I once tried this with an imported honey, a reputable brand which I trust to be what it said on the label and it dissolved.

Did I do something wrong? Water too hot? Is there another test?

I don't see why that would work. Honey is 99+ percent fructose, glucose, and water. Fructose and glucose are both very soluble in water.

That makes a lot of sense - I still don't know how to pick a fake honey though. Anyone????

[Impkenai]

Here's a link to 'Benefits of Honey' website that I find very informative. This link will bring you directly to the page 'Testing for pure honey'.

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/pure-honey.html

One tip I learnt is that pure honey do not taste like the fruit from the tree it comes from. For example, Orange Blossom honey does NOT taste of orange flavor, just a hint of the orange blossom fragrance. I had tasted lychee honey at a Thai outlet that tastes just like lychee, which can only mean lychee essence had been added. LOL

Enjoy your honey . . . I had substituted honey for sugar for many decades now, and still enjoying it in my daily coffee.

[CMKiwi]

Out here in Mae Rim we are a bit spoilt as we have the Supha Bee Farm. Now there honey is the real McCoy. Great staff there too, they helped us about a year ago when we found some wild bees decided to make a hive at the back of our house. It was amoungst a stack of old wooden door and as such we didnt notice for some time.

The hive was quiet healthy and although I had been clos to it a few times with out realising it, I never got stung. However the missus didnt like the idea that one day we may get 'attacked' (Her words not mine), I was more interested in clearing up that area more than anything. So she rung the guys at Supha Bee Farm and one of the workers turned up to clear away / remove the hive.

He said it was a good size and healthy and was more than happy to relocate it.....even though I did see a few stings on his face! Prior to leaving he gave us a jar with a big chunk of honeycomb and honey in it. I still have some left together with a few dead bees in it. Very delightful taste but I think Ive left it a tad too long as its starting to crystalise now....it still tastes ok just a bit grainy.

[JHolmesJr]

Supha Bee Farm,,,.ive actually been there....great shop.

I bought 5 bottles of different honeys and the <deleted> thai airport guys refused to let me take them on board, even though they were sealed....i told them to keep it.

Edited December 19, 2015 by JHolmesJr

[stament]

Supha Bee Farm,,,.ive actually been there....great shop.

I bought 5 bottles of different honeys and the <deleted> thai airport guys refused to let me take them on board, even though they were sealed....i told them to keep it.

in your carryon or checked luggage? I bought 4 bottles back from CM in my checked baggage and nobody on the x-ray at the airport questioned it.

I will be bringing back a couple of bottles this time too ;-)

[JHolmesJr]

I did not check em in for fear they would get smashed. Ironically the dumb shit at the security check told me you can buy inside airport. I even offered that he could open any bottle randomly and taste it.

[stillbornagain]

Out here in Mae Rim we are a bit spoilt as we have the Supha Bee Farm. Now there honey is the real McCoy. Great staff there too, they helped us about a year ago when we found some wild bees decided to make a hive at the back of our house. It was amoungst a stack of old wooden door and as such we didnt notice for some time.

The hive was quiet healthy and although I had been clos to it a few times with out realising it, I never got stung. However the missus didnt like the idea that one day we may get 'attacked' (Her words not mine), I was more interested in clearing up that area more than anything. So she rung the guys at Supha Bee Farm and one of the workers turned up to clear away / remove the hive.

He said it was a good size and healthy and was more than happy to relocate it.....even though I did see a few stings on his face! Prior to leaving he gave us a jar with a big chunk of honeycomb and honey in it. I still have some left together with a few dead bees in it. Very delightful taste but I think Ive left it a tad too long as its starting to crystalise now....it still tastes ok just a bit grainy.

Just put the jar in some warm water. The honey will melt back into liquid.

[jobin]

Honey nutrition? Just google those words and learn that there is hardly any nutrition in honey, except calories from simple sugars. And a vegan would never touch honey as it, of course, is nothing more than robbing the bees of their sustenance: cruel to be sure.

I once loved honey spread on hot toast with peanut butter. Now i use brown sugar. Save a ton of money, don't pay for animal cruelty and no one is trying to dupe me by claiming the sugar is anything but 'brown sugar'.

[JHolmesJr]

Honey nutrition? Just google those words and learn that there is hardly any nutrition in honey, except calories from simple sugars. And a vegan would never touch honey as it, of course, is nothing more than robbing the bees of their sustenance: cruel to be sure.

I once loved honey spread on hot toast with peanut butter. Now i use brown sugar. Save a ton of money, don't pay for animal cruelty and no one is trying to dupe me by claiming the sugar is anything but 'brown sugar'.

Are you sure you should be having brown sugar…you're depriving healthy sugarcane plants of life.

[naboo]

Test for pure honey - pure honey will not pass through tissue, sugar water will.

This is what I was told at Fora Bee anyway

I get pure jungle honey from a trusted source, 200B a bottle and it , definitely no sugar added.

[Konini]

Test for pure honey - pure honey will not pass through tissue, sugar water will.

Thank you, I'll give it a go. I make a sugar syrup occasionally for making sweeties, so I should be able to compare at the same time.

[JingerBen]

Honey nutrition? Just google those words and learn that there is hardly any nutrition in honey, except calories from simple sugars. And a vegan would never touch honey as it, of course, is nothing more than robbing the bees of their sustenance: cruel to be sure.

I once loved honey spread on hot toast with peanut butter. Now i use brown sugar. Save a ton of money, don't pay for animal cruelty and no one is trying to dupe me by claiming the sugar is anything but 'brown sugar'.

"...animal cruelty..." you've got to be kidding.

OK, if you destroy a nest to take all their honey it may qualify as insect cruelty.

Apiaries that use box hives [supers], extract honey from the frames in the upper level boxes. That doesn't have any bad effect on the hive at all, and there is no reason to feel guilty about eating the honey.

[eaglesflight]

I did not check em in for fear they would get smashed. Ironically the dumb shit at the security check told me you can buy inside airport. I even offered that he could open any bottle randomly and taste it.

Have you never been on an aeroplane before? You're not allowed to take liquids on board anywhere so there's no need to make offensive comments about the security staff. There's only one dumb person in this story and it's not the security guy. Also, there's nothing ironic about being able to buy honey in the airport and take it onboard. It's already passed security. You can buy bottles of wine and spirits in duty free shops but you can't bring them on a plane if you buy them outside the airport - same with honey. Edited December 22, 2015 by eaglesflight