{"id":5529,"date":"2023-12-26T09:04:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-26T14:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/?p=5529"},"modified":"2023-12-26T09:04:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T14:04:28","slug":"what-is-honey-a-guide-for-beginning-beekeepers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beekeepingfornewbies.com\/what-is-honey-a-guide-for-beginning-beekeepers\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Honey? (A Guide For Beginning Beekeepers)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although several insects make honey, it is mainly associated with the western honey bee (Apis mellifera<\/em>) – the most common species of honey bee used for honey production worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honey is a sweet, viscous, naturally produced food. Honey bees collect plant nectar, alter its chemical makeup using enzymes, and store it in wax comb cells. By dehydrating the mixture, bees create honey, a supersaturated product with significantly more sugar than water. Once converted, bees cap honey with wax for storage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, honey is a \u201cnaturally available product and is the only concentrated sweetener that can be found in nature.\u201d [1]<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bees store honey as their primary food source.<\/strong> Beekeepers harvest the bees’ surplus honey for human consumption as food or as an additive to other products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvesting honey is one of the primary reasons for being a beekeeper. Everyone knows honey is a thick, liquid sweetener. Besides that, though, what is honey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is a beginning beekeeper\u2019s guide to this fantastic hive product including information on why and how bees make honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

See our article about beekeeping as a hobby<\/strong><\/a> for reasons to enjoy beekeeping other than honey harvesting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why Do Bees Make Honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Honey bee diets consist of honey, beebread, and royal jelly, which they make from harvested pollen, nectar, and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurse bees feed bee bread and royal jelly to developing bee larvae. Honey is the primary food source for adult bees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By making honey, bees have a high-energy food source that lasts for extended periods without spoiling. In addition, capped honey is available to the bees when other food sources are not, especially during winter and summer nectar dearth<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Learn more!<\/strong> See our article What Do Honey Bees Eat?<\/strong><\/a> for more information about the honey bee\u2019s diet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

How Do Bees Make Honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The primary building block of honey is the nectar produced by flowering plants<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nectar is a watery, sweet liquid containing sugars and other components, including amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, pigments, and aroma sources. [2]<\/a> Nectar is about 80% water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nectar attracts bees (and other pollinators) to flowers. While gathering nectar and pollen, a honey bee inadvertently pollinates plants. This transfer of pollen aids the plant\u2019s reproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foraging bees gather nectar with a tongue-like proboscis and store it in a “honey stomach,” which mixes the nectar with bacteria and enzymes. The chemical makeup of the nectar changes as a complex sugar (sucrose) breaks down into simple sugars (glucose and fructose).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon arriving at the hive, foragers transfer the nectar mixture to house bees, who continue the conversion process. House bees regurgitate some of the nectar to evaporate water content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bees then regurgitate the nectar mix into wax comb cells where they fan it to further evaporate more water. Eventually, the water content is reduced to about 15 \u2013 18%, thereby increasing the glucose and sucrose content to about 70%. Thus, the original runny nectar liquid becomes honey, a supersaturated sugar solution.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Bees
Bees on a frame with capped honey<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The level of water content of combined with the high sugar content and some other components make honey antibacterial and capable of being stored for long periods without spoiling.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the bees determine that nectar becomes honey, they enclose it with wax cappings. These caps prevent honey from absorbing additional moisture or running out the cells in high heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although honey contains trace amounts of pollen, pollen is not part of the honey-making process.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, note that while feeding sugar syrup to honey bees can supplement a colony’s food resources, the syrup cannot make honey because sugar syrup lacks components found in nectar<\/strong> that are essential to the creation of honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Honey Bee Vomit Or Bee Poop?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

No, honey is neither bee vomit nor bee poop.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While nectar is “regurgitated” as part of the honey-making process, a bee stores it in a particular “honey stomach.” The honey stomach is separate and distinct from the bee’s stomach in the digestive tract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regurgitated nectar was never in the bee’s digestive tract and thus is neither vomit nor poop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Is Honey Called Supersaturated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Honey consists primarily of sugar and water. The dissolved sugar content relative to water is higher than normal at its stored temperature. This state is called \u201csupersaturated.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a supersaturated solution, some sugar will precipitate out of the solution (separate from water), causing the honey to crystallize.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raw Honey vs. Processed Honey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Raw honey is honey in the condition the bees made it with minimal processing.<\/strong> Therefore, without the application of significant heat, the chemical properties of raw honey are unaltered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raw honey may contain trace amounts of pollen, propolis, and other materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assume that any honey not labeled <\/strong>as raw has most likely been pasteurized and heavily filtered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass producers process honey primarily for marketing purposes. Processing honey retards crystallization (described below), impedes fermentation, and controls color, giving honey an appealing look on the shelf for the average consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Learn more! <\/strong>See our article What Is Raw Honey? (Besides Delicious<\/strong><\/a>)<\/strong> for detailed information about the differences between raw and processed honey.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

What Are The Different Forms Of Honey?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

There are five primary forms of honey under a variety of names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Liquid honey <\/strong>(also referred to as extracted honey<\/strong>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Crystallized honey <\/strong>(which starts as raw, liquid honey)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Comb honey <\/strong>(sometimes called cut comb<\/strong> honey or honeycomb<\/strong>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Creamed honey<\/strong> (also called whipped or spun honey<\/strong>, among other things)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Chunk honey<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Liquid Honey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Honey stored by bees under wax cappings is in liquid form. Most honey is harvested and extracted from the comb as a liquid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Beekeepers harvest frames of capped honey from the hive. After removing the wax caps, honey can be extracted from the comb by several methods. (Hence the reference to extracted honey.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For small harvests, comb and honey can be scraped off the foundation to be crushed and strained. This straining process separates the honey from the wax and removes any large particles that may exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For larger harvests, centrifugal extractors remove honey from frames efficiently. These extractors spin at high speeds, forcing honey out of the comb. This honey is also strained to remove large items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As mentioned above, large producers may also heat and filter honey further as part of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Liquid honey is thick but pourable and packaged in glass or plastic bottles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Crystallized Honey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    As a supersaturated solution, liquid honey may \u201ccrystallize\u201d as sugar separates from the water. Crystallizing honey becomes cloudy, loses viscosity, and eventually becomes a gritty solid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Raw honey has traces of pollen and other material that sugar can attach to and separate from the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Despite its appearance, crystallization does not mean that honey has spoiled. <\/strong>Crystallized honey retains the flavor and other attributes of liquid honey but in a different form. Crystallization indicates that you have real honey, not an adulterated sweetener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To reverse crystallization, simply bathe the container in hot water. You can also heat crystallized honey in a microwave, but that runs the risk of overheating the honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    Learn more!<\/strong> See our article Why Does Honey Crystallize?<\/a><\/strong> for more information about why honey turns into a semisolid state.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Comb Honey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Comb honey is liquid honey encased in its wax comb<\/strong>. Extracted from the hive precisely as the bees made it makes it the rawest form of honey available. Despite its appearance, comb honey is edible in its entirety, including the wax.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Comb
    Harvested comb honey<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
    \n

    Learn more!<\/strong> See our article about how to eat honeycomb<\/strong><\/a> for more information about comb honey, including some of its benefits and risks. Also, learn why comb honey is more expensive<\/strong><\/a> than its liquid counterpart.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Creamed Honey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Creamed honey is a form of crystallized honey.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Natural crystallization produces large sugar granules. Creamed honey processing controls the crystallization process, thereby creating smaller crystals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    With many small sugar granules, creamed honey is smoother and less gritty than solid, naturally crystallized honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creamed honey is a sweetener, just like liquid honey. However, the consistency of creamed honey means you can spread it on bread, fruit, or any other food you choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    Note: Creamed honey goes by various adjectives in place of creamed, such as whipped, spun<\/strong>, granulated, churned, or fondant<\/strong>. I have even seen it referred to as honey butter.<\/strong> I have not determined why all these name variations appear, but I suspect they reflect some regional differences.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Creamed honey can be made by a couple of different processes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The first process, called the Dyce Method<\/strong>, named for Elton James Dyce who patented the process in 1931<\/a>, requires a process of pasteurization<\/strong>. The application of heat needed for pasteurization will affect the chemical composition of the honey meaning it is no longer “raw.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, creamed honey is also made by a different process that does not require significant heat, thus keeping the properties of raw honey.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    Learn more!<\/strong> See our article on creamed honey<\/a><\/strong> for more details, including how to make creamed honey from your hive’s raw honey harvest.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Chunk Honey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Chunk honey is made by placing a piece of comb honey in a jar of liquid honey.<\/strong> Chunk honey seems to be primarily an attractive marketing presentation to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n
    \"Chunk
    Adding extracted honey to a jar with comb honey to make “chunk honey”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    If you have not tried some of these forms of honey, check out the following recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n