Supermarket Honey

[Dekan]

I always put a spoonful of honey on my breakfast porridge. (Granulated sugar tastes nicer, but honey is better for health, supposedly).

 

The thing is, where does all the honey come from. I buy my honey in a jar, from a local supermarket, and its shelves always have masses of jars stacked on them. When you think of how many supermarkets there are in the world, and how many jars of honey they have on their shelves, how much honey does that represent - a million tons?

 

Could that massive amount really all come from bees - wouldn't there have to be so many bees, to produce it, that there'd be huge bee-farms all over the place? But has anyone ever seen them?

 

The suspicion therefore arises in my mind, that the "honey" sold in supermarkets, is actually some synthetic product made in factories.

 

Could honey easily be synthesised in a factory?

Edited June 25, 2011 by Dekan

[Hal.]

The Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations says in their FAQ section about ,

Honey

 

Q. How much honey will I get from my hive?

 

A. It depends on a number of factors and will vary from year to year. The amount of good honey-producing plants within range of your hive is very important. A strong colony in a very good season could collect upwards of 80 lbs but if the weather is not favourable 20 lbs or less might be your lot. Some years none at all is collected but this is the exception.

[Moontanman]

Honey is supposed to be very difficult to synthesize, I have kept bees, i have seen "bee farms" millions of hives are used to insure crops are pollinated all over the world, yes Dekan, honey bees and honey are real.... there are however lots of different kinds of honey, from pure clover honey to the tupelo honey of song, i prefer the dark almost black honey from the main hive that is aged several years in the presence of bees, it's very dark, almost black and has a harsh bitter sweet taste but I do love it. When i was young i used to follow wild bees, yes it is possible to do this, to their tree cut it down and harvest the honey, very dark black honey often mixed with mashed bee larvae, we called it "wild mountain honey" nothing better on your morning toast... The ancient liquor Meade is supposed to be based on honey but I am not sure the modern version is.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Moontanman

[John Cuthber]

If it's sold as honey then it would be fraud for it to be anything but honey.

There are tests for adulteration of honey by other (cheaper) sugar sources and the consumer protection agencies occasionally use them.

By and large, honey is honey.

[Dekan]

The Federation of Irish Beekeepers' Associations says in their FAQ section about ,

Honey

 

Q. How much honey will I get from my hive?

 

A. It depends on a number of factors and will vary from year to year. The amount of good honey-producing plants within range of your hive is very important. A strong colony in a very good season could collect upwards of 80 lbs but if the weather is not favourable 20 lbs or less might be your lot. Some years none at all is collected but this is the exception.

 

Thanks Hal. I hadn't realised that a single hive could produce as much as 80lbs. I envisioned a bee-keeper pulling a single frame out of a hive. The frame just has little hexagon cells on it. So even if each cell's full of honey, there wouldn't be more than an ounce or so on the frame. I suppose the bee-keeper scrapes the honey out, then puts the frame back, and the bees fill the cells up again.

 

Why do the bees keep doing it - 80lbs of honey must be far in excess of what the bees actually need. When they find they're being continually made to produce excess honey, why don't they get exasperated and desert the hive?

 

Honey is supposed to be very difficult to synthesize, I have kept bees, i have seen "bee farms" millions of hives are used to insure crops are pollinated all over the world, yes Dekan, honey bees and honey are real.... there are however lots of different kinds of honey, from pure clover honey to the tupelo honey of song, i prefer the dark almost black honey from the main hive that is aged several years in the presence of bees, it's very dark, almost black and has a harsh bitter sweet taste but I do love it. When i was young i used to follow wild bees, yes it is possible to do this, to their tree cut it down and harvest the honey, very dark black honey often mixed with mashed bee larvae, we called it "wild mountain honey" nothing better on your morning toast... The ancient liquor Meade is supposed to be based on honey but I am not sure the modern version is.

 

Thanks Moontanman for the interesting information - I vaguely knew there are different kinds of honey, but your post has opened my eyes to the depth of the subject, thanks again!

[Hal.]

Here is some American information that may answer a thing or two . It looks like decent information with no adds . Where there is money to be made people will try to sell you nothing for something , I wouldn't be surprised if things are added to honey to increase the weight in supermarkets , whether it is with their knowledge is another question .

 

Honey Bees and Beekeeping !

[Moontanman]

The only obvious thing I can think of that's added to honey to increase the weight is honey comb, you can't eat it, it's nothing but wax, I never buy honey with the comb in the bottle. Wild honey or as we called it wild mountain honey is rare now days, mostly due to the same diseases that are harming domestic bees. With no one to take care of them wild bees are simply dying out, the European honey bee is a domesticated animal, it's presence in the new world is as an invasive exotic, Native Americans called them "white man's flies" their elimination from the wild will help bring about a resurgence in native bees few of which make honey or sting for that matter.

Edited June 26, 2011 by Moontanman

[JohnB]

Oh Dekan, do you have some fun in store. "Get thee to an Apiarist!".

 

AFAIK there is virtually nothing that can be added to this marvelous food, we can't even water it down. And so many different types! I don't know where you're from but I'm sure that any local honey producer in your area can tell you about the amazing variety of flavours.

 

I'm in Brisbane, Australia. There is the normal honey from shops, there are 4 apiarists in my suburb who have hives and each provides honey with a slightly different flavour. I can go up the mountain (about 20 mins drive) and get rainforest honey and Lantana honey. SuperBee down the Gold Coast has a good 20 different types available. You think that there is a big range in tea leaves? Honey has tea beat hands down.

 

Honey isn't a food, it's an experience!

 

Moontanman, down here the loss of the native bees isn't that much of a worry, they make bloody awful honey. But what the imported bees do with the Australian flowers is fantastic. And I have to disagree about the honeycomb. I have a wonderful piece that's aged about 8 years now, getting darker and crystalising. As a special treat I have a spoonful now and then. Glorious.

 

Store bought honey is fine. It's tasty, nutritious and is an antiseptic on wounds. But anybody who has the chance to try the different flavours and textures available and doesn't take it is really missing out on something special.

[Realitycheck]

Yeah, I was going to add that all of those bees also serve another function impregnating flowers.

[TonyMcC]

It would seem that artificial honey is big business in many parts of the world. http://www.alibaba.com/suppliers/artificial-honey-supplier.html

[dragonstar57]

Oh Dekan, do you have some fun in store. "Get thee to an Apiarist!".

 

AFAIK there is virtually nothing that can be added to this marvelous food, we can't even water it down. And so many different types! I don't know where you're from but I'm sure that any local honey producer in your area can tell you about the amazing variety of flavors.

 

I'm in Brisbane, Australia. There is the normal honey from shops, there are 4 apiarists in my suburb who have hives and each provides honey with a slightly different flavor. I can go up the mountain (about 20 mins drive) and get rainforest honey and Lantana honey. Super-Bee down the Gold Coast has a good 20 different types available. You think that there is a big range in tea leaves? Honey has tea beat hands down.

 

Honey isn't a food, it's an experience!

 

Montanan man, down here the loss of the native bees isn't that much of a worry, they make bloody awful honey. But what the imported bees do with the Australian flowers is fantastic. And I have to disagree about the honeycomb. I have a wonderful piece that's aged about 8 years now, getting darker and crystallizing. As a special treat I have a spoonful now and then. Glorious.

 

Store bought honey is fine. It's tasty, nutritious and is an antiseptic on wounds. But anybody who has the chance to try the different flavors and textures available and doesn't take it is really missing out on something special.

I have never seen any form of honey sold other than the normal generic honey. maybe your area is in honey production or something but most people have only one option when it comes to honey. the only variation seems to be how much they add other sweeteners to it (high fructose corn syrup etc)

[charles brough]

If it's sold as honey then it would be fraud for it to be anything but honey.

There are tests for adulteration of honey by other (cheaper) sugar sources and the consumer protection agencies occasionally use them. By and large, honey is honey.

 

Yes, absolutely. And the only reason why there is an adequate stock of honey in each market is because the price is set even with demand! I guess the questioner is unaware of the supply/demand priciple! If not, he may be wondering why it costs so damn much to buy a bottle when there is so much in the market!

[alexpraha]

Raw Honey is an awesome superfood and a TRUE Miracle drug! I have taken
a Tablespoon a day for about month now. I feel great! Thank You for
the information! Ignorance is bliss. Knowledge is responsibility! http://www.bees-products.com/?p=honey