- Home --- Products --- FYI -
Frames full of honey are removed from a hive. The top layer of wax is sliced off the honeycomb and four frames are put into the extractor. The extractor is turned on and the frames are spun around to pull the honey out of the cells on one side of the frames. The frames are flipped and spun around again to extract the honey from the other side. This is done until the batch of frames are complete. A stainless steel strainer is put over a bucket that is put under the extractor's shutoff valve. The valve is opened and the honey flows through the strainer and into the bucket. The extractor is tipped on it's side and a plastic scrapper is used to remove the honey from the inside wall of the extractor. When the extractor is completely drained, the strainer is removed and the bucket is covered and set aside. The honey rests for 2-3 days to allow air bubbles to rise out of the honey. A small amount of honey is removed to color classify the batch of honey. Jars are prepared to be filled. A jar is placed under the bucket's shutoff valve. The valve is opened and the jar is filled. It's sealed with a lid and set aside. The jars are weighed and the amount of honey is calculated. The labels are made and attached to the jars.
Creamed honey is nothing more than crystalized honey that is stirred to make the crystalized honey more uniform. People have asked if what they see is added sugar that is settling on the bottom. No sugar has been added, it's pure honey. It should go without saying, No beekeeper with half a mind would add sugar to their honey and ruin the flavor. Crystallization is a natural occurring process of raw unfiltered honey. It has nothing to do with the quality of the honey or an indication that it is going bad. Honey has been found in sealed jars that were 5 thousand years old and the honey was still good. Do not throw your honey away because it is crystalizing. The crystallization of honey is a good indicator that you have pure, unfiltered, raw honey. Our honey seems to start crystallization in about 18 months. You can change the crystalized honey back to a liquid by heating it in a water bath while stirring the honey. Don't heat the water to more than 100 F. That is about the hottest honey will naturally get in a beehive. You can heat the honey up to 160 F. to stop crystallization from happening. That's what is done for the nice and clear honey you find in the stores. I wouldn't recommend you do it, but you can. My recommendation is that you just stir it if the layer on the bottom bothers you. If you want to assist in the crystallization process and make creamed honey, put the jar in the refrigerator and stir it about every 3 days. Do this until the honey is smooth and evenly colored.
Local- It's an arbitrary word that has very little meaning. The Michigan standard classification of "Local" is any food item produced within the 6 state region around Michigan. Other outlets set there own definition of "Local" being a geographic area, usually defined within a given radius from the outlet.
Pure- Pure simply means that it is honey with nothing added. It has nothing to do with where it comes from or how it was processed. Most the clear honey you find in stores has been heated and finely filtered so it doesn't crystalize and always stays clear.
Raw- Raw honey is honey that has not been heated, it's been strained but not finely filtered. Everything from nature is still in the honey. Our honey is strained just to get most of the wax particles out. The honey is not completely clear and it will crystalize over time.
Creamed Honey- It is crystalized honey that is stirred to give it a uniform texture and color. It's thick and doesn't run quickly. It is considered spreadable. We don't stir our honey to a great extent. It's not a uniform color throughout. You can see the swirls of different shades of the color. We want you to know it's not a huge batch process, each jar is done separately.
Whipped Honey- This is honey that is light and fluffy from air being whipped into it. It is not crystalized and is poured rather than being spreadable. We don't whip our honey. There seems to be no reason to let our honey sit for 2-3 day to get air bubbles out, only to whip them back in. You will see and hear whipped honey being called creamed honey, it's not. Whipped honey is a mechanical process that is not natural. Creamed honey is just stirred honey that has gone through the natural crystallization process.
The first response would be, it doesn't matter how old it is. You wont see an "expiration" or "best used by" date on honey. That's because Honey is in a category of food that never goes bad or has the flavor change over time. It is true, that you shouldn't feed honey to a child younger than 2 years old. Bad honey is so rare that there is no inspection required for honey or the processing facility in Michigan. Water in the honey will make the honey ferment and go bad. It can be from a large amount of nectar being processed with the honey or if you leave the honey open for long periods of time. Keep the jar closed and pass it on to your great-great-grand children. If it smells bad, throw it away. So now, how old is the honey? If you really want to know; the next answer would be, "there's really no way to tell." Beekeepers have their own way of doing things. A beekeeper with lots of hives could take a frame of honey from each hive with no trouble to the bees. You could have early spring honey that was processed yesterday. Other bee keepers will process the honey at the end of the season, so the honey could be 3-4 months old. Some beekeepers want the bees to have as much honey as possible for the winter, so they will wait until the next spring to harvest the honey, so the honey would be a year old. Your honey could be a week old or as much as 2 years old. It doesn't matter. It's all good.