Honey, I am confused! How do I know nature's wonder from junk?

I have been reading books on honey and am convinced of its benefits both as a nutritional food and as a topical substance promoting beauty and health. For example, I've been looking through The Honey Prescription: The Amazing Power of Honey as Medicine and Honey: Nature's wonder ingredient: 100 amazing and unexpected uses from natural healing to beauty.

I talked with my friend Diane Wyzga, a bee guru (not to mention a lawyer and a storyteller) and asked her how to find good honey. Her response was not a simple one, so I asked her if she would write a guest post here so we can all be knowledgeable in our bee hunting. She said "yes," to my delight. Thanks, Diane!

Here is what she wrote:

I am the Lady Bee Wrangler of San Clemente. I have 11 hives and growing on an organic farm. We are so thrilled to have the space, as is the farmer. The bees get pollen and nectar and the farmer gets pollination.

How does one go about buying honey when you cannot get my Beach Blossom Honey?  Bees do not produce year 'round.  They follow the growing cycle.  As I tell folks at the farm stand, "I can't just turn on the honey faucet."

The best source for buying honey is a local beekeeper or beekeeping organization.  Usually you can find them if you Google "beekeeping" and your local area.  Backwards Beekeepers is one such club in Los Angeles.

You can also try your local farmer's market.  But you have to be careful.  Make sure

you are buying from the source, not someone who is recycling already purchased honey. Ideally the honey should be treatment-free: no additives, antibiotics, mitricides or other pesticides. Nor should the honey have been heated; heating destroys the powerfully healthy enzymes. 

What you want is what the bees brought in. 

If you have to purchase off the shelf, be aware that much honey is made of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  Yes, you read that right.  Commercial beekeepers feed heir bees HFCS before they are carted off to do their pollinating job.  The "honey" that the bees produce is siphoned off and sold as honey to General Foods and the like.  It finds its way into salad dressing, baked goods, cereals and the rest.

Here is a really good read on honey production.

Scroll down and pay careful attention to this statement :

"Even though honey is produced in the United States, traded internationally, and consumed both as a packaged food and as a food ingredient, there currently is no federal standard of identity for honey in U.S. law."

So bottom line, unless you're buying it directly from a reputable beekeeper, there's no way to confirm the identity of the honey. We do not have organic standards for honey like we do for produce. The law does not require a “pure honey” label to say how much pure honey is in the bottle (frequently diluted with HFCS). Also, prices are not always a good indication of quality honey.

If you have any questions, please ask them below, and I will ask Diane to get back to us.

Comments

[Bees for sale]

i like the hone and bee very much, i have learned important information form your blog thanks