Best honey

Whether for cooking purposes, as a sweetener, or for health purposes, mankind has utilized honey for millennia. The benefit of honey is that it is more concentrated than regular cane sugar, so that you can use less to get the same amount of sweetness. And honey is absorbed into the bloodstream more gradually, putting less stress on the pancreas (which is important for people who must watch their blood sugar levels). But there are many varieties of honey nowadays: Besides the familiar type of processed honey, that comes as a clear, amber-colored viscous liquid, there are also organic honeys that have a consistency of peanut butter. There is also naturally crystallized honey. Here is a guide to some of the best honeys on the market.  

Bees produce honey from the nectar that they forage from flowers. The color and taste of the honey will be influenced by the types of flowers from which the bees collect the nectar. The color can vary from nearly colorless to dark brown. And the flavors can vary from mild to pungent. Here is a list of the forms in which honey is sold:

• Raw Honey: Honey can be sold raw, in the form of comb honey (by cutting off a chunk of the beehive, which is beeswax with the honey still inside the honeycomb cells), or extracted from the honeycomb by whirling the honeycomb in an extractor. Gravity and centrifugal force take the honey out of the honeycomb. It then crystallizes into a peanut butter consistency. Heat can be applied (up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit) to separate the honey from the beeswax—this honey will be in a more liquid form. It is still considered “raw”, since it was unfiltered and heated only gently.

• Processed Liquid Honey: Commercial liquid honey is pasteurized at 161 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to destroy any yeast cells that may have entered into the honey. This also keeps the honey in liquid form, since it will not crystallize so easily anymore. But heating honey above 115 degrees usually destroys enzymes in the honey, and may affect the nutrient content.

• Crystallized Honey: Honey is mostly glucose and fructose. Sometimes honey will crystallize naturally, when the glucose in the honey will precipitate out of the glucose-fructose solution (sort of like rock candy). The result is a semi-solid honey. Some companies market honey in this crystallized form.

  Here is a list of honeys, based on the different sources of the nectar:

• Manuka Honey: The Manuka tree is native to New Zealand. There are a number of companies that market honey that bees have prepared from the blossoms of the Manuka tree. It has a distinctive dark brown color, and is more viscous than other types of honey.

• Clover Honey: This has a mild taste, and the color can vary from white to amber color. This is the most common source of honey in the United States.

• Orange Blossom Honey: This is also a common honey type, made from a combination of citrus tree sources. It is light in color, and has a light citrus taste.

• “Gently filtered” honey: Strictly speaking, raw honey is unfiltered. But that will typically contain bee parts. Some companies will say that their honey has been “gently filtered”. Some customers are skeptical as to whether such honey can really be considered “raw” after being filtered or even heated.

• Organic honey: A company can claim that the honey producing process is organic. But they can't really control where the bees forage for nectar. Be aware that the “organic” here means that the honey is all natural, with a minimum of processing. It's not a statement of the source of the bees' nectar, or how the bees have been treated. (There are treatments for bees to maintain their health and destroy any parasites in the hive. These may be chemicals that are not organic.)

• Crystallized honey: Even if you bought the honey in a liquid form, honey has a tendency to crystallize naturally. The honey hasn't gone bad by any means (in fact, honey has the ability to last for centuries, if it is sealed so that moisture doesn't enter). If you want it in a runny form again, put the closed jar of honey in warm water and stir, until the crystals dissolve. Another tip is to put a spoon in hot water, and then take out a bit of the crystallized honey from the jar. It will become runny and spreadable again!

• Storage: Since honey lasts for so long, it is best to store it in glass. Storing it in plastic may cause the taste of the plastic to leach into the honey over time.

• Additives: Pure honey tends to be expensive to produce, so there is a temptation to put in cheaper syrups or sugars, or to add fructose to keep it runny. USDA approval requires that something that is labeled “honey” must be a pure product, without any additives.

Wedderspoon-- is a producer or Manuka and gourmet honey, based in New Zealand. It was started by Diane Wedderspoon in 2005. They started producing Manuka honey (which is originally native to New Zealand) in North America, after seeing how difficult it was to find in Canada and the United States. They now have 35 varieties of Manuka honey products.

Y.S. Organic—is a company manufacturing bee products, located in Sheridan, Illinois. They are part of the Y.S. Eco Bee Farms, that were established in 1985. They hold organic fairs, that educate people about the benefits of organic honey and the honey preparation process.

Manuka Health—is a producer of organically produced health and beauty products. They were founded by Kerry Paul in 2006, in the city of Te Awamutu, New Zealand. They also make bee products, such as propolis, Royal Jelly, bee pollen, and honey-based treatments.

Comvita—was founded in 1974 by Claude Stratford and Alan Bougen. They produce honey and honey-based products that do not involve overheating the honey, so as to preserve its enzymes and vitamins. They also make oil leaf extract and propolis, and utilize these things in their health products..