08/05/2026
Honey facts
𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝘀, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆.
And no, using a metal spoon isn't going to ruin it either.
Honey might be one of the oldest foods we eat, yet there are still a LOT of myths surrounding what's inside that jar.
Let's bust a few.
𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗩𝗘
𝟭𝟬 𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗦 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟭
"Crystallized honey is spoiled or fake."
Nope.
• Crystallization is a completely natural process
• Some honey crystallizes within weeks, others can remain liquid much longer
• Glucose-to-fructose ratio, temperature, pollen and other particles can influence crystallization
• Crystallized honey can usually be returned to liquid by gently warming the container in warm water
Crystals don't mean your honey has gone bad.
But crystallization alone doesn't prove honey is pure either.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟮
"Never put a metal spoon in honey."
Your spoon is fine.
Most commercial beekeeping and honey-processing equipment is stainless steel.
• Extractors
• Uncapping equipment
• Storage tanks
• Pumps
• Bottling equipment
Leaving honey in contact with certain reactive metals isn't recommended, but stirring honey with your stainless-steel spoon isn't going to destroy it.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟯
"Honey is just sugar and water."
Honey IS primarily sugars and water, and it should still be treated as a source of added sugar in the diet.
But chemically, there's more going on.
Honey can also contain small amounts of:
• Enzymes
• Organic acids
• Amino acids
• Minerals
• Pollen
• Plant-derived compounds and antioxidants
The exact composition varies depending on where the bees forage.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟰
"Good honey should always be light, golden and clear."
Absolutely not.
Honey can range from nearly colorless to amber, reddish and extremely dark.
There is even an unusual purple honey found in the Sandhills region and coastal plain of North Carolina. How cool is that?
Why?
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀.
Different nectar sources can produce completely different colors, aromas and flavors.
Even honey harvested from the same beekeeper can change from season to season and location to location.
That's part of what makes honey so interesting.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟱
"Honey never goes bad."
There's some truth hiding inside this one.
Properly ripened and properly stored honey can remain stable for an incredibly long time because of its low moisture, acidity and other chemical properties.
But honey can absorb moisture.
If its moisture becomes high enough, naturally occurring yeasts can ferment it.
Storage matters.
Honey also doesn't age like a fine wine. Properly ripened and stored honey can remain stable for an extraordinarily long time, but its flavor, color, aroma and texture will change over time.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟲
"Honey is bee vomit."
We hear this one ALL the time.
Nectar is collected into a bee's crop, commonly called the honey stomach.
It's used for transporting nectar and is functionally separate from the stomach where the bee's own food is digested.
Enzymes begin changing the nectar, workers further process it inside the colony and excess water is removed until it becomes honey.
So calling honey simply "bee vomit" doesn't accurately describe what's happening.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟳
"Raw honey isn't safe."
For most healthy adults and children over one year old, honey is generally safe to eat.
But there's one VERY important exception.
𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆.
That includes raw AND commercially processed honey because of the risk of infant botulism.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟴
"Heating honey makes it toxic."
Heating honey can change its flavor, aroma and some heat-sensitive compounds.
But normal culinary heating doesn't suddenly turn honey into a poisonous food or destroy everything in the honey.
We may choose to minimize heat when cooking with raw honey because we want to preserve all its natural characteristics.
That's different from saying heated honey becomes toxic.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟵
"Local honey cures seasonal allergies."
This one gets controversial.
Plenty of people swear local honey helps them during allergy season, and we're certainly not going to tell someone how they personally feel.
But scientifically, the evidence that eating local honey prevents or cures seasonal allergies isn't strong.
Many seasonal allergies are triggered by airborne pollen from grasses, trees and weeds, while honey bees primarily collect pollen from the flowering plants they visit.
The bigger picture of allergies is also incredibly complicated.
The gut and immune system are closely connected, and a large portion of the body's immune activity is associated with the gastrointestinal tract.
Researchers continue to study how diet, the gut microbiome and other environmental factors may influence allergic disease.
And this is where our own experience gets interesting.
We've shared before about our son, Lucas the Beekeeper, and his struggles with severe seasonal allergies.
You'd think having access to raw local honey straight out of our own backyard would have been the answer.
For him, it wasn't.
What made the biggest difference for Lucas was changing his overall diet and dramatically reducing his sugar intake. We also chose to incorporate bee pollen into his diet.
When we're consistent with his diet, his allergy symptoms have been dramatically better. When his sugar consumption climbs, we've personally noticed his symptoms tend to return.
That's our family's experience, not a promise that doing the same thing will cure someone else's allergies.
And as a beekeeper who sells honey, that's sometimes a hard pill to swallow.
Honey is an incredible food, but that doesn't mean more honey is automatically better for every person or every situation.
Sometimes we have to be willing to say that, even when we're the ones selling it.
I'm a honey producer, but I'm not going to pretend honey is a miracle cure just because I sell it. That's why we don't sell our honey with the promise that it will help your allergies. There's a lot more to allergies than simply being exposed to pollen.
𝗠𝗬𝗧𝗛 #𝟭𝟬
"Dark honey is always better."
Dark honeys often contain higher concentrations of certain antioxidant compounds than lighter varieties.
But color alone doesn't determine whether one jar is "better."
Light honey can be incredible.
Dark honey can be incredible.
They simply represent different nectar sources and different chemical profiles.
And sometimes the best honey is simply the one you enjoy eating.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻
Honey is fascinating enough without exaggerating what it can do.
It's a food created through an incredible relationship between bees, flowers, weather, landscape, and God's creation.
It crystallizes.
Its color changes.
Its flavor changes.
Its chemistry changes depending on the plants the bees visit.
And that's exactly what makes real honey so interesting.
𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
Which honey myth have YOU heard the most?
Or better yet...
What's a honey "fact" you've always wondered whether was actually true?
Drop it in the comments and we might tackle it in another Lessons from the Beehive.
Save this one for the next time somebody tells you crystallized honey has gone bad, and share it with someone who loves honey.
And if you enjoy learning about honey bees, native bees, honey and the incredible products of the hive, follow along. We also share the real life of the beekeepers behind the products.
𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀
𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 🐝💛
𝐘'𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥
