Can raw honey be clear?.....

[twoblessings]

I am talking about unheated raw honey.

thanks!

[ken rice]

Can Bee clear as water

[BeekeeperEric]

Yes. And Freshly extracted, settled, and bottled honey should be. Over time honey will crystallize, and this can vary from days to years depending on the variety. With gentle heating to 35 - 40 degrees celsius ( the internal temperature of a bee hive) this process can be undone, without damaging any of the health benefits.

[Solomon Parker]

I've never seen perfectly clear, but I have seen very light colored.

I'd love to see it though.

[Luterra]

Have you or your neighbors been feeding sugar syrup?

[jip]

Same as Solomon.

Capped or uncapped honey?
Nectar can be clear.

[Paul McCarty]

My early season Willow honey is pretty clear.

[beemandan]

When you say clear...are you referring to lack of color or lack of particles in suspension?

[ken rice]

When I have pretty clear honey it is usually in first year fresh drawn comb,or so it seems

[Broke-T]

I'm with Dan. I think clear honey means no suspendeded particles, not lack of color. However, raw honey can be clear and light in color.

Johnny

[ken rice]

I guess the only one that can answer what is meant is the one that started the post

[Island Apiaries]

Our fireweed can be almost water clear.

[cerezha]

... With gentle heating to 35 - 40 degrees celsius ( the internal temperature of a bee hive) this process can be undone, without damaging any of the health benefits.

Not true. 30oC is a temperature of the nest. Nest does not have a honey. It is just waste of energy to keep comb with honey at 30oC especially in winter. I have comb honey, which is stored for almost a year - it did not crystallize. Crystallization somehow related to honey extraction. Once honey leave its "natural" place (honeycomb) it could crystallize, which, I believe did not affect its properties. ANY artificial heating shall remove FDA's "grade A" from the label. But, I guess, one could bring honey in Mohave desert and heat it up "naturally"... Sergey

[cerezha]

I am talking about unheated raw honey.

Sounds like sugar water.... Sergey

[dixiebeeco]

Cotton Honey in South GA normally comes out of the comb nearly as clear as water. Strain the wax particles out and it's clear X's 2. Also has its own unique taste, but sugars fairly fast.

Dixiebeeco

[beesinwv]

I WV locust honey is the closest thing to clear honey I have seen. I think the variety of plants has a lot to do with it. Our Poplar honey is very dark and Autumn Olive is light yellow. Another thought, were you feeding sugar water? This would give you a clear honey.

[AstroBee]

Not true. 30oC is a temperature of the nest. Nest does not have a honey. It is just waste of energy to keep comb with honey at 30oC especially in winter. I have comb honey, which is stored for almost a year - it did not crystallize. Crystallization somehow related to honey extraction. Once honey leave its "natural" place (honeycomb) it could crystallize, which, I believe did not affect its properties. ANY artificial heating shall remove FDA's "grade A" from the label. But, I guess, one could bring honey in Mohave desert and heat it up "naturally"... Sergey

I guess this was missed when first posted, but there are several inaccuracies that need to be pointed out. Comb honey will definitely crystallize. It may crystallize slower than extracted honey, but it will crystallize. Crystallization is more a function of nectar source (relative percentages of sugars). I'd like to see the source of the comment "ANY artificial heating shall remove FDA's "grade A" from the label." If true, that would eliminate almost all commercially extracted honey from being graded A. Here's a quote from the USDA publication: United States Standards
for Grades of Extracted Honey

Section 52.1401 Determining the grade.

(e) "Crystallized honey and partially crystallized honey shall be liquified by heating to approximately 54.4C (130F) and cooled to approximately 20C (68F) before determining the grade of the product."

I could see nothing that says that heated honey could not receive the grade A designation.

[Mtn. Bee]

Our locust honey is pretty clear color wise and I often get asked what we add/mix with our
honey and proudly say nothing that is the color of our spring honey!
Also fireweed and snowberry can be fairly light in color.

[deknow]

Not true. 30oC is a temperature of the nest. Nest does not have a honey. It is just waste of energy to keep comb with honey at 30oC especially in winter.

...but in the summer, it is unavoidable that it gets hotter than the brood, being above the brood on a day that is 90F.

I have comb honey, which is stored for almost a year - it did not crystallize. Crystallization somehow related to honey extraction. Once honey leave its "natural" place (honeycomb) it could crystallize, which, I believe did not affect its properties.

Errr, and tupelo honey and buckwheat honey won't crystalize after extraction, and some honey crystalizes in the comb (heather is famous for this, I have some goldenrod that is crystalized in the comb). It is folly to generalize too much about what characteristics honey has.

ANY artificial heating shall remove FDA's "grade A" from the label. But, I guess, one could bring honey in Mohave desert and heat it up "naturally"...

That is simply not true. I believe that there are some state standards of identity that say that heat cannot be added to grade a raw honey...but adding heat is anything other than cooling....it's nonsense.

deknow

[deknow]

Sounds like sugar water.... Sergey

...that's a heck of a claim to make about something you've never seen and have virtually no description of.

deknow