# Raw Honey



## Acebird

The rawest honey is comb honey, then crush and strain, and then spun and strained. Straining is usually in the 400 range. This will get most of the chunks and not pull out any pollen.

I don't believe there is a certified specification for "raw". There is not even a certified definition of honey. So raw becomes what a consumer thinks raw is. Beekeepers like to label their honey raw because they know it will demand a higher price. As a consumer you need to talk to a supplier to see if you are both on the same page before you purchase.


----------



## davpress

beeeee said:


> How is raw honey processed? I have many requests for honey that is dirty. The dirtier the better. I don't heat any of my honey unless it is granulized. Just wondering how to strain it as I am sure they wouldn't want the honey directly out of my extractor?


Raw honey is not heated, slightly filtered.


----------



## bean tree homestead

Crush and strain is how I do it and I use this as well.
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/CN-206.html


----------



## FlowerPlanter

>http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/CN-206.html

I filter cappings, extractor and crushed comb with the same thing. Except found there is no need for the extras. Only really need one filter;
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/product/HH-443.html

But I also bought the 3 filter set so I just use one on each bucket. Filtering 3 buckets at one time. Good to keep different varieties of honey apart.


----------



## ruthiesbees

my honey harvested from white comb will be very light vs honey harvested at the same time that was stored in a brood comb. When I crush and strain the brood comb one, the bits of pollen and propolis flow through the kitchen strainer. Someone looking for "really raw" or "dirty" is going to want the darker one over the lighter honey even though they are from the same honey crop.


----------



## deknow

If your customers want to believe it is 'pollen and propolis', that's fine. It is the larval 'poop' that is trapped between layers of cocoon, not pollen and propolis.


----------



## Vance G

They mean totally unstrained. Just let the honey stand and skim off what rises to the top and don't bottle what sinks to the bottom. At least that is as dirty as they are getting it from me!



beeeee said:


> How is raw honey processed? I have many requests for honey that is dirty. The dirtier the better. I don't heat any of my honey unless it is granulized. Just wondering how to strain it as I am sure they wouldn't want the honey directly out of my extractor?


----------



## oldfordguy

There's a guy at our local farmer's market that bottles some right out of the extractor and calls it raw honey; has wax chunks, bee parts, etc visible in it. He sells these at double the price of jars of his strained honey, and sells out of them first every week, because it's more "organic" and people are willing to pay more for "organic." 

"There's a sucker born every minute" - unknown, often incorrectly attributed to P.T. Barnum


----------



## D Coates

oldfordguy said:


> There's a guy at our local farmer's market that bottles some right out of the extractor and calls it raw honey; has wax chunks, bee parts, etc visible in it. He sells these at double the price of jars of his strained honey, and sells out of them first every week, because it's more "organic" and people are willing to pay more for "organic."
> 
> "There's a sucker born every minute" - unknown, often incorrectly attributed to P.T. Barnum


That's great salesmanship pure and simple. Give the customer what they want and do it with flare and they'll pay you extra for it. That's why at fairs people make cotton candy and kettle corn right in front of you. You're getting it "fresh" though it tastes identical to stuff that was made ahead of time (assuming it didn't get stale). 

Case in point popcorn at a movie theater. They make a batch every now and then to get smells rolling around but they have a warmer they put bulk purchased pre-popped popcorn in they serve out of. The customer's taste palette can't tell but the customer likes to think it's fresh and will pay for it.


----------



## Nabber86

oldfordguy said:


> "There's a sucker born every minute" - unknown, often incorrectly attributed to P.T. Barnum


You want P.T. Barnum on steroids? Check out how this grocery store displays and dispenses honey. 

http://imgur.com/a/XXjnT

People really are idiots


----------



## D Coates

Wow.... that's downright impressive as a sales display. The clean up when someone overfills or someone pulls the "milk gallon" prank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzfQqt5q0Ak would be awful. I'm surprised it would pass health code as there's no lid on the bucket itself. It could attract insects into the bucket itself and or affect the hydroscopic nature of honey thus creating fermentation. 

I like it but could never do that at my honor stand as a spill of even a drop would draw my bees in that would send customers away. A single person "pranking" (I can think of a different term) could waste gallons.


----------



## Acebird

D Coates said:


> The clean up when someone overfills or someone pulls the "milk gallon" prank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzfQqt5q0Ak would be awful.


Do you actually believe someone would do this if they weren't getting paid for the camera stunt?


----------



## Nabber86

Acebird said:


> Do you actually believe someone would do this if they weren't getting paid for the camera stunt?


It is the age of the internet and YouTube. People do these types of stunts all the time just to get their 15 minutes of internet fame. They usually end up in jail and they definitely do not get paid for it. The only potential upside is that one person in a million may get enough YouYube views to start generating ad revenue. How do you think Johnny Knoxville got his start?


----------



## D Coates

Very select folks posts are blocked as they waste my time but I saw this glittering jewel of ignorance only because Nabber86 quoted it. I'm amazed how someone can have so little street and mechanical knowledge but be the first to poke others for their perceived lack thereof. 

Stunning... but so very thankful for the ignore setting.

Post Script.


Barry said:


> As I said, Ace will be minding his post content by seeing that it stays within his level of experience. I'm done with all the hoopla around what Ace posts. New day here. He'll mind his posts so others don't have to.


 Keep posting about stuff you know nothing about Ace, it simply speeds up your departure date.


----------



## Acebird

Nabber86 said:


> People do these types of stunts all the time just to get their 15 minutes of internet fame.


Multiples scenes of the same actor doing the same stunt. You must be naive.


----------



## Pinchecharlie

What a jackass lol!


----------



## Harley Craig

Reminds me of this scene https://youtu.be/8DmEEUF0uKY


----------



## Nabber86

Acebird said:


> Multiples scenes of the same actor doing the same stunt. You must be naive.


Naive? Do you even internet, bro? 


How much money do you suppose these guys were paid? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay4IxkDW_UM

Or this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mADWG6-Aza8


----------



## minz

I had to show my wife some of the Craigs list adds for honey, they looked like somebody took honey right out of the extractor and put it into ½ gallon jars. I could not believe anybody would post such a picture much less buy it. This thread actually clears up why they would try to sell trash-they do.


----------



## Nabber86

minz said:


> I had to show my wife some of the Craigs list adds for honey, they looked like somebody took honey right out of the extractor and put it into ½ gallon jars. I could not believe anybody would post such a picture much less buy it. This thread actually clears up why they would try to sell trash-they do.



What is the issue with posting on craigslist? I sell my honey out of a make-shift stand on the side of the road (canopy, pickup truck, and a lawn chair). My honey is crush and strained through a paint strainer and placed into un-marked bottles. It doesn't get too much more shadier than that. People can't buy enough of it and I did have one person stop and ask me if I could sell her a 1-gallon milk jug of honey (presumably at a discount). I said that I don't have any gallon jugs, but I have 8 pint-size jars that equaled a gallon. She bought all 8 bottles full price.


----------



## jhirsche

A company in Baltimore MD makes this... have had it... and its quite different! http://www.reallyrawhoney.com/


----------



## Nabber86

jhirsche said:


> A company in Baltimore MD makes this... have had it... and its quite different! http://www.reallyrawhoney.com/



So basically it is comb honey that has been mixed/whipped to a smooth texture. 

At $17 a pound? No thanks.


----------



## minz

Nabber86 said:


> What is the issue with posting on craigslist? I sell my honey out of a make-shift stand on the side of the road (canopy, pickup truck, and a lawn chair). My honey is crush and strained through a paint strainer and placed into un-marked bottles.


Nothing with CL, it was the picture of a glass jar with 2” of foam, wax and whatever in it. It did not even look like it had time to settle. I was mentioning g it because of the OP. I also use CL, Freshy’s and a highway stand but would not dream of trying to sell honey in that state, by this thread I may be missing a market.


----------



## Acebird

minz said:


> it was the picture of a glass jar with 2” of foam, wax and whatever in it.


Foam? How do you get foam on honey?


----------



## Nabber86

minz said:


> Nothing with CL, it was the picture of a glass jar with 2” of foam, wax and whatever in it. It did not even look like it had time to settle. I was mentioning g it because of the OP. I also use CL, Freshy’s and a highway stand but would not dream of trying to sell honey in that state, by this thread I may be missing a market.


I certainly meet some strange people on the side of the road that think honey has supernatural powers. I could probably put honey, ice, and a handful of live worker bees in a blender and sell bee smoothies.


----------



## rwurster

Nabber86 said:


> I certainly meet some strange people on the side of the road that think honey has supernatural powers


Hahaha sometimes I feel like I should be wearing my tinfoil hat when selling honey k:


----------



## Nabber86

Customer: Does this honey have live enzymes? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Will this honey cure my allergies? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Will this honey fight infections? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Will this honey improve my metabolism? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Does this honey contain probiotics? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Does this honey contain antioxidants? 
Me: That's what they say lady

Customer: Is it gluten free, raw, 100% natural, no of growth hormones, no added sugar, no HFCS, obtained from free range bees, 
Me: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.


----------



## libhart

Laughing so hard at that Nabber...your customers and mine must be on some of the same internet forums, cause you know, if it's on the interwebs, it's gotta be true. I'm totally with you on that foil hat rwurster.


----------



## D Coates

Amen. I get asked versions of those questions all the time too. There are some quirky birds out there. I sometimes feel a bit like a snake oil salesman though I don't make any of those claims. Helping with allergies is what I get asked about the most. I normally say "Yep, some people swear by it, others swear at it. I don't have allergies so I can't say for sure."

I make soap with beeswax and honey as well and had a lady call about making sure there was no sodium in it. She read on the internet that it's bad for you... I said, "Salt? No there's no salt in my soaps. There is lye though and it's called sodium hydroxide but that is used in all soaps to create saponification" She indicated she didn't know if that was it but would let me know if the soap caused and troubles. I never heard back from her and I used that soap this morning as I have every morning for a few years now without ill affects (wait,... does that merely make it sub lethal? ).


----------



## rwurster

I live my life one sublethal dose at a time D Coates :lpf:


----------



## Acebird

Oh how funny. Laugh all you want until your 8 year old is staring death in the face. Then it is not so funny.


----------



## Rader Sidetrack

:scratch: :s

What is it about honey - raw or otherwise - that potentially puts an 8 year old child at risk of imminent death?


----------



## Roland

Acebird, at least you are consistent. As ussual you are beyond your sphere of knowledge. Florida was one of the first to have a legal definition. Wisconsin has one of the toughest, sugar ratio and ISCIRA analysis.

Crazy Roland


----------



## odfrank

Acebird said:


> Foam? How do you get foam on honey?


He didn't really ask this, did he?


----------



## Nabber86

Acebird said:


> Oh how funny. Laugh all you want until your 8 year old is staring death in the face. Then it is not so funny.


Then don't be feeding 8-year-olds honey from your own unmanaged hives.


----------



## Nabber86

D Coates said:


> I make soap with beeswax and honey as well and had a lady call about making sure there was no sodium in it. She read on the internet that it's bad for you... I said, "Salt? No there's no salt in my soaps. There is lye though and it's called sodium hydroxide but that is used in all soaps to create saponification" She indicated she didn't know if that was it but would let me know if the soap caused and troubles. I never heard back from her and I used that soap this morning as I have every morning for a few years now without ill affects (wait,... does that merely make it sub lethal? ).


Now that is funny. We haven't bought a bar of soap from a store in over 20 years. I make 10 pounds of soap per batch a couple times a year. My kids used to load it up in a wagon and go door to door selling it for $5 a bar to the people in the neighborhood. I had a woman ask me if the soap was natural and "chemical free". As evil as I am, I had a hard time answering that question with a straight face. Sodium hydroxide is really bad stuff and since it contains no carbon, it is inorganic. Then there was the time we were selling soap that was made from lard and I got a question if the soap made without animal cruelty free products. Is it cruel to make soap from byproduct of a dead pig? I have never had a deeper soul searching dilemma trying to answer that question. I love all parts of a dead pig so I told her it was made from free range happy pigs. Seemed to work as she bought 5 bars.


----------

