6 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy Honey.

Americans are making a beeline for honey. We consume 400 million pounds of the sweet stuff each year, according to the National Honey Board. And with the popularity of the natural sweetener soaring, not only are farmers' markets full of want to be honeys, grocery stores are following suit. But the selection can be overwhelming—are certain types healthier or tastier than others, what is really +?  Lets go to the hive and find out about real raw honey is all about.

Did you know a standard jar of honey requires a bee to make a million flower visits?  On just one collection trip a bee can hit 100 flowers and travel a 2-mile radius from the hive (bees really are busy!). So for a honey to be labeled organic, all the plants and the entire foraging area need to be pesticide-free. Beekeepers may be doing their part, meaning no pesticides or antibiotics in the hive, but some experts say it's near impossible to prove that bees aren't exposed to pesticides and synthetic fertilizers on their long flights. Same for contact with GMO crops. Honey Hive Farms places their hives on Organic farms close to the desert. Not a lot of spraying on Organic farms or Cactus.  We keep our bees off or as far away from cotton and GMO crops. Honey Hive Farms has a good relationship with many Organic farmers and know the areas the best we can. We are Certified Hive To Table meaning we do everything in house and looking over the area where are bees are is one of our responsibilities. To keep the bees alive and as close to Organic as possible. After over 12 years Honey Hive Farms has learned a thing or two. 

Honey has a dirty little secret: Chinese honey (which may come to the US via India or Malaysia) can be tainted with lead and antibiotics. But finding a quality honey isn't as simple as buying a "Made in the USA" product. Turns out, "spiking" honey is a common practice in the US. Meaning you could be getting honey that's been tainted with corn syrup or other sweeteners either fed to the bees or blended into the honey directly to make it more affordable. 

But how is a consumer to know? The proof is in the pollen. The presence of pollen, which gets stuck on bees' legs when they're collecting nectar and makes its way into the honey, You can tell the origin and potency of the honey. A study by Food Safety News found that 75% of honey sold in big box retailers and grocery stores contained no pollen while 100% of honey bought at farmers like Honey Hive Farms had their full pollen content. So, where you buy your honey could very well make a huge difference.

Something else to keep in mind: Choosing "raw" honey, which means honey has not been heated or filtered, doesn't guarantee quality or presence of pollen. Label laws are loose but if it's fresh or from a Certified Hive To Table farm like Honey Hive Farms, that's a good sign. If you want more proof: "There is a labeling program called Certified Hive To Table which can help consumers feel confident that the honey they purchase is the real thing

Honey Hive Farms has only the Best Arizona Honey.

Honey is graded based on color, clarity, flavor, and moisture, not on nutritional value, As a rule of thumb, that means lighter-colored honeys (Grade C) are milder than amber shades (Grade B) or their darker, bolder counterparts (Grade A). Match the color to the food: More delicate honeys, like Mesquite honey by Honey Hive Farms, work well in salad dressing while more assertive varieties (Cactus, Orange Blossom or Cats Claw honeys) make great marinades. What's more, honey reflects the flavor of its source, and with Honey Hive Farms single flavor and local varieties at the farm to try, you can not go wrong. We are at the farm on Saturdays 10 am to 1 pm, yes you can taste the honeys first. Honey Hive Farms has our Try Before You Buy Honey Tasting Event, every Saturday. Added bonus Honey Hive Farms has FREE Shipping to your front door on orders of $50 or more

Honey gets a lot of props: It has slightly more nutrients and antioxidants than traditional table sugar, plus it's less processed and lower on the glycemic index. What's more, it contains 25 different oligosaccharides, carbs that feed the good bacteria in the gut, which has been tied to boosted digestion, immunity, and mineral absorption. While honey has more calories than the white stuff (23 calories per tsp compared to sugar's 16 calories), it's sweeter and denser so you can use less of it. But keep in mind buy your raw honey from a honey farm like Honey Hive Farms, or just buy your raw honey from Honey Hive Farms.

How do you know farmers market honey isn't just shipped in and sold in Pinterest worthy jars? Unless you go inspect the farm or beehive, you don't.. There's no guarantee that farmers market vendors harvest the honey themselves or that it's even from your home state, so ask plenty of questions before spending your money. This is why Honey Hive Farms stopped doing the farmers markets, we found out that 90% of the other selling honey had no bees, no farm and no hives. Also note: Local honey is always the best, it helps a lot for allergies. Honey Hive Farms has been selling raw honey for over 12 years. We are at our farm every Saturday and believe me, customers will let you know if it works or not. We here from our customers all the time what is working, how it worked, etc. 

At farmers markets usually if you ask if they harvested their own honey they will be honest and say no. This is not good, so who did harvest the honey, or did the person they bought it from even harvest the honey? There is no chain of proof where the honey came from when buying from a repacker / resller. Buying your honey from a mall or grocery store is a horrible idea. There are so many ways that the honey could have been treated, shipped, heated, etc. etc. At least if you can put a person in front of you that knows about bees and honey, you are a lot closer to the real deal. 

Questions to ask:

1. Do you have bees? (know a little about bees, how many queens are in the hive, etc)

2. Where are your hives?

3. How many hives do you have?. (NOTE: Ruffley each hive can produce say 60 lbs of honey a year. If this person selling honey at the same farmers market say four times a week and they are there six months that is 24 weeks. If they are selling lets say 6 lb jugs of Wildflower, and they are selling 10 a week, that is 60 lbs (1 bucket) of honey a week X 24 weeks would be 24 buckets or 1440 lbs of honey. Meaning on a good year, you would need 24 hives for just that 1440 lbs or the 240 6 lb jugs for the six months.)  

4. How long have you been keeping bees?

5. What temperature do you heat your honey? (Hives in Arizona get up to 100 degrees, our honey never sees over that temperature.)

6. If there honey is not liquid and it is crystalized, ask them where they store their honey. Mostly of them store their honeys in the garage. Honey hates temperature fluctuations and this is most of the time why it is crystalized or its just older, meaning they probably bought it from someone else.  Real beekeepers, if they are busy, and taking care of their business / honey, most likely will only have liquid honey. Honey Hive Farms harvest all the time (there is a balance), we stores our honey at 80% always and our honey sells so quickly that it has no time to crystalize. Then our customers like the honey so much they eat it very quickly, so there is not a problem with their honey crystalizing on them either. So good eating, just be careful where you are buying your honey, not a mall or grocery store or on the side of the road, bad ideas for sure. Remember this is food, you are going to put it inside you body.. I am just saying..... 

6 Things You Need To Know Before You Buy Honey Again!