pure honey 2011
Test for Pure Honey 2011 Postings – Validate Them
Below are pure honey test posts made by readers of our page: Are These 4 Ways of Testing for 100% Pure Honey Valid? suggesting how honey can be tested for its purity.
Do you agree? Honestly, I find some of the methods very bizarre and questionable. People seem to have different ideas of “purity” in their posts. Well, just try and judge for yourself to see if the method works! And if you have a great method to test for unadulterated honey, why not share with us here: Just Ask or Share Page
For most recent posts, go to: Pure Honey Test Methods – Validate These Postings (Since 2008)
Test for Pure Honey 2011 Postings
Catch a house fly and put it in the honey under test. You will have to throw it with good force, otherwise it will fly away. Now put more honey over it so that sinks down. If the honey is pure, it will come out and fly away.
Rajinder Singh Saini, India
31 Dec 2011
I’m not sure what causes or repels ants from unprocessed raw honey, but the funny part is that I’ve never put my jar of raw unprocessed honey in the fridge for the past six months and have never come across any ants yet. If I’ve left some sugar or normal honey the ants were all over.
Unable to explain and hopefully can someone enlighten me this phenomenon.
Dominick Lee, Singapore
24 Dec 2011
Ruth: Dominick, I’ve heard of this phenomenon many times, but never the explanation. While there are people who really believe this is a good test, there are also others who have seen ants being attracted to 100% pure honey.
Another idea is to pour some honey (from a trusted source) into several small clear containers. Label them, then add a small amount of corn syrup, sugar syrup, or any other sweetener to the different containers. Observe any changes and subject mixtures to further experimentation!
Bonnie, United States
17 Dec 2011
How to know whether it is 100% pure honey? Well, I was once told by a native honey collector to whom I get my honey supply, yes, the ants still love the sweetness of honey,but once they ate it, they will die as the pure honey is “heat” to them.I had experienced seeing dead ants surrounding honey that spill from the bottle.
Ho Chrissie, Malaysia
4 Dec 2011
I searched about pure honey, but no answer is accurate to prove the purity of honey. Some say pour in water it will not dissolve, heat the honey it will remain the same condition or take it in freezer it will not freeze. Nobody knows what is the best way to know if honey is pure when we are buying it from shopkeeper.
Chand Sohail, Pakistan
2 Dec 2011
First and foremost I need to comment on ‘Aleksandr the Beekeeper’s post on the 15 Sep 2011’… More in: The Beekeeper and Good Honey.
[Read Erika’s response to Aleksandr’s opinions on beekeeping practices and her thoughts on granulation of honey.]
Erika Cornish, Canada
18 Nov 2011
Ways to test the honey if its pure !!!
Taste the honey. If it seems off, and yet the label claims it is pure, there are a few simple tests you can run to check the purity of the honey.
Get a glass of water.And a tablespoon of honey are all you need for the first test.
Empty the honey into the water. If the honey is impure, it will dissolve in the water- the most common additive to honey is syrup of jaggery, which dissolves. If it is pure, the honey will stick together and sink as a solid lump to the bottom of the glass.
Get a lighter and a candle with a cotton wick. This test is better if you don’t have as much honey to spare.
Dip the cotton wick of the candle into a bit of the honey, and shake off the excess.
Attempt to light the wick. If it burns, then it is completely pure honey. If it refuses to burn, then the presence of water is not allowing the wick to burn. (If there is only a very small amount of honey on the wick, though, it might still burn. It will produce a crackling sound, and it would be best to blow out the wick and try it again this time using more honey.)
Pour a few drops of honey on blotting paper and observe whether or not it is absorbed. If it’s absorbed, the honey’s not pure.
If you don’t have blotting paper, pour a little bit of honey on a white cloth, then wash the cloth. If there is any stain left by the honey, it is probably not pure.
Shirley Cardoza, India
14 Nov 2011
I would like to share my knowledge on how to test pure honey to help u find the pure honey. The best way is to first put a small amount of honey on the spoon and get a spatula and then put a fire on it.. if it’s burning then it is pure….try it…
Jannette de Asis, The Philippines
14 Nov 2011
As a commercial beekeeper in North Georgia, I am very protective of what goes into my hives and how I handle the gift from the bees (heat and temperature). I can be accountable for my honey, but I still get critics. I recommend they keep bees and produce their own honey. It may still be affected by lawn, garden, and ag chemicals, but it is as pure and natural as they can make it.
BJ Weeks, United States
13 Nov 2011
Just an untested theory, but I am curious to find out if it is possible. I don’t currently have tools that are accurate enough for testing it, but if a someone where to take a certain amount of a known 100% pure honey which is also known to consist of mostly a certain flower, take clover, apple blossom or golden rod for instance and it where weighed if there would be a noticeable difference between that and a honey that contains additives, but is masquerading around as the same type?
Anyone ever tried this? I would suspect that high fructose corn syrup or any other additive would have a different density then the known quantity of honey. Just a thought and exceedingly tough hypothesis to test knowing that I have no hope of telling with any certainty which flowers my bees are currently getting their nectar and pollen from.
I do know that you can confirm honey by looking under a microscope to find pollen granules if the producer hasn’t filtered them all out. But if it is a blend honey and additive these still may exist although I suspect the quantities would be much lower.
Craig Emmerthal, United States
11 Nov 2011
As far as ants not hovering around pure honey: Last year I started beekeeping with a top bar hive. I removed a hive from a neighbor’s house and they took well to the new hive. A week later I took some of the bits of comb that were too small to sew onto the bars and placed it around the landing pad. in an hour the ants had found it, three feet off the ground, and were devouring it.
Mose, United States
10 Nov 2011
One simple way is to put a drop of honey on your palm and rub it with a finger of other hand. Pure honey will reportedly give you a burning sensation.
Aslam Jafri, Pakistan
6 Nov 2011
Ruth: Aslam, the problem with most of these tests and experiments is that they seem to only suggest the presence of pure honey, but does not point to 100% pure honey.
Hi Ruth,
Nice to meet you recently when I was back in Singapore.
It really seems there are a lot of bizarre and very questionable methods of testing honey. 🙂
Anyway, I guess the best way to know that you are getting the best, which not many can do, is to pull that comb of ripe honey right out from the hive personally. 🙂
Lesster Leow, Uganda
29 Oct 2011
Ruth: Greetings Lesster! That’s a priceless privilege and indulgence!
I know that pure honey freezing point is v v low .If you put pure honey into freezer it will not freeze and will remain runny. I did test my self & worked.
Khalid Khan, United Kingdom
29 Oct 2011
A quick one,in response to the above topic on the testing of the honey, here are the ways to identify the original honey-
–BY THE USE OF MATCH BOX: just dip a match stick inside a honey and allow it to soak for some minutes, then bring it out and try spark it, if it sparks, it is the real one but the vice versa –BY THICKNESS: another way of ascertaining the original honey is by the thickness, when poured inside water it always settles at the bottom for a while before it will disolve when applied a force.
–BY SITE SEEING: the best and easiest way of ascertaining the original honey is by seeing the direct comb where it is harvested, simple.
Eddy Udemba, Nigeria
24 Oct 2011
The best way to test honey to know if it’s pure or adulterated is to soak a fresh meat of fish with the honey in a plastic or any bowl. If the honey is pure the fresh meat will remain fresh for the next six months. If the honey is far from pure, the fresh meat or fish will become rotten and smelly within 3 days.
Atoyegbe Adewale, Nigeria
14 Oct 2011
Dear All honey lovers, I have tried lot of testing methods including what ever mentioned above but I can relie on only one method which I am calling irasna method. If you want to test honey for purity, take the honey in one small glass bottle and cape it tight then keep that bottle in defreeze for 24 hours then take it out. If this honey becomes in solid form or if you see it is crystalized then the honey is impure, if your able to pour normally then honey is pure. Try this method.
Mohammad Laeeq Ansari, Saudi Arabia
14 Oct 2011
I have always been told that when you invert a botttle of honey one big bubble will flow upward. not lots of little ones ie corn syrup. Give it a go. See if you agree.
Darcy Wagner, United States
12 Oct 2011
The pure honey when dropped in clear water does fall to below as it is, but those with added sugar and water get some dissolution, resulting the size reduction of honey drop, and turbidity on the surface.
Anuj Niroula, Nepal
10 Oct 2011
I came to this site to learn more about the products that I am selling: Raw local honey and raw local honey with COMB!!!! This site is awesome and I have learned so much about honey that I did not know before. I would venture to say that in my opinion, most of my customers do not know much about honey or the wonderful things it can do. That’s why I am here so I can educate them. I buy directly from the beekeeper, bring my glass pints and quarts home, tighten the lids, clean the honey off of the outside, add my own label to the jars, and finally sell them to my customers.
I try to keep my prices reasonable to be competitive with other vendors but have recently found out that some are importing honey from other places and mixing it with the so-called “local” honey. Last year when I was selling my honey, I would have bees crawling around the jars.
This year we have had an extreme drought in Texas and I have not seen the bees like I did last year. I heard that one beekeeper that had a very large commercial operation actually shipped his hives to Nebraska! I am honest with my customers and most of them come back for more honey.
I recently sold my honey at a county fair that was a pretty good distance from the hives (approx. 1 1/2 hours). I changed my labels to say “Raw Texas Honey” in lieu of “Raw Local Honey”. I felt this was necessary so as not to deceive my customers. South east Texas, where I live, most of the honey is derived from three sources: the ragweed plant, Goldenrod, and the Chinese Tallow Tree which makes for a very amber color and a sweetness out of this world!!!
I just wanted to share some of this with everyone. I don’t know how to test for pure honey but I will gladly volunteer to be the tester!!!!!
Wayne Hisey, United States
7 Oct 2011
I have been a beekeeper for many years and also have several dogs. They all like the pure honey I extract, so that’s not a valid test.
Andrew, United States
25 Sep 2011
Ruth: Thanks, Andrew, I was waiting for a beekeeper who have dogs to say something.
Dogs are sugar loving animals but dogs never lick the pure honey. If a small drop of pure honey is applied in the eyes, one feels a great burning sensation in the eyes.
Ajay Shrivastava, India
18 Sep 2011
Ruth: Shouldn’t we expect dogs to love pure honey many times more? And, would there also be a burning sensation in the eyes when other types of sugar solution is applied?
This is the test I was told to use – leave a grain of cooked rice in the honey for 12 hours, if the honey is pure it will become “uncooked” as the pure honey will draw the moisture from it, whereas if the honey has water added it will remain soft.
Yusuf, Jordan
17 Sep 2011
I have read all comments below. My brother is an expert when it comes to honey. He has around 10 bee hives, so the amount of honey he gets is really limited. As we live in Southern Poland (Krakow) where we’re surrounded by coniferous forests and mountains, the honey is almost black (it’s hard to describe it’s color – brown and darkest green together).
But as my fiancé comes from Northern part of Poland there are deciduous forests only and sea side- I had a chance to try also real honey from his uncle, it tasted totally different, had very light yellow/faded yellow color, its consistency was totally hard compared to running honey from my brother.
The taste was totally different and it made me wonder how other honey tastes around the word, what color are they? I would be interested to exchange a small jar(10ml) of pure honey with someone if interested. From anywhere in the world, but outside the Europe. If someone is interested do get in touch! All we would pay is the postage.
Only honest persons please, email me: missaliciauk@live.com We can make a transaction through eBay website, where we can pay each other $1 per jar and then state shipping costs.
We do the transaction at the same time and then we can leave feedback for each other too(this will be more secure I think). I have both types of honey right now, the dark one 1litre and the faded yellow half of liter so as you can see, there is a limit on deals we can make – up to 3 maximum. I can email you photos too. Get in touch if interested. I could also get some more from my bro, and sell it for an attractive price (but would be better if you try a small amount – risk free). Waiting for emails! Alicja (I live in United Kingdom right now)
Alicja, United Kingdom
16 Sep 2011
Here’s the #1 test to verify “local” honey. Around 7:00 AM on a bright sunny summer morning, take your honey outside (along with some bread). Find a locaion with tasty flowers where local bees hang out (me, I just out out my vegetable garden, where the squash flowers attract numerous bees). Proceed to spread the honey on your bread, and begin to eat it. If the bees start protesting and complaining once they realize that you are dining on the honey that someone stole from their house, you have genuine local honey. If the bees totally ignore you, then you have counterfeit honey.
Robert Taylor, United States
15 Sep 2011
TEST THE ONE WHO IT IS COMING FROM NOT THE HONEY.
As a beekeeper myself here are some things I have to do to produce pure honey.
Honey bee will often prefer natural nectar over the feedings if available with appropriate ratio of coverage. Ask your beekeeper how many colonies does he have and where are they located, what type of flowers, trees are in the season and how many acres of such flowers are around.
In my practice to keep 200 colonies and have them produce pure honey I have to space them out into 12 separate yards. Otherwise there is not enough nectar during the whole season to produce enough for their feed and for me to extract. If your beekeeper has one yard with 100 hives on it for the whole season, there is a good chance he is mixing something in.
If the beekeeper has more then 500 hives and uses limited help to maintain them (only 2, 3 people)there is a great chance they are cutting corners.
The next one is pollination. I might make some people mad but in my opinion you can have bees to make money through pollination, or through making pure honey. Pollinators are always on the go, during the travel time they have to feed, on many pollination sites there is such a huge coverage ratio that there is very little of spear nectar, they have to feed. They get paid for the large quantity families; they need bees. To have bees you have to feed.
Ask your beekeeper if they are in the pollination business also. You may have expensive alternated honey, but you cannot have pure honey for dirt cheap. If you are buying honey for 1dlr per pound, STOP. There is no way anyone in their right mind will sell pure honey for that cheap, if I did, I would not survive. Sugar is only 0.5 of a dollar per lb. Don’t buy cheap honey.
Large retailers like Costco, walMart, any imported honey from other countries and still at a decent price – junk. Cannot be pure and still bring the profit to those who is producing it, storing it transporting it bottling it. It is expensive to produce pure honey.
If you can visit a few yards or ask for the pictures of the beekeeper’s yards ensure you see the sources of nectar. That is what I do to show that there is much work goes into what is called pure honey.
In any case test beekeeper not honey. Velocity, taste, color, crystallization time, moisture all of these are varied in the pure honey to the point that it will contradict all of the man made tests.
All non lab tests – don’t believe it. It works on your pure honey, and doesn’t on mine. Water solution for example, if the freshly extracted honey is standing outside with temp 75 -80 F, and you perform the water test it will dissolve fairly quickly, especially if the honey is extracted a bit earlier then should have been. Take the same honey and put it into the fridge for 3 hours. Then pull it out and do the same water test. According to the results the first time you had the honey alternated but 3 hours later it is pure.
Those who make up these tests are exposed to only limited honey variety. Once you have extracted the honey of different seasons and tasted the difference of many places you would admit THERE IS NO GOOD TEST. So once again focus on testing beekeepers. Contact beekeeping association locally, support those who work hard and with integrity.
Aleksandr Domnenko, United States
15 Sep 2011
Ruth: Wow, this is pretty intense, Aleksandr. But I like it! It’s so true that knowing where the source is from and how the honey is obtained is so darned important. I especially like what you say about cheap honey: You may have expensive adulterated honey, but you cannot have pure honey for dirt cheap!
My nan and mum advised that ants do not go near real honey. I tried that on several occassions in England and in Lagos where we have tropical climate and ferocious ants. The answer is they never went for pure honey. Also the same as dissolving honey in water, pure honey sinks to the bottom of the glass and does not dissolve tried and tested.
Thanks
ELIZABETH OYEWOLE, United Kingdom
15 Sep 2011
The best way to truly know that you are getting “pure honey” is to have a close relationship with your local beekeeper. Ask the beekeeper if you can watch the honey extraction process and get you jar filled straight out of the extractor. If the beekeeper refuses, find another beekeeper. The honey may cost you more since you are taking up the beekeeper’s time but you will know for sure it is pure.
Philip Tillman, United States
13 Sep 2011
Hi b’z bee lovers,
My family practically consume wild & raw honey everyday. We used it for our beverages and cooking including for salads.Here’s what I do:
NEVER BUY FROM:
Street vendors; friends who are not knowledgeable about honey aka hear say techniques; never from bee keepers; shopping malls; food stalls in the highland areas;food courts & reataurants displaying it; and so many other places you can think off.
I ONLY buy my raw & wild honey from the bee collectors who are given license to collect. ONLY wild, tall tualang trees deep inside the W.M’ysia Main Range. Dedicated b’collectors follows his dedicated team into the deep jungle to ensure no middlemen mess with the workers.
I then collect sample from him to test.
1) Leave the sample open in my house for a cou[ple of days. There shouldn’t be any domesticated and wild ants going near it.
2) Leave some sample in the lower section of the fridge. No freeze up means it’s good.
3) Raw & wild honey always have a good ” head ” of honey foams at the top.
4) “Live” honey are full of life enzymes that literally over flow from the bottle. Opening the bottle usually give a ‘pop’ sound. Make sure you don’t capped it too tight.
5) Turn the bottle upside down. Honey ‘sticking’ onto the inside of the bottle wall should take at less 12 hours to settle to the bottom.
That’s my raw & wild honey.
Key note: Licensed bee collector with dedicated team. Collect sample, test before you pay. Finally, built a trust with the bee collector and his team. I usually bring something for the team when I collect my sample as a token of appreciation for their hard works.
My collectors have being with me for more than 15 years.
B’Happy.
Alan CK Hooi, Malaysia
11 Sep 2011
Come on, let’s be practical. There is only one way to guess a pure honey, trust your taste buds. You can guess it. I trust my taste buds. If not, bring it to the lab. If you still don’t want it, all you have to do is come to the beekeepers. Why try foolish methods of guessing? You are seeking for the pure, true, real, whatever you call it, then use a real and true method, not a guess! Stick to the logic; it is very hard to know if it is pure, that is why it can be adulterated until now.
Why seek for an easy method if we all know that nobody can guarantee outside laboratory and beekeepers place? We are in the modern age.
Samuel So, The Philippines
5 Sep 2011
Ruth: Samuel, I totally agree with you that many of the methods suggested by others are just not scientific enough to prove the purity of honey. Ironical enough, because we are living in the “modern age”, many people do not have any access to the bee farms anymore. In some highly urbanised places, you just don’t meet beekeepers or even encounter the honeybees.
Trusting our taste buds 100% can sometimes be a challenge when adulteration methods have become more and more sophisticated. And, labs for testing honey are probably institutions beyond the means and reach of most ordinary consumers.
Also, not many consumers can imagine the pain of asking the honey supplier endless questions just to get to the bottom of the honey source/origin. That’s the reason why certain brands of commercial honey could command skyhigh prices (or what marketers call premium prices) because they have invested much money into lab testing and certification of quality honey. And these certification labels are perceived as a quality guarantee or assurance by consumers in a market plagued by massive honey frauds and laundering.
It’s a messy, complicated world out there. Sometimes, what seems like a darned foolish thing to do could just be the most practical and affordable way of getting access to some decent honey for some people. And for me, it’s so interesting to know how different cultures and peoples have interpreted honey purity since time immemorial.
I am used to pure honey. As a vegetarian growing up my mom never let us eat refined sugar and so bee pollen and honey was all there was for sweetener. I have noticed for the past month that a certain kind of artificial or fruity taste has been added to all the honey that are at the supermarket and that MY favorite honey (a honey with the comb still inside the jar) has disappeared. There is definitely a taste and consistency difference between honey that has Corn Syrup , water , and god knows what is added. I have to disagree with the above writing.
People should TRUST their sense of taste on this one. And be aware that in the U.S. deregulation of food imports has become rampant. I bought a German honey that tastes like Sweet Tarts, pours like cough Syrup, and does not inspire lip smacking at all yet the label swears it is 100 percent Grade A honey. Trust your sense of taste. If it tastes like crap it IS crap.
Siyahamba, United States
29 Aug, 2011
Honey is good…but excess is bad…
Yo Nigger, Togo
25 Aug, 2011
Ruth: No food in excess is good.
Put some of it in the freezer if it crytallises, it’s pure.
Corne, South Africa
14 Aug, 2011
For me, I just pour some honey on a plain white sheet. Good honey doesn’t dissolve on paper. But if it does, then it ain’t pure. Another is the colour, another is ant test, another is ummm’ water test. The most effective is ant test.
Faustina Silverdews, Nigeria
14 Aug, 2011
The best way to know you are buying ” Pure Honey ” is to buy from your local beekeeper! Support your Local Beekeeper.
Kathy Harshfield, Colombia
7 Aug, 2011
Ruth: Totally agree, Kathy. But sadly, in some parts of the world, you just don’t have the priviledge of accessing to any any bee farms or beekeepers.
Buy your honey in the comb.
Frank Shattuck, Colombia
30 Jul, 2011
I always thought to get the purest honey you should buy from your local beekeeper hives.
Honey appears to be good for everything, long live the Honey Bee.
Jon, United States
30 Jul, 2011
I know honey is the miracle source for healing of any kind of sickness and it is God given food.
Maggs Reyes Tatco Jr, The Philippines
26 Jul, 2011
Taste-test is the best. Pure honey will make you indulged more, but fake one is simply like eating a sugar that you cannot take another round.
Pure honey doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin when I put on my face overnight, but fake one sucks.
I also noticed that honey spilled on my table for a long time doesn’t attract ants and doesn’t evaporate at all.
Sergs Ikaw Pa Rin, The Philippines
26 Jul, 2011
CHECK your honey.
Honey always was, and still is, adulterated. Luckily there are so many ways to figure out this problem and get pure honey. First, clearance of three misconceptions!
1st: Freezing or precipitation of Honey in low temperature. This is normal with pure honey. It will attain its normal condition in luke warm water, while fake honey when frozen will show hard sugar crystals and has to be heated on burning fire to bring it to its normal condition.
2nd. Bees make more honey if fed on sugar syrup. This concept is also wrong. Luckily! Honey Bees do not co-operate with this human fraud. Bee is faithful to Almighty God and only follows the “WAHI” of ALLAH Subhana-hoo TAALA. (One can never get a single drop of honey by keeping a Bee colony in a sugar mill without natural environments around the area of 5.Km.)
3rd misconception. This is also wrong that The Honey of a particular colour is pure. Raw Honey is color graded into light, amber and dark, which do not have any bearing on purity. But! Darker the Honey in colour the higher the mineral and vitamin contents.
Test-One. Natural Honey will leave no spot on white cloth even if washed in simple water. Spot of fake honey will not go easily because it is artificially coloured to fraud its quality.
Test-Two. A cotton wick dipped in pure honey when lighted, burns calmly. Adulterated or fake Honey will also burn but it will produce a cracking sound.
Test-Three. Pure honey has sufficient viscosity so that an ant walks from one end to other.
Test-Four. When little honey is put on the tongue, it gradually dissolves in saliva. Residual taste of pure Honey should feel slightly bitter. (But fake honey will keep its usual taste)
Test-Five. Pour a cup of honey from a height of two feet or so and watch closely. Pure honey will spin clockwise. (Fake will spin anticlockwise like other liquids) This is a result of the non-symmetrical structure of honey molecules that gives it a right-hand bias.
Test-Six. Pure Honey is 40% denser than water. It has 16 to 18.5% water content only.
Test-Seven. Leave a jar of so called honey unmoved for 90-100-days. Check if it froths. The emergence of froth indicates that fermentation has occurred due to adulteration.
Test Eight. Slice a piece of onion and drop it inside the substance that is said to be honey. Within ninety days the onion will deteriorate, disintegrate or even dissolve if the honey is fake or adulterated.
Test-Nine. Stir half a glass of honey into half a glass of mentholated spirit. Pure honey will simply settle at the bottom without dissolving. Fake honey will dissolve and will change the colour of mentholated spirit. (Try this quick test.)
Hanzlah Honey Hives Phane.
Sirrah Mian, Pakistan
22 Jul, 2011
Ruth: Sirrah, I’ve read about most of the tests described above, but the one on pure honey spinning clockwise is new to me. Interesting!
Eruch Jessawala, Meher Baba’s disciple made the metaphor of pure honey being pure love, or Divine Love. He said that when a fly lands in pure honey, the fly can drink to it’s heart’s content and it’s legs will not become entangled. Is this true of pure honey?
Jataka Takaki, United States
21 Jul, 2011
Ruth: Yes Jataka, many suggestions related to flies and ants have been mentioned. But so far nobody has pointed out the reason behind the phenomenon, and no experiments seem to have been done with other impure honey for whatsoever comparison and to make any conclusive statements about honey purity. Also, I wonder if people would really catch a fly to test the quality of honey this way.
When you put honey in a cup filled with water, the natural honey goes straight to the bottom of the glass cup.
Ade Adedayo, Nigeria
12 Jul, 2011
Hi, here we test honey by dipping the unburnt head of a match in the honey. If there is water added the match head adsorbs the water an will not strike.. If pure honey the match will strike on match box like normal.
Simon Staub, The Philippines
8 Jul, 2011
Ruth: Simon, would this test do justification to honey floral varietals that are naturally less viscous (ie more runny than others, higher moisture content) but are also 100% pure, unadulterated?
I heard that freezing the honey will is a way to determine whether honey is pure or not. If the honey freezes then its not real. But if the honey stays in liquid form(it will be thick mind you) then its the real deal.
Dawson Miguel, United States
7 Jul, 2011
I bought two bottles of honey, one was dark colored(locally made) and the other was transparent, and made from England (a.k.a processed) but the dark colored one was brought to me. the cleared one is sweeter and doesn’t have an after taste n dosent dis-color my tea, but the locally make does that. i have tried a locally made one by boiling it before using it for a fruit juice and when it cooled, all the ants in my house and neighborhood came on my gas.
I’m scared to try this one again but the ready made one is so tasty and just a drop creams my tea. now everyone claims the the clear one is processed and it has calories…..
Gbemisola Petrosa, Nigeria
7 Jul, 2011
Ruth: Authenticity of honey cannot be judged from its colour and degree of sweetness as these factors vary according to the different floral varietals. Also, on your remark on calories, all honey varietals are a form of sugar (natural of course) and thus do contain calories.
I recently bought a bottle of honey here in Bali where I live but it doesn’t appear to be original like the vendor told me, I’m not a expert on honey so I’m not sure if it is or not. However, I do know that here in Indonesia they will put any additive in anything to make more money!!
I now have 3 bottles of honey from different sources, one I bought from a supermarket (processed) another I brought from my friends village, (nearly black in colour) and very tasty, the other I just bought from a local market, who assured me it was original!!!!
I have conducted 3 tests on all 3 bottles above and they all sank in water, neither of them burned, and neither of them “stretched” but dripped like thick water.
Perhaps someone could explain please.
Paul, Indonesia
28 Jun, 2011
Ruth: Read the above article. There isn’t any easy full-proof method for testing pure honey from home. By the way, I too have been warned about Indonesia commercial honey.
I am wondering about if a skin forms over the top of the honey? my regular lunch spot has started serving me honey that tastes and feels ‘wrong’ to me… like corn syrup has been added? It’s subtle, but obvious: there’s a wrinkled effect if you draw a line across the top with a spoon or knife tip, and it also creates sort of micro-wrinkles if you pour it after it has sat for a small while. I know I’ve seen this effect before; I’m thinking Aunt Jemima syrup that I used to love as a kid.
I am fairly certain that honey doesn’t form such a skin, with that wrinkley effect on the surface… does anyone have any info/opinion on that?? Thanks.
Andy, Mexico
18 Jun, 2011
See the result after you start eating the honey for few days. Basically one of the honey benefits is to improve the digestion system. Your body will feel lighter, fresh & more energetic. No constipation, easy bowel movement, good mood and many more positive effects.. That would most likely a pure unadulterated honey.. Simply, real honey would produce good positive health results.. that’s the purpose we all bought honey, isn’t it?
Raf Rashd, Qatar
5 May, 2011
I am a beekeeper and work for a beekeeping supply store. I am writing in response to many of the comments below that say that honey can not freeze; this is untrue. I have seen honey that is frozen, and (aside from feeding the bees sugar water at the beginning of the season- which is a process under review as to if the honey remains “pure” or not) it was “pure” honey.
I am always initially skeptical as to if honey is “pure” or not. Although local honey commonly has no additives from the beekeeper (no corn syrup, sugar, etc.), bees will get into any and every food source available to them. If you have a humming bird feeder the bees will take sugar water from it- they will utilize all food sources possible.
Would you still consider this honey pure? The government (in America) nor the beekeeping communities of my nation have no solid stance on this as organizations. A beekeeper can not control what their bees get into, only what they provide the bees with.
To all worried about buying “pure” honey: go to your local farm markets- talk to the people there who have honey, find out if they know what they’re talking about or not. If they do, then their product is as “pure” as will ever be available to you.
Enjoy your honey!
Liz Walsh, United States
28 Mar, 2011
From my grandmom. It is really amazing. Here is the test: Pour a thin layer of honey over a metal plate or bowl. Let it spread all across. Then pour some water gently into the plate/bowl. If it is real honey, you will see honey the honey form the honey comb shape. Having said that, when perparing honey for consumption, DO NOT use Metal spoon!
Aleet Lee, United States
20 Mar, 2011
This method requires some expertise. Using a teaspoon, dip it into honey and take it out, vertically so that the honey drips and what you have left is a thin layer of honey on the spoon. Dip it into a glass of water. Take it out and observe the surface of the spoon. You will see an image similar to that of a honeycomb i.e. 6-sided images/pattern. You can also try it this way: pour a small quantity of honey onto a plate. Pour a little bit of water over the honey and give the plate a little ‘swirl’. Again, you could see a honeycomb image/pattern. Try it. It requires some patience and technique.
Abdul Rahman Abdul Razak, Malaysia
14 Mar, 2011
I am 61, diabetes since last 21 years. Healthy. Daily moderate consumer of honey. With pure honey my glucose level never goes up.
Be aware, it may depends once body response. I don’t think this test applies to all.
Salem Bashwar, Saudi Arabia
23 Feb, 2011
I have a method depends on the taste, which I know you don’t trust, but it can show you only that there is one pure & the other is not. The first honey, after taking about full tablespoon of it makes you feeling thirsty & need for drinking water immediately after. The other one makes no defference & you can eat more & more, exactly as eating jam or choclate spread. Logically, if the pure honey is with high viscosity, low in water & considered as a medicine taking for need & essential situations, so I think it should be with the first type description!!!!
Abeer, United Kingdom
22 Feb, 2011
Ruth: Aren’t most commercial jams and spreads made of processed sugars? Also, there are many floral varietals of honey that are runny too.
Ethiopia is among the top 10 honey producer in the World, however the quality of the honey must be checked by Accrediated labotarory to export honey but here is no accrediated lab. in my country in this field so to accrediate my lab, how can I get finnancial funds to accrediate & from European countries & others?
Abel Anberbir, Ethiopia
22 Feb, 2011
Man made honey tested by adding some honey to some boiled pure milk,milk will form watery liquid due to the added citric to thickening(viscosity)the sugary syrup.
Hisham, Canada
18 Feb, 2011
Some of my friends told me that pure honey will be known pure if you will put it into refrigerator for a week and you will find out if there is a sugar form honey is not pure. if the liquid of honey is still the same you will know that this is 100% pure.
Veronica So, Philippines
13 Feb, 2011
During my university degree i worked on how to detect adulteration in honey with various physical methods but it is quite obvious that none of the methods like striking with matches, tasting method etc were not reliable. It is only chemical analysis that can accertain the authenticity of pure honey.
Lawal Adetunji, Nigeria
1 Feb, 2011
Take a little honey and apply it in your eyes. If it burns and brings out tears, that means it is pure. 100%.
Simple ways of testing for honey locally, drop a little honey on a piece of paper, d original honey doesn’t have syrup & shouldn’t wet d paper. 2) a little drop of honey around where u have ants would force d ants 2 leave, if the ants are confortable & even liking it, then the honey is not original. 3) a drop of original honey in water should sink right down to the ground, & not dissolve immediately. 4) Original honey placed in a freezer, cannot freeze.
Okwy, Nigeria
27 Jan, 2011
Take a little honey and apply it in your eyes. If it burns and brings out tears, that means it is pure. 100%.
Thank you for the wonderful informations about honey. I don’t see any pure and natural honey sold in the market. I don’t even trust the label indicating “Pure & Natural Honey” as I felt that the content is purely sugar.
I bought a bottle from a supermarket indicating pure & natural honey from Australia, when I put it inside a refrigerator it become harden.
I believed that pure honey does not become harden, even if you put it in a freezer.
Dominic Rinyum, Malaysia
21 Jan, 2011
Test on eyes,if it is pure it hurts for a while and then you feel cool in your in eyes.
Shaheen Ulla, American Samoa
14 Jan, 2011
Take a little honey and apply it in your eyes. If it burns and brings out tears, that means it is pure. 100%.
Rani Kaur, India
11 Jan, 2011
End of “Test for Pure Honey 2011 Postings – Validate Them “. Back to “Reliable Pure Honey Tests? Are These 4 Really Valid?”.