Raw Honey vs. Regular Honey: What’s the Difference?

Hey Bee Boxers,

Ever wanted to know what differentiates raw honey from many of the honeys you find in the grocery store? Well we’re glad you asked! Raw honey is usually filtered through a strainer and then bottled where it’s ready to be consumed. Pasturized honey on the other hand, has a much longer production process it goes through before it gets to the consumer. In addition to simply filtering the honey, heat is often applied in order to give the honey a smoother texture or a longer shelf life. The problem with this is that many of the beneficial qualities of honey are destroyed during this process. The process of heating the honey kills the beneficial vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are naturally found in raw honey. In addition, many of these ultra-filtered honeys are also cut with sugar in order to keep the price down. So, beware of honeys you see while shopping that have suspiciously low prices. That’s indicative that what you’re looking at isn’t pure raw honey.

Other Ways to Tell if Your Honey is Raw or Regular

There are some other ways to tell if the honey that you purchased is in fact pure raw honey. The first thing you can do before even buying honey is check the ingredient label on the back. If you see glucose or high fructose corn syrup listed as an ingredient, then that means the honey is not true raw honey. These are usually added to the honey to keep it from crystalizing. Raw honey on the other hand will naturally crystalize over time. If you notice the honey sitting in your pantry has crystalized over time that means, it’s pure raw honey.

If you purchased honey at the supermarket without looking at the labels you can always test it at home as well. The easiest way to do this would be getting a spoonful of honey and then turning it upside down. If the honey doesn’t drip or it’s very slow at dripping, then that indicates the honey is true raw honey. Another way to tell if honey is raw or processed would be putting a dollop in water. If the honey dissolves quickly then it is not pure raw honey.

As you can see, there’s no shortage of ways to test whether the honey you purchased is processed or the nutrient packed pure raw honey. One thing you can trust though is that the honey you get from us is always pure raw honey. We only provide the good stuff, so we want to provide our Bee Boxers with the knowledge needed in order to make informed choices about the honey they provide for themselves and their families.

Don't worry - we only sell raw, pure honey!

-The Bee Box