What are honey lovers looking for on the shelf? The guarantee that it will not have undergone any addition of sugars, nor heating, without which the wax would have melted and the honey could not be presented on its shelves, also called breccias. The attraction for this type of so-called “raw” honey is confirmed.
Unprocessed
That honey has not been heated is important from the point of view of its fine apitherapeutic virtues, in particular its prebiotic effects (favorable to the intestinal microflora) and its antibacterial power. The heat accelerates the degradation of the level of HMF (hydroxilmethilfurfurol). The maximum legal rate is 40 mg / kg. However, honey heated well above 45 ° C sees this rate reached in a few hours, even a few minutes. Fortunately, the majority of honey in jars is not heated, like honey on the shelf. Simply click here for the best raw honey choice.
- Note, however, that the boxes in which honey is sold on the shelves must have been kept at moderate temperature to keep its virtues (ideally between 10 and 16 ° C) and protected from light. Honey on the shelf or in the press is not filtered either, while most of the commercial ones are. Commonly, after extraction by centrifugation, the honeys are poured into a ripener for natural decantation. They then become more limpid and the foam formed on their surface is removed. Finally, they are filtered through a very fine grid to remove solid residues: bee legs, but also sought-after elements such as pollens and propolis.
More pollen
In the matter of pressed honey, the legislation also provides for the possibility of a content of matter insoluble in water of 0.5% against 0.1% in centrifuges. The presence of pollens is undoubtedly beneficial, but it would take much more to obtain a real bee bread (honey and pollen combined). So why not ask your beekeepers to cut holes with cells partly filled with pollen? It is the A la carte service, whenever possible. And if the comb is freshly extracted from the hive (the wax must be recent, therefore clear), then there, yes, the experience of raw honey is worth the detour.
Because of the rarity of honey on the shelf or in a hurry, the amateur can, as he pleases, reconstitute honey bread by adding grains of fresh pollen and propolis (powder or hydrosol) to the honey. The mixture then becomes a real beehive potion.
- Experience of an ancestral apiary in hollowed chestnut trunks, the endemic black bees from the south of the Cevennes produce honey extracted by pressing. The bees of the trunks a priori gather the same flowers as those installed in modern hives located a few meters away (chestnut trees and flowers of the Cévennes mountains, including the wild raspberry). However, the crystallization is different and the flavors more marked. Without doubt this is due to the traces of pollen and royal jelly (more important than with filtered honey) as well as to the technique of pressing, without brutal oxygenation.
For more information kindly visit https://www.
