Honey bees produce 100% pure, raw honey. And that's the way we like to keep it. Our honey goes straight from the hive to the bottle. Here at The New Hampshire Honey Bee, we harvest and bottle "raw" honey. The bottling process is done by hand, without the help of machinery. We extract it from the hives, strain it and bottle it. That's it. No high heat. No pressurized filtering. No additives. This insures the honey maintains that rich flavor, aroma and full-bodied texture the bees worked so hard to produce.
High volume bottlers often heat and filter their honey. Heating thins the honey, allowing it to flow more efficiently through pressurized bottling machinery. This heat and pressure breaks down the natural elements of the honey, making "processed" honey something less than an all-natural product.
Honey has a virtually unlimited shelf life. Crystallization is a natural process that occurs in all honey products, particularly raw honey. Over time, white sugar crystals will form leaving telltale rings, usually near the top of the jar. Refrigeration speeds up this process. Melting the crystals is referred to as reliquifying. Should crystals appear, simply remove the lid and place glass bottles in warm water. You can also microwave 1 cup of honey for 2-3 minutes, or until the crystals dissolve. Be sure to stir every 30 seconds or so. Use care not to warm the honey higher than 120 degrees F as this is the temperature where proteins start to break down. Also, honey should not be reliquified in plastic bottles. Crystallization and reliquifying do not affect honey's flavor or shelf life.
Why does honey taste so good?Flavor comes in one of two ways; Mother Nature or added artificial flavorings. Mother Nature's way works just fine. Honey's flavor, color and texture are determined by nectar and pollen from the plants and flowers bees visit.So, if the bees pollinate only apple trees, they'll produce an Apple Blossom flavored honey. Same can be said with Oranges, Clover, etc... New Hampshire Honey Bees produce Wildflower honey. Our bees enjoy a wide range of plants and flowers from which to gather nectar. So the flavor is naturally balanced by the bees themselves. That is also why no two harvests of raw honey are exactly the same.
Artificially flavored honey is popular with some producers today. These "designer honeys" are infused with artificial flavoring during the bottling process.
In addition to it's great flavor, honey has anti-bacterial qualities andis high in anti-oxidants. Many home remedies for ailments ranging from sore throats to rheumatism include honey. Eating locally produced honey is known to help fend off allergies and athletes use raw honey and pollen as natural energy boosters.
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