# Shelf life of raw unfiltered honey



## Asatrur

We just had a warehouse store go under, so I was able to get about 128+ oz of raw and unfiltered honey on a glass sealed jar and was wondering if folks had any idea on how long this would keep for LTS.


----------



## The_Blob

honey has an unlimited shelf life

not sure about the wax from the comb tho

honey gets dark & crystalizes sometimes, but if you warm it up gently it is fine


----------



## UncleJoe

I bought a 60# pail a couple months ago that was packed in '08. I expect it to last me several years. It won't go bad but it may crystallize. When it does, just place your container in a pan of warm water to return it to a liquid state. 
I pulled a few quarts from the pail and put it in mason jars. When I need some for my little "honey bear" jars, I put the mason jar in water until it will pour freely.


----------



## *Andi

mn_homesteader said:


> We just had a warehouse store go under, so I was able to get about 128+ oz of raw and unfiltered honey on a glass sealed jar and was wondering if folks had any idea on how long this would keep for LTS.


You are good to go ...

honey is forever ... or as long as you will need it!


----------



## Dixie

*Andi said:


> You are good to go ...
> 
> honey is forever ... or as long as you will need it!


True. It has even been found in the tombs in Egypt...still good.


----------



## lotsoflead

the wax gets a little dry after a thousand years, but even the bees aren't perfect.


----------



## Emerald

Sure for drizzling on stuff warmed up honey is great--I use mine for tons of baking and when it crystallizes I don't bother trying to get it to undo- it is so much easier to measure when it is in crystals.
Plus- you can take a knife and spread that crystallized honey right on your toast like a jam or jelly--yumm.
Bees are the one thing I would love to have on the property but I am allergic to bee stings and so I would have to find someone to harvest them for me-but as long as I pay attention and send out good thoughts like "I'm just a tree, but not tasty" they never bother me in the garden or when I worked in the greenhouse.

One funny story about honey--while in Gorden foods looking for stuff I decided to buy some honey, well the spot on the shelf was bare so I asked if the young guy working there could get more down for me from the big box on the top--he got it all down and started to stock the shelf and said--Oh no! You don't want this one! It has bee's wax in the bottom--Sure enuf it was just starting to crystallize on the bottom! But so funny... I did set him straight on what it was and that it was fine to use, but would probably have to be warmed to get it all out.. But you could see in his eyes that he didn't really want to believe me! Probably thought I was :nuts:


----------



## UncleJoe

The pail I got was already crystallized and you're right, it's much easier to work with in that state.


----------



## GroovyMike

If you want to return crystalized honey to liquid just warm it.


----------



## SurviveNthrive

Quirky Egyptologists have eaten reconstituted honey from thousands of years ago with no ill effects.


----------



## JayJay

SurviveNthrive said:


> Quirky Egyptologists have eaten reconstituted honey from thousands of years ago with no ill effects.


Did you know that if you purchase your honey that's harvested within 50 miles of your home...it's great for allergies??

We have Amish honey.
Well, we do until the gubermint gets to them!


----------



## Asatrur

JayJay said:


> Did you know that if you purchase your honey that's harvested within 50 miles of your home...it's great for allergies??


Yes, I am a huge proponent of local food, especially honey.


----------



## Emerald

Other than the cheap stuff from Gorden foods(was learning to make mead and wasn't gonna use my good stuff) the honey I buy is from a place that is only about 12 miles away and they have hives in four spots within 1 to 4 miles from my house. I think it does help a bit with seasonal allergies but not my mold allergies.


----------



## jbjr829

*Honey...Eternal Super Food*

The below link is an excellent article on honey.

Quantum Leap Wellness

You can find raw, unfiltered honey that will last forever at the link below:

Raw, Unfiltered Honey in Five Gallon Bucket


----------



## lotsoflead

JayJay said:


> Did you know that if you purchase your honey that's harvested within 50 miles of your home...it's great for allergies??
> 
> We have Amish honey.
> Well, we do until the gubermint gets to them!


did you know that if you purchased honey at a store, it probably came from China, Argintina or some country where there are no herbicide or pesticide laws and it was just repackaged here.people should always buy honey local.


----------



## The_Blob

Emerald said:


> One funny story about honey--while in Gorden foods looking for stuff I decided to buy some honey, well the spot on the shelf was bare so I asked if the young guy working there could get more down for me from the big box on the top--he got it all down and started to stock the shelf and said--Oh no! You don't want this one! It has bee's wax in the bottom--Sure enuf it was just starting to crystallize on the bottom! But so funny... I did set him straight on what it was and that it was fine to use, but would probably have to be warmed to get it all out.. But you could see in his eyes that he didn't really want to believe me! Probably thought I was :nuts:


now THAT is what I call "an opportunity to take advantage of the ignorant", get the manager, make funny faces about the product, then tell them you'll buy it at "shrinkage recovery cost"... you would be amazed at how much money you can save on a variety of things :2thumb:


----------



## The_Blob

does anybody else retrieve "wild" honey? if so, do you take it all & say "'EF' that hive, it's a menace", or do you only take 1/2 so that maybe you can get more next year? not judging, just curious

I have friends who are exterminators that ocassionally call me when they have a beehive (in trees only) to 'remove', since we don't have to worry about Africanized bees up here (we check anyway) I help the CSA/apiary down the road collect the queen and as much of the honey as possible... they pay me *and* give me honey (my *Dad* is the addict, not me  )


----------



## JayJay

lotsoflead said:


> did you know that if you purchased honey at a store, it probably came from China, Argintina or some country where there are no herbicide or pesticide laws and it was just repackaged here.people should always buy honey local.


Absolutely--and I like it when the honey comb in is the jar--no questions where it came from..


----------



## sea_going_dude

Suggestion on crystalized honey. You can use it as is or to reliquifi it just set the container in hot water until the crystals melt. NOTE if you do not melt EVERY CRYSTAL it will not stay in a liquid form as long. Only several of the crystals left will cause it to crystalize faster. If you want crystalized honey just place a few crystals in a jar of liquid honey and put it away for a while as the crystals grow through the whole container. 

If you have some liquid honey and some that is crystalized....DO NOT USE THE SAME SPOON ETC FROM THE CRYSTALIZED INTO THE LIQUID or you will have all crystal honey. Nothing wrong with it but you cant pour it like liquid stuff. 

Remember to liquify honey keep it in hot water bath until EVERY CRYSTAL IS melted and it will last as a liquid much longer.


----------



## UncleJoe

sea_going_dude said:


> NOTE if you do not melt EVERY CRYSTAL it will not stay in a liquid form as long. Only several of the crystals left will cause it to crystalize faster.


I did not know that. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I dip into jars when I need it but it always seemed to recrystallize within a couple weeks and I have to do it again.

:thankyou:


----------



## 1969cj-5

SurviveNthrive said:


> Quirky Egyptologists have eaten reconstituted honey from thousands of years ago with no ill effects.


True! Honey has no shelf life.


----------



## JayJay

We use Amish honey and until last week, I hadn't checked on my stored quart--yep--crystallized..
I put it in heated water for a few minutes on the lowest heat--it's fine.


----------



## partdeux

Came across some interesting stuff about honey.

Honey is not always honey, sometimes it's some percentage of corn syrup. Even some "pure" honey is produced by feeding bees corn syrup 

So, I had a half a bear of Kroger pure honey and took a taste of it, and then a taste of the local honey. Holy crap, the difference in taste was unbelievable. Commercial stuff is long gone!


----------



## emilysometimes

Interesting article here. Notice the 'reason' given by one company for filtering out the pollen:
The packers of Silverbow Honey added: "The grocery stores want processed honey as it lasts longer on the shelves."

Yeah, right. Whatever.


----------

