bob darrell wrote:

> Preliminary results from a study of the antibiotic properties of  
> various samples of Ontario honey shows that while honey from some  
> floral sources are better than others,  samples of heated honey were  
> not as good as unheated samples.  

You could have saved the money and bought "The Hive and the Honey Bee" 
which explains the effect of heat on the enzymes in honey. Plus, it is 
not heat, it is temperature and duration of that temperature.

Keep honey below about 122F and the enzymes will survive. Also, the 
antibacterial qualities of honey are not restricted to enzymes. The fact 
that is is a super-saturated sugar solution makes it anti-bacterial.

Even "raw" honey will degrade in time, just not as quickly. HMF 
concentrations are the key to if it is good or "bad". Europe has fairly 
stringent standards on HMF limits. I do not see any in the US organic 
standards.

So, if you keep organic honey on the shelf of a roadside stand in the 
sun, it will quickly be no better than the cheapest honey in a 
supermarket and probably worse. But it will still have the label even 
though it is poisonous to bees and would never make it into Europe. But 
it is still organic and people will feel good spending money for bad honey.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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