>Packers heat and filter honey to remove pollen to extend the shelf life and
>to satisfy consumer demand....  I'm thinking that we may well be the agents 
>of our own demise.

We have been around this one before.  The problem begins with mass production 
of honey and the need to sell larger amounts than the local trade can absorb and 
in the economics of packing and distribution..

The need to store and transport honey in bulk containers, then, at some later 
time, divide it up into consumer containers presents a huge problem that 
necessarily compromises some of the subtle qualities of the honey that passes 
through the system.  The obvious sweetness survives, but aromatics, biological 
qualities and other less obvious attributes of real, fresh, unprocessed honey 
may be attenuated or even absent after the trip to the store shelf.

Honey is at its best in the comb, and anything that is done to it to get it out and to
handle it after is bound to damage it.  Thus, the obvious solution is to sell only comb
honey.  I did that for quite a while, and it is not without its own problems.

The extracting process requires tearing off cappings, exposing the droplets of honey 
flying from the combs to the ambient air, then separating the inevitable wax debris
from the honey.  That can be accomplished with minimal damage, but often is not.

Ideally, the only debris in the honey after spinning is wax, but if the combs have 
been used for brood, there are cocoons, pollen, and more in the mix.  

If the beekeeper is less than totally scrupulous, there may well be parts of bees and 
brood and their secretions, dust, gravel, dirt, nails, wood, propolis, lint, pens, ants, 
hair, and who knows what in the tank, too.

Large commercial systems take everything that comes from the extractors and 
uncappers and mixes it all together before separating the liquid from the solids.
The liquid portion goes into drums or totes and is sold to packers.

Packers face a problem: production is seasonal, but the sales of honey continue 
year-round.  Moreover, their facilities are necessarily designed to pack on a continuing
basis, not in one huge surge at harvest time, so the honey has to sit in storage. 

The nature of honey as a thick product that changes state does not make it any 
easier for the packers.

A lot of the best white honey granulates in normal storage, and heated storage 
is not practical since white honey darkens over time in warm temperatures, so 
when it comes time to pack it, it is solid.  Heat is required to transform it back to liquid.

At this point, there is no way to keep the honey natural.  As we can see the honey
is already a long way from the almost natural state that the beekeeper can offer 
to customers, and it there is no commercially feasible way to prevent further loss of 
honey's original qualities and still repackage and distribute it.

Many of those qualities are very subtle, and some are probably imaginary, but as
any beekeeper knows, the best honey is found on the end of a hive tool while 
standing over an open hive, and anything that happens to the honey after that 
moment is not going to improve it.

Au contraire.

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