What do you mean by “Raw”?
We are sometimes asked: “Is your honey raw”?
Well, that depends on what you mean by “raw”?
The common definition of raw is “uncooked”; - our honey is definitely not cooked or heated.
Some people consider raw honey to be: “only strained before it is bottled”. - As required by Ontario Beekeeping laws, we do minimally strain our honey.
Some believe “Raw" honey simply means honey that has not been heated for pasteurization”. -We do not heat our honey.
Others believe that "Raw" refers to Honey that: “has not been mixed with corn syrup, sugar or other ingredients to dilute it or change the flavor” -We do not tamper with our honey or add ingredients.
Most beekeepers consider “Raw honey” to be the bulk unappealing mix that is extracted during the honey harvest. By our understanding, "raw honey" would not be appealing to honey lovers, but would be quite off-putting. Raw Honey as we know it, is a coarse semi-solid product that contains large pieces of wax, propolis, pollen, living and dead bees, bee parts and other particles.
The proper honey harvesting process, involves the removal of these impurities and the packaging of a pure natural delicious liquid product.
In actuality, there is no commonly recognized definition of “raw honey”. In fact the term “Raw” is not permitted to be used by Honey producers on packaging in Ontario and cannot be used by registered Beekeepers to reference honey that is sold for human consumption.
Our Honey:
- Is produced by our own bees
- Is harvested pure, straight from our own hives
- Is strained to remove wax and other particles.
- Is harvested and packaged hygienically
- Contains no added substances
- Is NOT pasteurized and never heated.
IF you call that "Raw" then that's what we have,... but we call it: