In Scandinavia we mix the honey so it would not crystallize. When mixing the honey, air breaks the sugar crystals and the honey becomes creamy. Usually such honey looks darker. I was surprised to see it to be snow-white! After researching a bit I found out that fruit tree honey is white when mixed/stirred. I have found local honey sold in a shop which was the same color and it was written on it "Spring honey from Fruit trees and bushes, Willow and Canola". Canola alone is a bit darker I know this so it must be mostly from the fruit trees and willow.
The jar to the left is the same honey but in a raw liquid form so there is some color to it. Its amazing to see such radical change in color after stirring it :) It has a mild taste like most spring honey. The stronger taste honey is Autumn honey.
The Calendula, Borage and Honey Phacellia are growing very well and is covered in all sorts of bees
Bumblebee and Honeybee sharing a Phacelia flower without fuss :)
Hey there, have been loosely following your blog for almost a year now. I rebuilt some Kenyan top bar hives that were gifted to me as supered small hives similar to your "bee friendly" design. Thanks for the inspiration, we'll see how they do in this climate. I am curious, though, about this post. Most of the info out there about whipping honey is actually about creaming it by adding a small amount of creamed honey to control the crystallization process. You speak of whipping your honey and the the air plays a role. Can you tell me more about your methods? I was able to harvest about 15 lbs of cut comb and strained honey this year from my first year hive. Since the bees got here after the major tree blooms, I am guessing the honey will be quick to crystallize. This looks like a great alternative, cause who wants to warm honey every time you plan to use it. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel! Whipping honey is a very normal practice in Scandinavia because people here dislike liquid honey on their slice of bread :) They like the honey to be more creamy. And of course no one like crystallized honey for the reason its too hard to put it on bread. The normal way is whipping the honey once a day for 5 minutes in a vigilant manner so there is air being introduced into the honey. Its the air bubbles that break the sugar crystals. Nectar source will decide how long you have to whip the honey. Nectar from certain flowers will need 3-4 weeks to become creamy. From Canola only a few days. But you can shorten the time of whipping by adding an already creamed honey (which was made by the very method mentioned above). This is what I do, the lazy way :) who wants to whip honey for 3 weeks every day. Some plants have such nectar/honey that it will reach a slight creamy appearance but will still remain on the liquid side, but without crystallization taking place. Such honey we keep in the fridge to make it a bit more stiff if used on bread.
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