Extending the shelf life of honey

[Spuzzana]

Hi Northern Rider.

There is another true story about honey in Egypt related to the one Tatar Horde describes.

Archaeologists found a tomb that had a sealed amphora in it. When they broke the amphora open they discovered it was full of honey. As it was lunch time-ish, they decided to stop and eat. They dipped bread into the honey and ate. One of the people found a hair and pulled. A fully preserved infant came up out of the honey in the amphora.

This is written about in Collins Beekeepers Bible.

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Further to the above: A technical summary on honey.

Ideally you should not heat honey above 50C.

Honey will form crystals slowly around 34-36C which incidentally is the same top level temperature in a beehive when it is producing new young bees.

You should be careful about heating honey to a high temperature as this will affect the diastase and hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde (HMF) levels. Diastase is the enzyme which breaks down starch. It is a protein and therefore affected by heat and natural breakdown processes. Its quality in honey will reduce in time and heating. Its activity is measurable and is expressed as a Diastase Number. HMF is a substance produced by the degradation of sugars in the presence of acids, this occurs with ageing of honey and is accelerated by heating. (quote Paraphrased from - Guide to Bees and Honey - Ted Hooper)