
The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life - danso
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/08/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life/
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Qworg
Bees really are "magic" as per the article. I've been beekeeping for 3 years
now and I love it. Working with such programmable insects is almost like
watching automata at work. Via simple inputs, complex behavior. I recommend
any one, but programmers especially, try keeping bees.

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winter_blue
Well, can you make $50-$100/hour by keeping bees? :P

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tedivm
I have a ton of hobbies that don't involve me making money- it's this new
thing I've heard about called "work life balance". I highly recommend it.

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mikevm
What is this "life" you speak of?

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Cherian
Chef Luster wrote a beautiful answer on Quora related to this – Why doesn’t
honey spoil[1]

[1] [http://www.quora.com/Why-doesnt-honey-spoil](http://www.quora.com/Why-
doesnt-honey-spoil)

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alcari
It's probably a great explanation, but that site is absolutely horrible:
unusable without Javascript, _and_ it wants me to sign up to view content.

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simonebrunozzi
I am 36 years old now; when I was 8, upon returning from school, I told my
father: "Dad, the teacher has taught us about bees. I want bees.". He knew how
stubborn I was, and in fact 2 months later we had our first beehive.

I've been helping him beekeeping for the next 15 years or so, and have learned
A LOT about bees. We harvested several types of honey. "millefiori" (thousand
flowers, or "generic" honey), "castagno" (chestnut), "eucalipto" (eucalyptus),
and of course "pappa reale" (royal jelly).

In 1999, during my military service, I came back to the barracks from home,
bringing chestnut honey, my all time favorite, and "pecorino" cheese. Try to
eat them together, and you will understand what flavor really is. Amazing.

Bees are fascinating creatures (I know, I should have said insects). Taking
care of them, for months, until the "smielatura" (honey harvest) comes, is an
incredible experience for a young kid.

The main thing I've learned from this is respect for nature, for others. (not
to claim that I'm a saint of anything, but I'm pretty sure that the "nice"
part of me has a lot to do with beekeeping.). It's also an amazing bonding
experience for a father and his son.

If you have any chance, I'd suggest you buy a couple of beehives, and start
spending time with them. It's relaxing, interesting, challenging sometimes.
100% worth it.

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nutmeg
I've told my family that I want to be mummified in honey when I die, similar
to mellified man:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellified_man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellified_man)

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WiseWeasel
Mmmmmh, mellified man... _drooool_

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bobajett
Your Lord revealed to the bees: "Build dwellings in the mountains and the
trees, and also in the structures which men build. Then eat from every kind of
fruit and travel the paths of your Lord, which have been made easy for you to
follow." From their bellies issues a drink of varying hues, containing healing
for mankind. Indeed in this is a sign for people who think.

from the Koran chapter 16 entitled "The Bee".

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contingencies
Wow, at one level that's quite beautiful as it's sort of saying "the sum of
all living things equals health for humanity". I generally don't dig the
humans vs. everybeing else distinction in monotheistic philosophies, though.

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INTPenis
I want to know if anyone has tried eating the honey in the egyptian tombs, and
what it tasted like.

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deletes
I was curious too. This is all i could find in a 5 minute google search.

[http://books.google.si/books?id=kN4-4FRNNfIC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA...](http://books.google.si/books?id=kN4-4FRNNfIC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=honey+Gabriele+D%27Annunzio:+Defiant+Archangel&source=bl&ots=kN_1-7de9b&sig=aSacc_FVDpvUeDGcIGGxg_C4ZcA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gYcXUr6xAsGQhQf6rYHYCg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=honey%20Gabriele%20D%27Annunzio%3A%20Defiant%20Archangel&f=false)

[http://www.suburbanbeekeeper.com/2011/07/14/honey-used-
as-a-...](http://www.suburbanbeekeeper.com/2011/07/14/honey-used-as-a-
preservative/)

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noonespecial
Be careful of honey cut with corn syrup. It's sadly more common than it should
be. This does not have a super long shelf life. To me it looks like it
separates out and then eventually spoils.

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Qworg
As is relabelling of honey from countries where the US has banned honey
imports (like China), due to health and dumping concerns.

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/03/07/173737521/nation...](http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/03/07/173737521/nations-
biggest-honey-packer-admits-laundering-chinese-honey)

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abecedarius
Any of you use honey medicinally today? E.g. put it on a cut before bandaging?
Swallow it to help an unhappy gut? (This is not medical advice; I'm curious.)

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btilly
Yes.

When I have a sore throat I make a "hot honey and lemon". Into a cup of hot
water I put a ton of lemon juice, then as much honey as needed to be able to
handle that, then drink it.

I don't know if it is psychosomatic or not, but those feel good on my sore
throat. They taste good as well!

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foobarbazqux
Me too. The citric acid in the lemon breaks up the mucus and is also
antimicrobial. The honey coats your throat and soothes it, which will help to
prevent irritation and further inflammation, and is apparently antibacterial
too.

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scottmcf
Scots commonly refer to this as a hot toddy, and as well as the lemon juice
and honey we'll add a healthy dose of whisky. Adding pepper or cinnamon is
common too.

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ImprovedSilence
Yeah, I've always known a "hot toddy" and whiskey and honey in tea though..
Great for colds and sore throats.

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Dogamondo
My girlfriend is apparently allergic to honey. She says it's part of her
'fructose intolerance' that she developed years ago. Can this be true? or is
it psychosomatic?

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quasque
It could well be true, though distinguishing the cause of her symptoms -
whether it is an allergic reaction (i.e. the immune system inappropriately
overreacting), problems in absorbing or metabolising fructose (so primarily
related to intestines or liver), or something else - would be difficult
without the involvement of a medical professional.

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dhughes
> But through the process of making honey, the bees play a large part in
> removing much of this moisture by flapping their wings to literally dry out
> the nectar.

And if you keep going you get what a man in my province made, dry honey:
[http://www.honibe.com/](http://www.honibe.com/)

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PhantomGremlin
Is today's honey safe to eat?

Comments have mentioned "pesticides" and "herbicides". Wouldn't those become
concentrated in honey? I assume that bigger objects such as "mites" can be
filtered out of the final product, but the chemicals would remain.

Also someone posted a link to Chinese honey being "laundered". It's apparently
being dumped at artificially low prices. While that's bad for business, it's
not necessarily bad for my health. But is there something in the Chinese honey
that's potentially harmful to us? The linked article didn't say.

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gleenn
God I love honey.

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brazzy
So basically the big secret is putting it inside an airtight container?

Wow. That wouldn't work with _any_ other kind of food!

To downvoters: please read the article. _all of it_

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Qworg
Actually, honey keeps as long as you don't get extra water into it. Almost
nothing else does.

The container is key for storing it in terrible conditions.

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throwaway1979
I feel bad for wasting honey in the past. I heard a story about a friend of a
friend of a friend (...) getting some kind of toxic shock from old honey. That
freaked me out. My wife has yelled at me saying honey keeps .. should've
listened to her :(

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beagle3
You can get toxic shock from the newest honey as well. All you have to do is
be a newborn (up until about one year).
[http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/infantbotulismhoney.h...](http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/infantbotulismhoney.htm)

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ensignavenger
I did some research on this recently because my son just turned 1 year old. It
seems as though the recommendation not to give honey to an infant comes from
some scientific research done a few decades ago, which found a slightly
increased risk of illness. However, if I remember correctly, pasturization was
thought to be an effective counter-measure. Apparently, no body has done any
research to prove that pasturized honey is safe for infants, so the
recomendation has continued to not feed any honey to infants.

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quasque
Pasteurisation, if done correctly, will destroy the toxin but may not get rid
of the bacterium - this is because the spores are resistant to heat.

The risk is that infants in the first few months of life have not fully
developed their gut defences, so the spores can colonise within the intestine
and release the toxin.

In older children and adults, any spores will be annihilated during passage
through the digestive system, so it is safe for them to consume honey.

~~~
Qworg
Botulism is very real and very scary. I wouldn't risk it on pasteurization.

I would also not recommend pasteurized honey - it destroys a lot of what makes
honey good when you heat it so high.

