WHAT IS CANDIFIED HONEY?

Candied honey is the name given to honey that has been kept at a certain temperature, has been aerated or has remained stable, and freezes over time, turning into crystal, sugar, salt or cream form.

Contrary to popular belief, crystallization (freezing-sugaring) will be delayed in unripened honey and in honey from bees fed with sugar syrup, as the amount of sucrose will be high.

As can be understood from these statements, the judgment that crystallized honey = sugary honey is completely wrong. On the contrary, honey obtained by adding sugar syrup crystallizes later or does not freeze at all. Because honey, which contains heat treatment and additives, is now separated from its true chemistry.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO PREVENT HONEY FROM BECOMING SWELFY?

In the winter when the weather is cold, bees try to warm their hives and increase the temperature, in the summer they use their wings to make propellers and cool them by blowing air. Bees keep the internal temperature of their hives constant at approximately 34-35 degrees Celsius.

It is insulated with beeswax and propolis inside the honeycomb cells. The freezing of honey is minimized. However, some exceptional honeys can be seen to freeze even while in the hive. In short, you can store it on a shelf at room temperature. * Do not put it in the refrigerator.

* For our more detailed and scientific article, please review our Candied Honey Blog Post (baldukkani.com.tr)

“Black Hive”

The honey made by bees working in cavities such as baskets, logs and pots in the past is now known as black hive honey. The old style black hives, where internal maintenance and control are almost impossible, are called "Black Hive". It is not related to its black color.

In these types of hives, it is not possible to make observations such as egg control, brood observation, queen observation, pollen status, disease observations in the bee colony. However, since there is no initial wax in the black hive honey, the bees determine the cell sizes of the honeycombs and build them from scratch.

Karahive honey looks more beautiful. It is more plump and can be harvested in different ways. It feels better when eating. Karahive honey is an attractive honey among the people in our country.

At point A, let's assume that a natural and honest beekeeper has 1 black hive and 1 technical hive, the quality of the honey they contain will be the same.

At point B, let's assume that a fraudulent beekeeper who feeds bees with sugar has 1 black hive and 1 technical hive, the honey they contain will be of poor quality and will still be the same.

“Modern Hive / Technical Beekeeping”

Inside the Empty Hive, there are wooden slats that can be checked, counted and moved, and on these slats, a thin layer of wax, weighing approximately 75 gr, resembling A4 paper, made of wire and natural bee wax, is placed. When the bees see this hexagonal stamped wax, they start to swell their honeycomb cells. In this way, the bees gain time and energy.

Contrary to popular belief, the swollen hexagonal parts of the honeycomb, the wax and all of the honey are the work of the bees themselves, they do not contain artificial wax. The bees are the ones who swell and secrete the wax. We recommend that you review our blog post on this subject for details.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECT:

• Honey bees secrete and produce their own wax. However, this is a time-consuming task. In order to secrete 1 kg of beeswax, it means that they eat and consume 10 kg of honey from the honey in the hive. Therefore, using starter wax in technical beekeeping speeds up.

• In the Karakovan method, no wax is placed in the worker's empty hive. Production takes longer and it is harder for the beekeeper to wait. This is why retail sales are a little more expensive.

• The main thing is a reliable beekeeper. Also, with the experience and tradition of thousands of years, the bees should produce honey freely and should not be exposed to any chemicals or trickery by the beekeeper. Unfortunately, there are also those who produce fraudulent sugary honey using the Karahive method.

• There is no skill in the hive type or the honeycomb type. The skill is in the bees and the honey.

• The relevant ministries sometimes advertise fraudulent brands on the internet. We recommend that you research what you eat.

Comb Honey is honey that remains in the comb where it was produced.

Strained Honey is honey that has been strained to remove wax or other residues and stored in sterile containers-jars, etc.

Both types of honey can be evaluated differently in terms of taste. This is completely relative.

What matters in terms of health or potential nutritional value is the content of the honey.

Our video explaining the subject: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw2VfV_oUor/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kvkXdEA0AE

Both comb and extracted honey are suitable. It is not appropriate for us to compete or consider one as superior. As we stated above, the superiority is in the quality of the honey.

Storage conditions, your eating habits, taste, and even the climate you live in can help you decide which honey to prefer.