Does Filtering or Straining Honey Remove Pollen From Honey?
Honey bees bounce from flower to flower, pulling nectar and collecting pollen from each flower. Day in and day out, foraging for these ingredients, bringing loads back to the hive. Either on purpose or accidentally, pollen...
http://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com/beekeepingblog/2015/12/1/does-filtering-or-straining-honey-remove-pollen-from-honey (http://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com/beekeepingblog/2015/12/1/does-filtering-or-straining-honey-remove-pollen-from-honey)
Thanks for that. It never occurred to me to ask.
Depending on the size of the strainer determines what is removed. Bee supply strainers to not remove all pollen. A lot of store bought honey is ultra filtered, I believe under pressure, and most heated. This removes pollen and reduces particles for sugars to crystallize on. Remember the old rock candy experiment? At least I am old enough to remember it ;) As you know there is a push for the pollen to be left in honey for an identifier.
A statement from Sue Bee:
Statement from William F. Huset, VP of R&D, Sioux Honey Association:
Honey produced by Sioux Honey Association is not ultra-filtered.
All raw honey purchased by Sioux Honey contains pollen and can be tested for country of origin by pollen analysis.
The presence, or absence, of pollen in our honey products is not a food safety issue, nor is its presence required by the USDA, the FDA or American tradition.
Sioux Honey filters honey to remove hive debris and prevent granulation, which incidentally removes some of the pollen.
Sioux Honey filters honey according to USDA standards; the same way we have filtered honey since the 1950s. This filtration is macrofiltration, designed to remove visible particles, and much less aggressive than ultrafiltration.
Read this among other things at The National Honey Board website:
Honey Nutrition Information
A collection of nutrition research articles, as well as a link to USDA?s nutrient database.
COMPARISON OF VITAMIN, MINERAL AND ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS IN RAW AND PROCESSED HONEY
Ropa Science Research
Research Project Funded by the National Honey Board ? D. Ropa, 2012
This 2012 study examined the effects of commercial processing on the pollen and nutrient content of honey. Processing reduced the pollen content of the honey, but did not affect the nutrient content. The micronutrient profile of honey is not associated with its pollen content and is not affected by commercial processing.
The 2012 study and abstract with statistical analysis was presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Conference in Boston April 20-24, 2013.
http://www.honey.com/honey-at-home/honey-nutrition-information/
Thanks sc-bee,
I have a notion that certain foods of which honey is one, are better off in as close to it's natural state as possible. That means the less filtration the better. Nothing to back up that statement.. just a hunch. There are a growing # of PPL out there with that opinion.
For instance honey that has been heated gives me digestive issues. I and my wife consume a lot of unheated honey.
Same is true with either pasteurized or homogenised milk. I can consume unpasteurized unhomogenized milk till the cows come home. :)
I must say that I always liked pasteurized milk better then milk from the cow. I do like milk enough that I thought about getting a cow though.
Cheers
gww
Years ago I used to drink about a litre a day, (pasteurized) till after about 15 - 20 years of that, I started getting all kinds of issues - belly felt like a balloon all the time, lower back pain and an enlarged prostate (precancerous), always felt tired, etc.
Then I went to Doc who said nothing was wrong, so I tried eliminating things from my diet and lo and behold when I gave up milk, in less than a day practically everything went away. Prostate became less swollen, but it stayed benign.
The pasteurization destroys the enzymes in it so it is hard to digest. I stumbled on an article about raw milk and decided to try it. I can drink all I want and straight from the fridge, of raw milk, cheese, you name it. Cooked cheese is still a big problem for us, but we used to go through a round of raw cheese in a week or so, but now we cannot get it anymore or it is loaded with salt. :cry:
Fly...
Your symtoms before quiting the prossessed milk sound like me. I just remember as a kid that the milk didn't always taste the same and after you skimed the cream the milk would have little blue streaks in it. It would really get a garlic taste as certain times of the year.
We used to pay a dime for a half pint of milk at school and I used to get extra at lunch every day and always felt it was a treat. I pretty much drink milk with every mill and coffee for the rest of the day. I hardly ever touch water or soda.
I really did think about getting a milk cow when I retired. I did get chickens and am working on getting bees. I am kind of a hermit and like things that keep me busy at home but got to remembering just how much work milking each morning was and believe I will just do the chickens and bees and forget the cow.
One thing about being retired, if I feel like crap I just slow down and take more breaks. I don't believe I could give up coffee, milk or ciggaretts just to feel better. I could probly go back to cows milk if I found a good place to get it.
I do know that lots of poeple like free range eggs, raw honey and cows milk now days and who am I to say they are right or wrong. I never really think of health too much but have been lucky enough to have not had to either. No matter what we do, I personally don't want or expect to live forever but also don't want to die today. I know it will happen someday and hope it is a surprize and not a long drawn out affair.
I must say that for more then just health reasons, growing your own food, even if not prossessed, is really neat cause you can do it without needing anything from any one.
It is the same reason I will try foundationless frames first. Cause I can build them myself and the only real thing I haven't been able to make are the staples and nails to put them together with.
I love the advice I get from the forum though.
Cheers
gww
I started having chickens and bees after retirement also. I like to be self-sufficient also. The chickens are almost like friends.
Cream is God's gift to mankind. Mix it with butter (raw fresh is awesome) and honey. If you have coconut cream add it to the mix.
Fly...
One thing, if there is nothing to watch on tv, going out and watching the chickens antics is quite intertaining.
gww
I see them out my window by the computer.
:) reading this genuinely made me smile :)
after stomach upsets and a whole lot of research, our family is pretty self sufficient now.
I'll only be using a basic filtration for our honey, leaving the pollen mostly in on purpose.
eating raw honey from a local hive is supposed to be helpful with allergies and hayfever and whatnot isn't it?
We keep Guernsey cows for the raw milk and I make a lot of fresh raw cheeses... We also have chickens, pigs for pork, goats, beef cows and a veg patch.
It's actually very possible in this day and age to become self sufficient without joining a commune of unwashed hippies thank goodness :)
part of that was the inspiration behind learning about bees!
gww,
The unpleasant milk may have been from the cows eating sour grass. The flowers don't look like flowers from a distance but adds a red tint to a field.
Zebu's are miniature cows that goes about 2-3 hundred pounds. A lot of self sufficient people chose them for several reasons. Easier to handle, less feed, and they provide about all the milk and butter a family will need.
We love our country life as well. Watching the chickens is called Chick TV, then there's goat TV, and bee TV.
Around here the milk got a garlic flavor early every spring when the wild onions came up. Cows picked them along with the new grass.
Thinking about getting a few goats next year.
Don't filter, just screen enough to keep the chunks & bees out.
My wife often tells the following story:
Back in the sixty's my wife and her siblings didn't want to drink their milk be cause it tasted funny. They were all told there was nothing wrong with it and told to drink every drop.
The next day the milkman knocks on the door and asks to take back any unused milk. The cows had gotten into an onion patch.
Jim
I thought about getting a milk goat also. I had a granchild that was alergic to cows milk and for about a year he got goats milk. He is over the alergies now and drinks cows milk more then he eats food. I once got a quart of goats milk from my neibor but didn't really like it. I hear it depends on the breed of goat. When we were young, we raised bucket calfs for extra money. Some of the holsteen farmers would almost give away the male calves. That all changed in the 80s and it seems like calves and feeder pigs are worth there weight in gold. $70-$100 for weened pigs seems like alot.
My uncle was making fun of me cause he said all my relitives raised beef and pork and that I must be from the poor side of the family cause I have only chickens :smile:.
Cheers
gww
I think that is the defining line ... filtering will take out pollen straining will not.
I like how this got hijacked by cows milk.
This is actually the graphic I wanted to share with everyone from our blog. It is how the 200, 400, 600 micron filters most of use remove 0% of the pollen from honey. I thought it was interesting.
(http://static1.squarespace.com/static/541a0193e4b00b96ae161566/t/5664eb16e4b0672d14551cff/1449454442772/Foxhound+Pollen+Infographic?format=750w)
http://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com/beekeepingblog/2015/12/1/does-filtering-or-straining-honey-remove-pollen-from-honey (http://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com/beekeepingblog/2015/12/1/does-filtering-or-straining-honey-remove-pollen-from-honey)
nicely done :)
When bees collect pollen it is no longer in individual grains of pollen. It is in clumps of pollen stuck together. True some pollen is stuck to their hair as individual grains. Some gets filtered in their tongue and their honey stomach as individual grains, but not all of what is in honey is that small when it is filtered. It is large enough that you can see it at the top of a jar of honey and it looks like individual specks of pollen. Actual individual grains I think are almost too small to see...
>Read this among other things at The National Honey Board website:
They also say things to reassure people about essential oils and corn syrup in the honey which are outright evasive. They say that beekeepers do not add such things to their honey, but of course, ignore that they feed such things to their bees...
Quote from: sc-bee on December 12, 2015, 04:02:30 PM
Read this among other things at The National Honey Board website:
Honey Nutrition Information
A collection of nutrition research articles, as well as a link to USDA?s nutrient database.
COMPARISON OF VITAMIN, MINERAL AND ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS IN RAW AND PROCESSED HONEY
Ropa Science Research
Research Project Funded by the National Honey Board ? D. Ropa, 2012
This 2012 study examined the effects of commercial processing on the pollen and nutrient content of honey. Processing reduced the pollen content of the honey, but did not affect the nutrient content. The micronutrient profile of honey is not associated with its pollen content and is not affected by commercial processing.
The 2012 study and abstract with statistical analysis was presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Conference in Boston April 20-24, 2013.
http://www.honey.com/honey-at-home/honey-nutrition-information/
The National Honey Board is made up with beekeepers who make their money pollinating and/or selling honey on a huge scale. If anyone had a reason to be biased it would be them because their livelihood depends on the outcome of the study THEY funded.
If the nutrients in the honey are unaffected by heating and ultrafiltering according to this study what about the 200-300 beneficial enzymes that are supposedly also in honey ? If honey's ability to crystallize is lessened by heating or partial pollen removal are we to believe ALL of the nutritional benefits also remain unchanged because of one study that was funded by someone who has skin in the game ?
Something to think about.
I don't know the science behind honey crystallization but I am wondering if it is like those experiments we did as a kid with supersaturated liquids.....perfectly clear with no solids but as soon as nucleation points are introduced they go from liquid to solid pretty quick. Unfiltered honey would have more microscopic debris in it that would act as nucleation points so it makes sense that it might tend to crystallize quicker. As far as heating goes....it will most definitely effect enzyme and other chemical substances by denaturing them.
The real reason people might prefer pasteurized honey is tied into the minuscule risk of botulism...and I do mean minuscule. According to the CDC 145 cases are reported yearly....of which 15% are food borne (~22). No break down on specific vectors of contamination but I would imagine improperly home canned foods or older canned goods would be the major portion of those 22 cases since botulism colony production needs anaerobic conditions to propagate. Raw Honey while a possible vector would statistically be a smaller portion but once again there is no way to provide accurate statistics....so once again the american public has most likely been bamboozled and all of those warnings about not feeding honey to infants under 1 yr are grossly overblown based on the numbers. I don't see those same warnings associated with canned goods or trumpeted to the high heavens with warnings about home canning and home processing of baby foods ;-P
http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/botulism/ (http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/botulism/)
http://www.livestrong.com/article/263668-the-dangers-and-benefits-of-raw-honey/ (http://www.livestrong.com/article/263668-the-dangers-and-benefits-of-raw-honey/)
You cannot filter out botulism. You can radiate it to kill it. Anyone two years old that does not have a compromised immune system will already be immune to the botulism found in honey that is everywhere in the environment.
Bees don't carry and manipulate individual grains of pollen. They collect it as fairly large conglomerations of pollen. I doubt much of the pollen in honey is in individual grains. The clumps of pollen that managed to get into the honey (which I suspect is the majority of the pollen in honey) will get filtered as will bits of propolis, wax, etc.
Where in my post did I say the filtration took out the botulism?....Botulism is poisoning from the byproducts of the organism...not the organism itself....you (adults) could eat a spoonful of the spores and they would pass through your gut with no harm done. Most common culprit for these poisonings is home canned products that aren't heated and held at a high temperature for long enough. Spores aren't killed off and germinate...the critters flourish and their byproduct toxins build up and are then consumed which causes the poisoning.
Spores CAN exist in honey but cant germinate (PH is all wrong) and hence no toxins since the critters cant grow. Only risk (and this is shaky and based on incomplete science in my and many others opinions) is to extremely young children whose undeveloped gut allows the spores to lodge and reproduce and thus generate the toxins. Research on this isn't that in depth and most of the reported cases of botulism poisoning involving extremely young children cant be traced back to honey but hey why risk it....hence the warnings.
In any event my point was more about the nucleation points and honey crystallization anyway.
Great Graphic. I would like to share it but also respect the all rights reserved bit. Is there a way I can do that?
Quote from: superbee on January 05, 2016, 12:18:38 AM
Great Graphic. I would like to share it but also respect the all rights reserved bit. Is there a way I can do that?
Don't mind you sharing it at all. Send me your email address and i'll send you a full version of it.
[email protected]
Perfect email sent
Pasteurized honey is also considered mildly toxic in the Ayurvedic medical system from India. It does not cause acute conditions like botulism though. Just a range of issues with skin or stomach. I cannot eat pasteurized honey, makes me feel lousy, and generally I get a mild sore throat.
In the raw food world, feeding raw honey to infants under 1 year is considered bad juju. Makes sense. Whether the story about botulism is true or not true, why bother risking it. However after that time frame, honey is considered manna from heaven for children. Certainly one of the best sweeteners.
Just as a side note, when the CDC states that cases of death were caused by this or that, for the most part, these reports are based on the reports of others, like 'Aunt Jane who was just positive that her stupid daughter in law fed her son/grand-son something that she told her was poisonous'. In other words these reports are considered a bit suspect, possibly third hand, guesses, approximations, theories, prejudices. It's not like someone was there with a camera and a microscope.
In cases of large food distributers where the foods can be traced of course it is different.