What kind of honey is not candied for a long time. How to determine which honey is not candied

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Why doesn't honey become candied during storage?

There are several reasons why honey may not be candied (crystallized). This effect may not bode well and simply indicate the origin of honey. However, sometimes non-candied honey turns out to be of poor quality, which indicates the negligence of the beekeeper.

Good honey, but not candied.

So, let's take a closer look at the option when honey of normal quality costs a month, two, a year and is not candied. The essence of the honey crystallization process is stored in its composition. More precisely, in the two main components of its elements: glucose and fructose. Glucose crystallizes easily and has a sweet taste. Fructose does not crystallize and is 2 times sweeter than glucose. In high-fructose honey, fructose coats the crystals of glucose, sucrose and other well-crystallized sugars, thereby preventing the honey from sugaring. If honey contains less than 30% glucose, then such honey will not crystallize at all.

There are varieties of honey with a low glucose content, such honey is more liquid (at normal humidity) and crystallizes very slowly. If your average room temperature is above +23 C, then such honey can stand in the room for a year in a liquid state. Properly stored, such honey will not deteriorate and will also retain all its qualities and usefulness.

The most favorable temperature for crystallization is - +10 - +15 C. At higher and lower temperatures, the crystallization of honey slows down.

The slowly crystallizing ones include: honey from sage, acacia, chestnut, fireweed honey (not all, depending on the place where the fireweed grows), etc.

Bad honey is not candied.

And now let's consider the options in which situations honey remains liquid, but at the same time its quality leaves much to be desired.

1) Unripe honey. Often, novice beekeepers, without waiting for the honey to ripen in the frames, pump it out in order to make a profit more quickly, or simply do not know when the honey is ripe.

Mature honey is honey in which all the main reactions of splitting complex sugars into simpler ones have passed and from which the bees have evaporated all excess moisture.

When the honey is ripe, the bees close the honeycomb frames with wax caps. When the frame is completely sealed, the honey is ready to be pumped out.

Unripe honey has a high moisture content, and this partially prevents crystallization. Such honey can exfoliate and ferment after a couple of months. Fermented honey has a sharp and sour smell.

2) Incorrect storage. Honey is very hygroscopic (capable of absorbing moisture). In a warm, humid environment, honey absorbs moisture, which in the first case prevents crystallization and can also lead to fermentation.

3) Not natural honey or diluted. Often in our consumer life we buy products of poor quality. There are many fakes and honey on the market, someone dilutes honey with sugar syrup, someone adds starch or flour so that the fake is thick and viscous, like honey. [Overheated honey] Overheated honey

4) Overheated honey. When heated, honey becomes liquid. But here you can heat it up to +40 C, no more. At higher temperatures, vitamins and all useful properties are lost. Some sellers, in order to give a marketable appearance to honey, heat and overheat it. Honey becomes liquid and loses its crystallization properties. Such honey will not crystallize at all. The smell practically disappears. The color of overheated honey can be described as dark brown amber. Depending on the degree of overheating, honey is either lighter or darker, but a brown tint is always present in this case.

Recently encountered a new kind of fake. The Chinese bring a certain powder in briquettes, diluted either with water or with some kind of reagent, and honey is obtained in color and smell indistinguishable from natural. Most importantly, as in the chem. laboratories, with a superficial analysis, the results indicate the naturalness of honey.

Tip: How to “make” honey crystallize?

If you doubt the quality of the honey you bought because it remains liquid for a long time. Find some candied honey (a teaspoon is enough), mix it in some container with a tablespoon of liquid honey, so that you get a homogeneous mass and pour this mixture into a jar of liquid honey. Place the jar in a dry, cool place (+10 - +15 C). After a couple of weeks, if the honey is natural, it will definitely crystallize.

People often ask: "why doesn't honey become candied during storage?". In this article, I tried to give basic answers to the question asked. And do not be upset if your honey remains liquid for a long time, try following the advice given in this article, and you will determine the quality of your honey jar.

27.10.2018 2

Many buyers are interested in the question why honey is not candied? What does it mean? After all, everyone knows that a natural bee product should crystallize over time and become lighter and firmer in consistency. Such is the nature of this delicacy. Therefore, when choosing a quality product, some of us are guided by this indicator and buy only the honey in which sediment is already present.

If you buy it in a store or from unknown sellers, you may encounter a fake, low-quality product, and even harm your health by using a dubious product instead of a healing one. How not to make a mistake, and is it worth buying a transparent amber delicacy on the counter? We will describe tips for storing and choosing natural honey, as well as explain the reasons why even a good bee product can remain liquid for a long time.

Crystallization mechanisms

To understand the whole process of the transformation of honey and its different states, you need to go a little deeper into physics and chemistry. Fresh bee product usually has an amber color, a lighter or darker shade, depending on the variety, time of collection and other features. Most often sold in a liquid state, when the external characteristics are more attractive and pleasant. But sometimes this indicates a low-quality product or a fake.

Since honey is a saturated solution, in which there is a huge number of microelements interacting with each other, a complex structure, then in principle it cannot be in the same state for a long time.

Any excess must precipitate, and the water balance should return to normal. Its consistency changes with storage. And by winter, usually, this product already becomes candied, thick or even hard. What does it mean?

Of all the components, glucose and fructose should be distinguished. They both add sweetness and even cloying, being natural sweeteners. And depending on the concentration of each of them, sugaring occurs. As you know, glucose has the ability to form light yellowish flakes, does not dissolve and creates sugar crystals around any solid base, such as pollen. If there is more of it in the composition, then this process is faster.

When fructose predominates, this mechanism slows down, because this element coats the glucose crystals, envelops them and thereby prevents them from quickly fading. But many other factors also affect the process of sugaring:

The time of pumping out honey, the stage at which it was collected.
Variety, variety, from which plants the nectar was brought.
The chemical composition of the product.
humidity and storage temperature.
How long did he stay indoors?
Has it undergone additional processing?
maturity level, etc.

It is believed that the optimal storage conditions for this product will be a temperature within + 10 ° ... + 15 °. And if you put a jar of honey in a room where the indicators are higher or much lower, then the crystallization process stops due to natural reasons. But a natural bee product must be candied sooner or later. For some varieties, a few weeks are enough, for others - a couple of months.

During storage, some beekeepers adjust the temperature indicators in their favor in order to keep the presentation of the delicacy as long as possible. For example, it is placed in a basement for several months, where the indicators do not exceed -4 degrees, then it is possible to keep the product in a liquid consistency until the moment of sale without the risk of degrading its quality. But this method is still undesirable.

The longest time that real honey can be stored and not change its consistency is considered to be a year and a half. And if you bought a beautiful, fragrant and tasty delicacy, and it has been standing in the same condition for quite a long time, then you have purchased a fake. Last year's honey in most cases should be candied.

It is important to understand one more nuance. Although the fresh bee product is considered the most useful and rich in composition, changes in its consistency during storage do not affect the quality. There are as many valuable and healing components in the candied treat as in the liquid one. All vitamins, trace elements remain in their original form.

But the crystallization process itself must necessarily take place evenly, over the entire thickness of the can. If the product is stratified and candied differently, then its quality should be questioned.

Sometimes beekeepers even store the so-called rock honey, which is very, very hard in consistency. It can be broken off and eaten like roast or candy. Its benefits are the same as those of liquid, but for convenience, this product is stored not in a jar, but in food foil.

When does good honey not crystallize?

Experienced beekeepers know that the liquid and transparent state of the product is not always indicative of its poor quality. There are individual exceptions when a product can be given a beautiful appearance without losing its healing components. And also some varieties behave differently, as they have different chemical indicators. We list the main reasons why honey has not been candied for a year, but its quality has remained unchanged:

If the composition of glucose is less than 30%, then the product does not lend itself to crystallization for a very long time.
The storage temperature exceeds 15 degrees, for example, if you keep it in a room where it is always + 23 °, then the sugaring process will slow down very much due to natural reasons.
Some varieties are more liquid, these include chestnut, acacia, sage, fireweed, clover, honeydew, heather, they can retain a liquid consistency for up to 24 months, for which they have gained popularity among the people.
There are very few solid elements in the composition, for example, pollen or something else, which contribute to more accelerated crystallization.

Such a product, although it is very useful, but in order to use it for a long time, it is necessary to periodically give in to heat treatment. This is the only way to achieve a soft composition. The main thing is to do it carefully, carefully, so as not to turn a healing product into a dangerous and harmful one.

Mistakes

But much more often the reason that honey keeps its consistency unchanged for a long time is the wrong conditions for collecting, storing or processing the product, as well as obvious fakes, which are becoming more and more on the market today. The most common include these:

The beekeeper turned out to be inexperienced or too quick to make a profit, so he did not let the honey ripen properly. If you pump it out of the honeycombs prematurely, then it does not have time to go through all the natural processes and a lot of water remains in the composition. Such a product does not crystallize, stratifies, and after a few weeks it can ferment. It has a sharp and unpleasant odor with sourness. Honey should be collected only when it has passed all the required sugar splitting reactions, got rid of excess water and the bees have closed the frame with a wax cap. Not all beginner beekeepers know this.
In case of improper storage, the composition of the product is also sometimes violated. For example, if a jar or barrel is not tightly covered, and the humidity in the room is too high, then honey very quickly absorbs water molecules. Then its quality deteriorates sharply, moisture begins to predominate in the composition, it stops crystallizing and can also ferment.
An unnatural product or diluted - it is offered on the market by unscrupulous sellers. For the purpose of enrichment, they can add other components and substances to natural honey that increase its aesthetic performance, but significantly affect the composition and quality of the delicacy. It is not uncommon for people to sell something similar to honey, but in fact there is not even a part of the natural product. It is made from powder and chemical reagents or diluted with flour, starch, sugar syrup, etc. Therefore, it is better to learn how to determine the quality of a product so as not to fall for an outright fake.
Incorrect processing - often found when selling last year's product, stagnant or in the case of trading through large networks. So, to achieve a liquid consistency, you need to heat it. But if at the same time the temperature rises above 40 °, then the quality of honey will deteriorate sharply. It is believed that at high rates, it begins to release carcinogens. Processing in industrial production is carried out in a similar way. In this case, the process of filtration and purification takes place. It also involves heating to high temperatures, as a result of which all useful components are destroyed.

Some beekeepers also heat the honey to give it a nicer presentation. But if this is an experienced and knowledgeable person, then he will do everything according to the rules and the quality of natural honey will not suffer.

The fact remains undeniable - a real bee product must be sugared sooner or later. Even if it is low in glucose, when stored in warm or cold rooms. The crystallization process can be delayed and take one and a half or two years. But if the purchased can of delicacy has been standing unchanged for more than three years, then this only means one thing - you have purchased a fake that has nothing to do with a natural product.

How to make honey liquid?

It is known that in the heat this delicacy tends to become soft again, to recover. In this state, it is much more pleasant and more convenient to eat it as a sweet, add it to medicinal formulations and infusions. But the process of crystallization sometimes leads to the fact that even a metal spoon bends and it is impossible to get honey out of the jar.

Put a jar of honey in a water bath and constantly make sure that the temperature does not rise above 40 degrees, it will gradually melt and become the same as before.
You can place a container with a candied product next to the stove or a warm battery, but keep in mind that the hotter the object, the further away from it you need to keep honey so that it does not deteriorate, and although this process is rather slow, it is as safe as possible.
Beekeepers have special devices, decrystallizers, which, without any special risks, are able to heat honey and return it to its marketable appearance, while its chemical characteristics and healing properties are fully preserved.

Video: why does honey crystallize?

Why does honey go sugary? Because it is of high quality or, conversely, is it no longer worth acquiring such a look? Crystallization for this delicacy is a normal process, and the fact that after a while sugar pieces appear in it only speaks of its quality. And yet, let's take a closer look at why honey candied quickly, and what can be done to return it to its normal consistency.

General information

There are several varieties of natural treats produced by bees. And each of them has glucose in its composition, that is, sugar, for which crystallization is a natural process. And the more it is in honey, the faster it will be candied. If you want to avoid this, then it is recommended to purchase a product with a low glucose content.

Crystals in the delicacy may appear in two to three months. In some varieties, with a lower glucose content, a little later.

What to do? Honey dried out quickly

Don't worry, there are two ways to solve this problem.

Warm up a container of honey in a bath or sauna

The desired temperature for this procedure is at least 35 degrees. In such an environment, the sugar crystals will completely dissolve after 20 minutes. In no case do not leave honey for a longer time, as you risk destroying all the beneficial substances in it. This method has no volume limits.

Warm up a container of honey in a water bath at home

We note right away that in this way it is worth melting sugar in small quantities, since a water bath does not have the same temperature as the same bath or sauna. Heating occurs as follows. Pour water into one larger pot, put a smaller pot on top, but so that it does not touch the bottom of the first one. A container of honey is placed in a second container and melted until the consistency becomes liquid. After applying this method, honey is recommended to be eaten within the near future if you do not want to see sugar crystals in it again.

How to speed up the sugaring process?

If you don’t care about the question of why honey quickly became candied, and, on the contrary, you really like honey with sugar crystals and can’t wait until the recently purchased honey is covered with them, then we are ready to give you effective advice that will significantly speed up the process of sugaring. You will need honey already covered with sugar for this. It must be mixed with liquid. Store the composition in one container and mix it daily. Within a week you will enjoy an unforgettable taste.

Now you know why honey candied quickly. Whether to use it in this state or bring it to its original state by heating is up to you. After all, it does not lose useful properties, taste and aroma even in a crystallized state. And quick sugaring speaks of its naturalness and high glucose content, which is absolutely normal for honey.

This is sugaring. Such a product changes its structure as a result of the formation of crystals.

This is influenced by a number of specific factors. Therefore, it is necessary to know which honey is not candied and how to determine this.

When a bee product changes from a liquid to a solid state. The essence of this process is that sugar crystals begin to form in it. They have significantly more weight than other components of honey.

As a result, sugar crystals sink to the bottom. This leads to the fact that it begins to crystallize from the bottom up.

The rate of loading of the product depends on many factors, among them are the following:

Type of honey. The type of bee product depends on how much it contains components such as fructose and glucose. In the event that the amount of fructose exceeds the amount of glucose, the sugaring process will proceed quite slowly, regardless of the storage conditions of the product.
Storage temperature. If honey is stored at 0 degrees and below, it freezes, and, consequently, the cage slows down significantly. It is also possible to achieve a slowdown in crystallization if the storage temperature of honey is 30 degrees and above. At the same time, in no case should we forget that both options negatively affect not only the healing properties of the product, but also its taste. In order for honey to remain liquid for a long time, it is necessary to store it at a temperature not higher than 0 degrees during the first 5 days after its pumping, and the rest of the time at a temperature not more than 15 degrees. Only in this case it is possible to preserve all the properties of the bee product.
The amount of water. With a water content of no more than 15% in honey, it will sugar much more slowly. You can be sure that in this case the honey will never be solid, but will have the consistency of a paste.
Shelf life. If the product is natural and stored for no longer than a year, it will have a liquid consistency. With a longer storage period, honey will gradually harden.
Stirring. In order to reduce the chance of honey settling to a minimum, it is recommended to stir it periodically.
collection period. There is a certain period for collecting honey. Upon reaching this period, the honey finally ripens. If the product is collected before it is ripe, the possibility of its fermentation or crystallization is not excluded.
Quality. If the purchased honey is liquid, this by no means means that it is of high quality. You can use several methods to make solid honey liquid, but do not forget that the product then loses its medicinal properties.

Which honey does not crystallize

For most people, when buying honey, the question arises, which honey is not candied and why? As mentioned earlier, the crystallization of honey is directly dependent on its variety. In turn, the variety of the bee product depends on the type of flowers from which the pollen was collected.

Experienced say that there is no pure grade honey. It will always have impurities in it. But at the same time, the amount of pollen from one type of flower will always prevail. This is the determining factor in determining the name of the honey variety, as well as its healing and taste qualities.

It is safe to say that only a natural product is practically not candied. These include the following varieties:

May. Belongs to the earliest varieties. It can be pumped out at the end of May. To create it, pollen collected from honey plants such as lily of the valley, cherry, bird cherry, apple tree and others is used. According to experts, it is this variety of honey that has the highest medicinal properties, and also has excellent taste qualities. May honey contains quite a lot of fructose, which means that it practically does not crystallize. Due to its composition, this type of product is recommended for use by people with diabetes. This is due to the fact that May honey is low in calories and does not harm the functioning of the pancreas. There are many cases of forgery of the May variety of honey. This is due to the fact that it is very similar to the honey that bees make after winter feeding with sugar syrup. In order not to purchase a fake, experts recommend buying May honey in the fall. By this time, the crystallization process will already begin, which means that it will be easier to determine the naturalness of honey.
Acacia. This variety has an almost white color, and also has unique taste and aroma properties. It contains about 36% glucose and 39% fructose. In addition, it contains a lot of moisture. All this contributes to the fact that acacia honey does not crystallize for almost 1.5 - 2 years. Natural honey of this variety has such a liquid consistency that in some cases it looks more like sugar syrup. The crystals that form as a result of candied acacia honey have a very small diameter. This is the main reason why acacia honey is fine grained.
Greek. The name of the variety is due to the fact that Greece is famous for this variety of bee product. It is considered the purest honey. According to experts, Greek honey does not crystallize. But, unfortunately, it is practically impossible to meet such a variety in its pure form.
Chestnut. Natural honey of this variety has a rather thick consistency and dark color. When buying chestnut honey, you can be sure that for 1.5 years it will not succumb to the crystallization process. But, even after that, it does not lose its taste and healing properties. Over time, chestnut honey crystals become larger.
Lime. It looks like acacia honey. It has the ability not to be sugared for 2 years. By its consistency, linden honey can be medium or very viscous. It depends on the rate of its crystallization. This variety of bee product is medium-grained. After crystallization, honey has the ability to separate into solid and liquid parts.
Buckwheat. The composition of this variety of honey includes a large number of mineral components. Its color can vary from light to dark brown. In some cases, buckwheat honey may have a slightly bitter taste. This variety of honey has a high crystallization rate. In order to slow down this process, it is recommended to observe the conditions for its storage. Buckwheat honey is recommended for those people who need a speedy recovery and strengthen the immune system. It is also worth noting that this type of product is actively and successfully used in cosmetology as an antiseptic, healing and regenerating agent.

How to check the quality of honey

It is not enough to understand which honey does not crystallize and why, it is also necessary to know how to quickly and easily check the quality of the product.

There are several correct ways:

Natural honey in its consistency is never watery. It must be tenacious. To check, it is recommended to heat a spoonful of honey to 21 degrees, and then gently turn the honey, slowly pouring it out. It should drain slowly and flow into a bowl in the form of a slide with the formation of bubbles.
The quality of honey can also be checked with a regular newspaper. To do this, drip the product onto dry paper. If the honey runs down the newspaper, leaving a wet trail, it means there is too much moisture in it.
There is also the possibility of testing honey through the use of a crust of bread. To do this, you need to dip the bread in honey for 10-15 minutes. After that, take it out and check for hardness. If the honey is natural, the bread will become hard. Otherwise, it will remain the same or vice versa will soften.

The crystallization process depends on many factors: variety, pumping time, storage conditions, and others. In order to extend the shelf life of the product, you need to know how to check it for naturalness.

Everyone who loves bee products has wondered if honey should be candied. It definitely should, since this is the first sign of its natural composition. When honey is candied, its shelf life increases. Although there are varieties that even sugaring does not save from souring. Each variety has its own characteristics and can crystallize differently. At the same time, the candied product does not lose its usefulness.

Many consider the liquid state of a product to be an indicator of freshness, regardless of the season. Such an opinion is erroneous. For the most part, a non-candied product indicates a fake product. It can also be a sign of deliberate heating, in order to improve the external characteristics of the product. Based on the above, it is not difficult for beekeepers to identify falsification by appearance. We will learn further about the reasons why honey is candied, what it means and whether it is correct.

Should be candied or not

Should honey be candied? All supersaturated substances, including useful sweetness, cannot be in one aggregate form for a long time. Based on the laws of physics, such substances should precipitate. This is followed by the process of restoring the water balance, which leads to the return of the solution to saturated.

honey candied

In the case of honey products, sugar, as a poorly soluble element, turns out to be superfluous. As a result, white flaky crystals can be seen. This explains why fresh honey candied quickly. The period it takes to solidify the products will depend on the ratio in the composition of the amount of fructose and glucose. When the second substance predominates, crystallization occurs faster. Candied fructose will not work, and the winter will pass with fresh and healthy liquid honey.

High levels of pollen and other solid ingredients are another reason why the right crop crystallizes. The harvest, which is cleaned during processing, does not change its aggregate form for a long time. Also, unripe honey, which is saturated with the moisture of the environment, does not thicken. In this case, an increase in water molecules occurs, the product becomes less saturated with sugars and loses its naturalness.

Note! Rubbing a piece of sweetness with your fingers, you can talk about its naturalness. The artificial product will begin to roll in lumps, the natural product will simply be absorbed into the skin after rubbing.

Now knowing why honey is candied, it is easy to understand whether natural honey should be candied.

Knowing whether natural honey is candied, it should be remembered that this process does not affect the usefulness of the product. The medicinal properties are preserved as well. Although the resulting grain suggests that it is no longer recommended to store such a product for a long time.

Worth considering! A fresh product contains more nutrients, which means it is healthier. Conversely, a product that has crystallized is less likely to ferment and spoil, since in this form the honey is less exposed to pollution and the influence of light and air.

Excellent natural honey

In the daily diet, be sure to include honey products. After all, honey contains 22 of the 24 trace elements necessary for the body. It is impossible to determine the quality of honey products, only focusing on crystallization. It should be borne in mind that the process of sugaring can be influenced not only by the type of honey, but also by many external factors. Thinking about whether real honey is candied, you need to understand that this is not the sign that will help you correctly determine the naturalness of the product without additional verification. One way or another, all products lend themselves to gradual crystallization.

natural honey

The only thing that should be alarming is liquid homogeneous products at the end of winter and beginning of spring. In such cases, it takes more than one month from the moment of harvest, and for fresh produce is no longer the season. All this suggests that honey is additionally heated, which means that there are no useful substances there. If the honey has not been candied before winter, then at least it should crystallize slightly, starting from the bottom, as can be seen by examining the bottom of the jar.

Attention should be paid to the fact that with the advent of autumn, liquid products are almost gone. Most at this time, either candied already, or begins to crystallize.

Out of ignorance, many connoisseurs of products mistake counterfeit honey for natural, giving the usual cost for it. To avoid fraud, you should know how to choose real honey.

Natural products can be identified by the following features:

visual inspection. Natural products are thick. Pouring honey into another container, you can see how it folds into a slide, while gradually being distributed, occupying free space. This is the first sign of low water content in the product. Weight is also considered a sign of naturalness: if you buy a liter jar, you get about 1.5 kg of products. When honey is lifted with a spoon, the product flows smoothly with a thin, uniform transparent thread, which indicates quality. Also, the products should not foam, as this is a sign of unripe or fermented honey.
Taste qualities. Real honey products are so tart that, tasting it, it hurts your throat. Dropping a little honey on the skin, it will quickly be absorbed. By smell, real honey smells strongly of flowers and pollen.
State of aggregation. With a high content of useful elements, honey hardens much faster. Freshly pumped honey in the summer should only be syrupy. In winter, it is impossible to find a liquid consistency; it is correct to choose a solid product.
Home check. Do not buy large containers at once. It is better to take a little to check. To do this, you need ordinary bread, it is dipped in honey for about 15 minutes. During this time, the bread should become hard in natural honey. If the bread product is softened, it is not honey, but ordinary syrup. If you drop diluted honey on a paper sheet, a greasy spot will appear, or it will simply drain. Good honey will stay in place.
Documentary verification. You can always request a quality certificate for the products you want to buy. After all, the analysis carried out in the laboratory will determine exactly what the product consists of.

Reasons for sugaring honey

Honey is a living product that has its own stages of development and life. The process of sugaring lasts for 1.5-3 months after collection. Sugar cap can appear after a month if stored in a cold place. Honey should crystallize, because this is its natural process, characteristic of almost all types of quality products. With long-term storage, products in honeycombs in apiaries can become sugary. It is this honey that retains its beneficial properties for a long time.

Sugar cap on honey

Already in autumn, most of the sweetness begins to form crystals. First of all, the product becomes cloudy, after which a sugar film appears at the top. Initially, it hardens, after - it becomes soft. Outwardly, each variety is different from each other. Some are characterized by an oily structure, while others resemble simple sugar crystals. Regardless of the size of the crystals, all natural varieties must harden.

To keep the liquid for a long period, the sweet should be bought immediately after collection, storing it in a warm place at room temperature. Such conditions will help delay the process a little, but not cancel it. Storing honey at a temperature of 5 to 8 degrees will help achieve an oily fine crystallization.

The rate of honey precipitation depends on the variety of flowers from which the pollen is collected. Varieties that are sugared last:

acacia- a variety with a high water content, retains a liquid state for 2 years. The fresh crop is so liquid that it resembles syrup in structure. After crystallization, honey brightens and becomes greasy;
Lime- a variety resembling acacia in the duration of thickening. The shrinkage rate is directly related to the viscosity. After crystallization becomes pasty. Gradually begins to divide into layers: hard and softer;
Greek- a pine variety, which is often called honeydew, i.e. collected not from flowers, but from insects. There is an opinion that such honey cannot be sugared at all. Usually this kind is mixed with pollen by bees, which allows the honey to harden;
May- swings one of the first. It has a high content of fructose, which prevents the products from crystallizing. This variety is considered the most useful, quickly digestible, which allows it to be consumed by people with diabetes;
Chestnut- viscous, very dark variety. To be candied, products need at least 7-12 months. After sugaring, the consistency resembles small gelatin granules. During long-term storage, the structure changes significantly.

The honey of the new season is candied

Knowing what natural honey is, it is important to understand whether the honey that was harvested in the new season should be sugared. Beekeepers believe that it must be. Regardless of the properties, grade and storage conditions, all types of natural honey products must go through the process of crystallization and change their original appearance. This can happen as early as a few weeks after harvest or within a few months.

fresh honey

For your information. For a long time, only artificial products can not change their structure.

Often, when buying products in the markets, it happens that fresh honey begins to acquire the consistency of melted granular fat. This is a completely normal natural product, which indicates the early ripening of the crop. In addition, such thickening may be associated with favorable temperature conditions in which the sweet purchase is stored.

Also, fresh products thicken:

with a high content of glucose;
when the main constituents are pollen and other solid impurities;
when fresh honey was mixed with previously collected honey, which had already begun to sugar.

All this speaks only of the naturalness of sweet honey products. If you need to keep the liquid consistency longer, you can do the following: leave honey in a room with zero temperature for 1.5 months. Next, transfer the container to a place where it will be permanently stored at a temperature of no more than 14 degrees.

Crystallization Rate Factors

More than once it was observed that after stirring the honey, white crystals appear throughout the mass and the vessel. This is explained by the fact that crystallization spreads from the center of crystal formation, which are, in fact, clots of pollen and other mechanical impurities mixed with glucose. When honey is mixed, the number of such centers increases and the process accelerates.

Crystallization of honey

In general, it is easy to explain why honey candied quickly. A favorable condition conducive to crystallization is considered to be a temperature of 15 degrees.

The following factors also influence this process:

The temperature at which honey is stored - below 4 and above 27 degrees inhibit sugaring. It is known that sub-zero temperatures lead to freezing of sweetness, freezing of sediment. A similar effect should be expected at temperatures above 30 degrees;
The amount of glucose in the composition - the greater its percentage, the faster the honey will thicken;
Water - its content in the product slows down the crystallization of glucose;
Heat treatment, which is carried out before packaging the product;
The degree of air humidity;
Mechanical influence on the process. Thickening can be slowed down by periodically stirring the product;
Additive dextrin - a polysaccharide, the addition of which can delay the thickening process;
Product maturity - immature products with water in the composition crystallize unevenly. Unripe products are the most fermented.

Summing up, it should be said that crystallization is an irreversible process, indicating the naturalness of beekeeping products without artificial additives. Due to the high content of glucose in the composition, one way or another, honey will change the consistency from liquid to solid, forming sugar crystals that will solidify. We must not forget about the factors that can slow down or, conversely, accelerate the formation of crystallization centers.

It is also worth mentioning that after sugaring, honey products remain just as tasty and healthy, and the process itself does not affect the healing qualities in any way. The usefulness of such honey is no different from freshly pumped products. However, such a product is not recommended to be stored for a long period, since it is the fresh product that is considered the most useful.

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