A question for all you bee keeper people :)

[DeeAnna]

"... im wondering if dehydrated honey has the same properties and how well it would be if reconstituted back to hydration? ..."

Since no one else has responded, I'll take a crack at answering. I would not expect dehydrated honey to have the same enzyme activity or the delicate nuances of flavor that "raw" honey fresh from the comb does. Just my opinion -- I don't have proof to support it, other than my experience as a hobby beekeeper, but my feeling is "less is more" when it comes to honey. Too much processing = loss of artisanal quality.

The point of dehydrated honey is to use it in cooking, baking, drinks, and such as a garnish or for a concentrated honey-like sweetness. Reconstituting it back to a fluid product is kind of missing the point unless you don't have any use for the dry stuff, but don't want to be wasteful.

My honey is "raw", meaning it has only been strained at room temperature to separate it from the comb; it is never heated or finely filtered. I process each batch of honey and store each batch in dated jars. When I have friends over, I will sometimes do a honey tasting. We taste the honey collected during the course of a season and explore the differences. While all the samples are obviously sweet with that distinctive honey tang, it's amazing how different each one tastes. Early summer Iowa honey is citrusy and bright tasting from the early spring flowers -- dandelions, basswood, and clover. Late summer honey from alfalfa, clover, wild asters and other prairie flowers, and some soybean is a little darker in color and has a warmer and deeper flavor. Early fall goldenrod honey is ... heaven. Consumers are unlikely to ever see goldenrod honey. It is dark amber brown with an odd gelatinous quality and is produced by the bees only in small quantities, if they make it at all. Every drop we get stays at home for our personal use.

 

[QueenBeeSoap]

My side yard yesterday. My husband used my laser thermal thermometer to check that the bees were still alive. It worked and he figured out where in the hive the ball of bees were. They form a ball around the queen to keep her warm all winter. Yes I agree that raw honey is amazing! Of course I am biased

That's a great idea! How are your bees doing? I have a laser thermal thermometer for soapmaking, but I'm kind of afraid to check on our bees... This winter has been absolutely brutal with snow and ice storms, extreme winds, and the coldest temperatures I can remember in this area ever. Last year, we lost several hives that had been weakened before the winter by a family of skunks that were eating our bees. They would scratch at the sides of the hives and eat any bees that came out. We put up fences around the hives, but the skunks just dug underneath. It was heartbreaking to open the hives in the spring to find that some of them didn't make it through the winter. We spoke with other beekeepers in the area, and apparently it's common for them to lose 60% of their hives each year from mites, moisture, etc.

I would not expect dehydrated honey to have the same enzyme activity or the delicate nuances of flavor that "raw" honey fresh from the comb does.

I agree... You'd have to think that a lot would be lost in the course of processing.

I've seen powdered honey sold by suppliers for use in soap and b&b products, but I've never used it myself. I've heard that it hardens once the package is opened as it becomes exposed to moisture in the air. It also has to be reconstituted with water in order to be dispersed in the product. So why not just use honey?

When I have friends over, I will sometimes do a honey tasting. We taste the honey collected during the course of a season and explore the differences. While all the samples are obviously sweet with that distinctive honey tang, it's amazing how different each one tastes.

It's amazing how much variety there is! We've been beekeeping as a hobby for a few years, and the honey we've harvested from one year to the next, at different times during the season, and even between hives, has its own completely different, delicious taste and distinct colour.

 

[SoapMakingTommy]

I agree... You'd have to think that a lot would be lost in the course of processing.

I've seen powdered honey sold by suppliers for use in soap and b&b products, but I've never used it myself. I've heard that it hardens once the package is opened as it becomes exposed to moisture in the air. It also has to be reconstituted with water in order to be dispersed in the product. So why not just use honey?

Sorry to hear about the winters being so brutal that you lost some hives, i hope the this year and the next will be a lot better.
Oo no wonder, i posted this in the wrong honey bee thread, lol
I was originally thinking of the ""Honey as a preservative in Body Cream?"" thread.
I was thinking that the dehydrated honey might give there product more credibility, since the moisture content and having to emulsify it, maybe dehydrated honey would aid in all that??
Im just curious from what i read on that thread i also agree about it being a snake salesman.

 

[marghewitt]

That's a great idea! How are your bees doing? I have a laser thermal thermometer for soapmaking, but I'm kind of afraid to check on our bees... This winter has been absolutely brutal with snow and ice storms, extreme winds, and the coldest temperatures I can remember in this area ever. Last year, we lost several hives that had been weakened before the winter by a family of skunks that were eating our bees. They would scratch at the sides of the hives and eat any bees that came out. We put up fences around the hives, but the skunks just dug underneath. It was heartbreaking to open the hives in the spring to find that some of them didn't make it through the winter. We spoke with other beekeepers in the area, and apparently it's common for them to lose 60% of their hives each year from mites, moisture, etc.

It has been a very cold year for us too. Last year we lost about 30% of our hives and we started with 90. We are up to 120 this year. It was cool to see the temp on the bottom of the hive start at 1 or 2 degrees and go up to 11 or 12 degrees on the outside of the hive box when he got to where the ball was. We were so thrilled that every hive had a tempature difference meaning all the bees (in our yard) are still alive. He has 6 other bee yards and I am sure there will be losses in some of them. My husband breeds Russian bees to keep the mite count down and it really seems to be working.
I had no idea skunks ate bees :wtf: We had a problem with mice a few years back but he put guards on the entrances to fix that.
We should do a honey exchange sometime just for fun. We could swap a bar of our favorite soap too!

 

[DeeAnna]

"...I was originally thinking of the ""Honey as a preservative in Body Cream?"" thread. ...the dehydrated honey might give there product more credibility, since the moisture content and having to emulsify it, maybe dehydrated honey would aid in all that??..."

I haven't been following that thread. If one wanted to use dehydrated honey, you'd still have to dissolve it in the water-phase part of the lotion. Dehydrated honey used as-is would be gritty. And I really don't see how you could get around not using a commercially prepared preservative -- as I pointed out earlier, pure honey is only safely preserved when the water content is 18% or less. And you'd still have to use an emulsifier to get a stable cream -- honey doesn't mix with oil any better than plain water does.

 

[engblom]

Honey that contains more than about 18% water will get moldy, so the use of honey as a preservative is pretty much true only when the water content of the honey is low enough. I'd be doubtful about the cream described above -- I suspect it probably has more water than 18%, what with the aloe and water in the ingredients list. I'm also doubtful that it's properly preserved or emulsified, but, hey, I'm also doubtful about eating homemade mayo that's over a week old. Maybe some people have a higher risk tolerance than I do.

FWIW, some folks get away with making a cream/lotion with no emulsifier -- they beat the h*ck out of the mixture when making it and keep the product fairly cool after it's been packaged. But get it too warm, and the emulsion will easily break, since there's no chemical emulsifier to stabilize the product.

This is very true. I know a family thinking the honey was not soft and runny enough. They put in a little bit of water to make it more loose. It begun to ferment. Honey need to have a low water content or it will go bad.

 

[My Mountain Soaps]

I havent been able to check this for a few days, but wow, i ask one simple question and learned all this! thanks everyone. I bought 8oz raw honey for three dollars and tasted it, and WOW does that taste good! super sweet, twice as sweet as standard honey.

 

[QueenBeeSoap]

It has been a very cold year for us too. Last year we lost about 30% of our hives and we started with 90. We are up to 120 this year. It was cool to see the temp on the bottom of the hive start at 1 or 2 degrees and go up to 11 or 12 degrees on the outside of the hive box when he got to where the ball was. We were so thrilled that every hive had a tempature difference meaning all the bees (in our yard) are still alive. He has 6 other bee yards and I am sure there will be losses in some of them. My husband breeds Russian bees to keep the mite count down and it really seems to be working.
I had no idea skunks ate bees :wtf: We had a problem with mice a few years back but he put guards on the entrances to fix that.
We should do a honey exchange sometime just for fun. We could swap a bar of our favorite soap too!

That's great that all of the bees in your yard have survived! :mrgreen: Fingers crossed that the bees in your other yards are hanging in there until the spring. The honey and soap exchange idea sounds like fun! I'm too new to the forum to participate in any official swaps from what I've read, but maybe down the road or off the forum?