Lesson 73: Bottling, Storing and Keeping It Clean

Clear, clean jars; honey that keeps; and what to do when it crystallizes

Honey is one of the few foods that keeps almost forever if it's handled right. This lesson covers getting it from the settling bucket into jars, storing it, and dealing with crystallization, which isn't spoilage at all.

Bottling

1. Let it settle first (lesson 72): 72 hours or more in a bucket or tank with a honey gate at the bottom. Skim the foam and wax bits off the top.
2. Use clean, dry, food-grade containers with tight lids: glass jars or food-grade plastic. Any water in the jar can start fermentation.
3. Fill from the gate at the bottom, slowly, letting honey run down the side of the jar to avoid bubbles.
4. Close tightly and wipe the outside clean.
5. Label each jar (lesson 77), and keep a record of which hives and harvest each batch came from (lesson 41). That's useful for tracing a problem and for knowing your honeys.

Be careful reusing containers. For honey you sell, reused containers generally must be cleaned in an approved facility; check your state's rules (lesson 77).

Keep honey gentle. Too much heat damages honey: it can darken, lose flavor and aroma, and scorch or caramelize. Most small beekeepers strain rather than filter, and don't heat honey except to reliquefy it gently.

Storing honey

• Store it tightly sealed in a dry place. Honey absorbs moisture from the air; if it gets diluted with water, yeasts can make it ferment.
• Refrigeration isn't needed. Honey keeps indefinitely at room temperature.
• Temperature and crystallization: honey crystallizes fastest around 57°F (14°C). To slow crystallization, store it cooler than that (about 50°F), or at warm room temperature; to keep it from crystallizing for a long time, you can freeze it. Avoid storing it in a hot place, which darkens honey and reduces its quality over time.
• Keep honey away from strong odors; it can pick them up.

Crystallization (granulation)

Almost all honey crystallizes eventually. It turns cloudy, grainy or solid. This is natural, and the honey is still perfectly good. Some honeys crystallize within weeks (for example, many honeys high in glucose); others (like tupelo) stay liquid for a very long time.

To reliquefy it: warm it gently. - Loosen the lid and set the jar in a pan of warm water, and warm it slowly, stirring now and then until the crystals melt. - Keep it only warm to the touch. Sources differ on how much heat is fine: one says warm water "on the stove," another warns that overheating easily scorches honey. Low and slow is safest. - Don't microwave or boil it.

Creamed (spun) honey is honey that's been crystallized on purpose into very fine crystals with a smooth, spreadable texture. Beekeepers make it by seeding liquid honey with a little fine-crystal honey and keeping it cool while it sets.

Keeping it clean: honey is food

• Work in a clean space with washed hands, clean clothing, and hair tied back; keep pets and pests out.
• Use equipment made of food-safe materials (stainless steel, food-grade plastic).
• Never add anything to honey. Honey mixed with sugar syrup or corn syrup is "adulterated" and can't legally be sold as honey. That includes honey made from sugar syrup you fed (lesson 39).
• Follow treatment labels (lesson 57): regulators test honey for pesticide and antibiotic residues.

Honey and babies: don't feed honey to infants under one year old. A small number of infants are susceptible to infant botulism from raw honey. Many beekeepers add this warning to their labels.

What to remember

• Settle, skim, bottle from the bottom into clean, dry jars; record batches.
• Store sealed and dry; honey keeps indefinitely; no refrigerator needed.
• Crystallized honey isn't spoiled. Warm it gently to reliquefy; never scorch it.
• Nothing added, ever. Keep it clean like any food.
• No honey for babies under one.

Quick check

1. Your honey turned solid. Is it spoiled?
2. At what temperature does honey crystallize fastest?
3. Why must honey containers be completely dry?

Adapted from: UF/IFAS Extension, Honey and Its Uses (AA154); UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: Processing Honey; Delaplane, Honey Bees and Beekeeping (UGA Bulletin 1045, rev. 2017); University of Arkansas, Complete Beekeeping Short Course, Part 9; Georgia Department of Agriculture, Basic Requirements for Honey Producers; USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Standards for Grades of Extracted Honey.

Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.