We recently had a community member suggest that our honey was not raw because it didn’t have “stuff” in it.
The term “Raw Honey” is defined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
Honey can be considered as “raw” when it has not undergone any treatment or process such as heat treatment (other than minimal heating used for the purpose of extraction) or filtering.
To avoid being misleading, specific information which clarifies the meaning of the term “raw” may accompany the claim, such as “unfiltered”. – CFIA
https://inspection.canada.ca/food-label-requirements/labelling/industry/honey/eng/1392907854578/1392907941975?chap=0#s6c13
While we have sold unpasteurized but filtered honey in the past, Tiddley Bee Honey Co. switched to extracting all our honey in raw form in 2020.
Our process has us extracting all honey frames using an unheated capping knife which removes the wax coverings from each honey filled comb cell. The honey frames are then placed in a centrifugal extractor where they are “spun” to cause all the honey to be removed from the comb and drained into food safe buckets without filtration. The buckets are then left ito allow the wax to settle to the top where most of it is skimmed off and processed as beeswax products.
When we are ready to bottle, the buckets are added to a large stainless steel bottling tank which has a water jacket. The water in the water jacket is maintained at normal hive temperature (less than 36C / 97F) to allow it to be poured into jars. At no time does the honey become warmer than it was in the hive- preserving the nutrients, enzymes, and pollen it was created with.
Raw honey tends to crystallize at a faster rate than filtered honey as the crystals form on the pollen particles – but the speed depends on the nectar source and storage temperatures. Keeping honey in a warm room can greatly extend the liquid state of the honey.
Enjoy your honey!!
Tiddley Bee Honey Company 