Getting Honey Tested?

[MattBrowne]

Does anyone know of a place that will test honey to see if it is 'OK' to eat? I seem to remember reading that someone was sending a sample away for testing before selling it. I'd like to make sure the honey hasn't picked up an nasty's from near by etc.

Any ideas?

 

[the beehive lodge]

Send me some i'll put it on toast and test it for you yum yum cant get enough of the stuff

 

[drstitson]

food testing

Here in Italy it is one of the many services offered through local pharmacies - they also do wine etc. as well as honey.

 

[steveselvage]

Mine was thoroughly tested last week when a rather portly welshman ate a whole 1lb jar with a teaspoon on the way home down the m4.
His wife was rather upset,not only did he eat a lot he managed to get it over her car.
Ive been asked to send some by post in future.

 

[the beehive lodge]

LOL

 

[biggles]

Get a refractometer off e bay for £12 and test it yourself. Or see if anyone near you can do it for you.
Where are you?
Pete

 

[thedeaddiplomat]

Here in Italy it is one of the many services offered through local pharmacies - they also do wine etc. as well as honey.

I'm always available to help out with wine testing, should anyone need such a service. My charges are quite reasonable. (And I'll waive them altogether if the wine in question should happen to be a Veuve Cliquot 1988!).

 

[Midland Beek]

Does anyone know of a place that will test honey to see if it is 'OK' to eat? I seem to remember reading that someone was sending a sample away for testing before selling it. I'd like to make sure the honey hasn't picked up an nasty's from near by etc.

What do you mean 'ok to eat'? And what nasties in honey do you want to test for?

 

[VEG]

If you are asking that question then you must be worried about something in particular! Care to share what you are worried about?

 

[MattBrowne]

Thanks for the answers, and some of the questions :

Biggles : It's not the water content of the honey, more to do with any other chemicals picked up from the environs.

Midland Beek : It's nothing specific, its just there is a lot of industry in the area and a lot of stuff that isn't 'natural'. I'm a little concerned about what the plants pick up from the local water and therefore what gets into the honey.

VEG : Nothing specific really, I just want to be sure that I'm not poisoning my friends/family

I was just wondering what the big sellers do. Do they just ship the honey out hoping that it doesn't have lots of heavy metals in it or some other 'nasty'. So I was wondering if anyone knew of a lab that would test a sample and give me the thumbs up to say it is ok.

 

[oliver90owner]

If you are worrying about heavy metals in your honey, you need to seriously consider moving to another area!

RAB

 

[MattBrowne]

Heavy metals was just an example really. I'm just interested to know that there isn't anything nasty in there.

 

[Rosti]

I am not sure where the advantage for you personally is in doing this, unless you have a serious intent to act upon the outcome? Even then moving location may only partially change the background contamination profile because no two years will yield the same forage.

A full HPLC / GC analysis that would cover most of what has been eluded to in this thread will cost you probably £200+. Even as big test users for residues (1000s of tests) we can only get about £80 for a broad test suite. If you then want to add a spoilage and pathogen microbiological profile add another £60+ for a private one off. If you are serious PM me and I'll give you some lab contacts..... and no, before anyone asks, I don't provide these services directly, the expenses of analysis gear and the need for a relaible critical mass of samples with an even demand profile put paid to wide spectrum private labs some time ago, I now contract out as required.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Research in the USA has found lots of things in hives and honey/pollen...suspect our hives have similar contamination...maybe safer if you just feed the honey back to the bee's .

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009754

 

[oliver90owner]

maybe safer if you just feed the honey back to the bee's .

And not eat anything containing, or derived from, those plants!

You appear to be a new beek with a minimum number of colonies. Hivemakers suggestion is perhaps a little OTT. Sell your produce to a processor and buy in some for your own use - from a less polluted area, somewhere where pesticide sprays are not used, strict hygiene is followed as a rule and where there is no industry within a couple hundred miles or so.

Australian outback might be appropriate, as an example.

RAB

 

[Norton]

I'm sure your honey is perfectly safe for human consumption. If it had anything bad in it it would have killed the bees.............
Stop worrying and start eating. We all consume all sorts of residues by eating, drinking and breathing.
Best regards
Norton.

 

[MattBrowne]

Many thanks for the information everyone. I will try and remember to get back once I have found out anything.

 

[drstitson]

honey testing

Calm down dear!

seriously - agree wholeheartedly with Norton. Before you worry about tainted honey you should be more concerned with the sh**e that all the rest of your food is indoctrinated with - unless you are entirely self-sufficient, living in the wilds somewhere, in which case your only problems are from Terroir and what you put on/in your produce yourself.

DOI: new smallholder (2 years), so far semi autosofficente for fruit, veg and meat, 100% organic and at least partly biodynamic.

 

[kazmcc]

I'm pretty sure the honey will be fine. As someone said before, if the bees are alive, eat it lol, but seriously. What could be in it? Do you live near a nuclear processing plant? Just share it out, probably more impurities on the grapes you buy at the supermarket.

Oh no, you've caused me to start thinking ( never a good idea when I am on this forum )

Would the use of propolis keep the bees and their honey clear of infections? I only ask, as I was talking to someone who said they'd heard about a whole mouse being found propolised in a hive. He reckoned it had died and was too large to remove, so they glued it up to stop the damage from it decaying from infecting the colony.

 

[Bcrazy]

Hey MattBrowne

see my post Where is my honey from Number 14

Mo