North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[paul simon <paul.simon@tcs.wap.org>]

> Charlie, the whipped/creamed honey is crystalized first but inexpensive
> uncooked honey will turn to a consistency similar to rock candy in a
> short while. I'm sure whipping it would speed up the crystalization and
> may be done in a commercial production. We just waited a while and
> rushed it by storing it in the refrigerator when we got impatient.
> It, like peanut butter will stay on your bread and you don't have to
> tear the bread when you spread it. Creamed honey isn't  popular in this
> part of the world but I have seen it in Canada. With our soft mushy
> white bread it would be a boon to spreadability. It won't run down your
> arm and require licking it off like liquid honey.  Our kids always had
> clean arms after eating honey "samiches".
> Doc Lisenby
> Zone 6/7
Creamed honey is the result of the granulation of dextrose sugars 
into many few molecule units under controled conditions. In the 
joining of the dextrose crystals, a water molecule is released, 
increasing the water content. Fermentation of honey is the result of 
sugar tolerant yeasts upon levulose and dextrose producing alcohol 
and carbon dioxide. The alcohol is broken down into acetic acid  and 
water by bacteria. (Roy Grout - The Hive and the Honey
Bee,  1960)

This is what I could find out quickly from my sparse library. 
Probably updated data can be found on the web honey sites.

The ratio of dextrose to levulose is what causes some kinds of honey 
to granulate readily ond others to never granulate. Clover honeys 
usually stay liquid, while lima bean, rape and cabbabe family honeys 
will granulate overnite. Heating 'raw' honey will inactivate the 
veasts and bacteria present, and I think they have flash heating 
which momentarily raise the honey temperature and cool it.

I just checked come dextrose crystals (3 x 3x .25 inches) sitting in 
a ziploc bag on a shelf for a year which I pulled fron the top of a 5 
gallon bucket ten years old. Its still good and the honey is also.

paul S. twix Balto an D.C. zone 6