Why is this type of honey not recommended? We humans eat raw, unfiltered honey as a complete food. Pasturization means heating, right? Too much heat destroys the nutrients in raw honey. I eat organic raw honey from my local Srounts Farmers Market and it's wonderful stuff....there have never been any foreign particles or bee parts floating around in it....and I want to give my suggies the highest grade food possible.

Thank you for the info

Resa

I was wondering the same. I buy locally collected honey from a beekeeper in my area because it's good for allergies.

In nature pollen is a lot of their diet, so it's confusing that filtered would be better for them.

I have been using raw honey from local beekeepers for years. I also buy locally produced bee pollen.

I feel these products are fresher than the pasturized honey that has been packaged shipped and stored before arriving on the grocery store shelves.

Raw honey is fine as long as it does not contain honey comb pieces.

Raw honey can have bacteria and parasites. Pasteurized honey has been...well...pasteurized. It limits your sugar gliders potential exposure to bacterial infections and parasites. However, I agree that raw honey is a better source of nutrients. Just make sure you know the beekeepers and where the honey is coming from, and it's probably fine.

Good enough for me. I don't get the honey comb anyway :P

Honey actually has antibacterial properties not found in other 'sweet' products. It lasts for years and does not ferment as other sugar containing liquids will.

I have never heard of any parasites that are found in honey. Do you have any information to support that statement.

Maybe it's just if the beekeeper is unsanitary?

Okay, I'm glad I'm not he only one lol. I buy the organic kind...natural kind, whichever it is lol...i found a new brand today at Sprouts Farmers Marjet and it's from New Zealand of all places. I also found a honey called Acacia honey from the Himalayas....hmmmm.

Resa

I found this info:


www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=96


www.naturalnews.com/021506.html



www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=17526


Resa

I use locally produced raw honey. I've not had any problems. My children have been eating this honey since they were around 9 months old. 1 tsp a day, to help with allergies.

On Bacteria: kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/feeding/honey_botulism.html

On Parasites: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee

Honey bees can get parasites just like mammals. If the honey bee has the parasite and the beekeeper is lazy, it would make sense that the parasite would end up in the honey. While cross-species contamination seems relatively low, in most cases, from insect to mammal, I, for one, would prefer not to take what I consider to be an unnecessary risk. Therefore, I meet my beekeeper if I'm going to use raw honey, or I buy pasteurized honey from the grocery store.

The deal with raw, unfiltered honey is it can have small bits of wax, dirt, or other impurities in it. If you put it through a sieve, you can filter out the wax and other particles.

Honey does have natural anti-microbial features.

Honey has been used for centuries as a salve for open wounds to keep major infection at bay.

At our rescue, we have used hydrotherapy and honey treatments on open wounds for many years and it is highly effective. All under vet's orders.

But when it comes to feeding honey, we prefer the filtered kind so the gliders are not ingesting wax or other foreign particles.

At the store:

Raw, unfiltered honey is typically labeled as such
Filtered honey is either labeled as "filtered" or has no labeling
Local honey is typically advertised as being local honey.
Pasteurized honey will have a label that says so.

LG...that's what I read too...about the foreign bits possibly being in the unfiltered kind so I've been checking it every time I use it. I prefer the benefits of the raw versus pasteurized....and for some reason my gliders prefer the taste is it more lol.

Resa

ResaJane - I do not think pasturized honey tastes any different than the same honey that has not been processed.

The difference in honey flavor is in the flowers used by the bees gathering the nectar.

I had a chance to taste test several different honeys recently. The flavor also varies by season. Lighter colored honey is produced in spring and summer from flower blooms, darker colored honey is produced in fall and winter when other plants are blooming.

The Spring honey is lightest and the sweetest, winter is the darkest and the least sweet.

Clover is the most common grocery store honey.

My gliders seem to prefer Orange Blossom honey - when I cannot get that I buy Wild Flower.

My rule for honey-

If I can get it locally it can be raw
If I have to buy the name brand at the store it has to be pasteurized.

Ah, that's good info to know and it does make sense too. I usually use a local raw honey I get at the farmers market on my way home from work but this week I neglected to stop there and realized I was out of honey lol. I grabbed a honey from the grocery store and assumed it tasted different bc it was not raw unfiltered lol...it was almost sickly sweet so I cut down the amount I put in. My gliders aren't VERY picky but they don't like ”rot your teeth overnight” sweet and they don't like ”not sweet enough” lol.

Right now I have four different types of honey at home lol. One is pasteurized and three are raw and unfiltered/uncooked. Of the raw kind one is Acacia honey from the Himalayas which tastes just like the honey we get in those bear shaped bottles. One is a honey harvested in New Zealand and it's the most like my local honey in texture....cloudy and a little crystallized. The other one is a honey I found at a farmers market near my house and it's labeled wild flower but it's not cloudy and crystallized. It does taste a little different. My gliders like all but the pasteurized kind I have.

Resa

i have always bought raw, organic honey with no problems. i use organic honey for my gliders hpw plus though. easier to blend and measure than my raw honey.

regards,
nancy in detroit