Things to know about raw honey

It takes twelve bees a lifetime of work to create 1 tsp of honey. To make one pound of honey, the bees in the colony must visit 2 million flowers, fly over 55,000 miles and will be the lifetime work of approximately 768 bees. During the course of a season our hive can produce anywhere from 30 lbs. (2.5 gallons) to 150 lbs. (12.5 gallons, that was a good year) of excess honey that we can harvest.  The rest is consumed by the hive during the course of the year. 

We have to put it in the jars ourselves

Honey does not go bad -- that's why bees create it.  It is their version of pickling and canning the nectar they need to keep the colony going through the winter; and like us, when they make more than they need we can share it.  Honey can crystallize over time, sometimes quite quickly--especially when it gets cool.  To re-liquify it (to make it easier to pour, or just for preference) you can simply heat the honey gently.  Just be careful not to heat over about 120°F (49°C) to avoid losing the aromatics that provide the character to the honey.  If you like, you can make creamed honey by taking honey that is beginning to crystalize and beating with with an electric hand mixer, or even the paddle attachment on your stand mixer until it is a smooth consistency.  Then as the honey crystallizes, it will maintain a smooth creamy texture rather than forming large grains.

Different nectars that the bees gather from season to season contribute to the different characteristics and flavor profiles of they honey we collect from them.  Some nectar leads to very sweet floral honey, citrus, mock orange, lavender, and early fruit trees lead to sweet and fragrant honey with a distinct flavor of the flowers that are visited.  Other nectars from basil, oregano (a popular plant with the bees in our back yard), rosemary can create a much darker, herbaceous and slightly sweet honey with a somewhat bitter finish. When neighborhood trees are in bloom, they can dominate the flavors of the honey as well.  It is easy to taste when Victorian box is part of the mix.

"First we gather the major nectar sources.  In this case we want a light herbaceousness...

"...and we blend just a soupcon of pansy to get the bright floral notes." -- Stacy Abelha, field technician

Different honeys can be smooth and fluid to very viscous.  Some honey is prone to crystalizing quickly while other will remain liquid for years.  Color, of course and vary from light straw colored to very dark tea colored with even olive tones.

Variety

In addition to providing different characteristics, the fact that the bees visit different blossoms throughout the seasons means that there are traces of the different pollens in the honey they create.  Consequently, local raw honey is believed to provide some resistance to seasonal allergies. There is no scientific evidence to support this theory however.  Though honey does have some anti-inflammatory properties that may help alleviate some symptoms.  See Asha'ari, Zamzil et al.  for more support that raw honey can help alleviate allergy symptoms, though it isn't necessarily effective as an immunotherapy. 

Citation:

Asha'ari, Zamzil Amin et al. “Ingestion of honey improves the symptoms of allergic rhinitis: evidence from a randomized placebo-controlled trial in the East coast of Peninsular Malaysia.” Annals of Saudi medicine vol. 33,5 (2013): 469-75. doi:10.5144/0256-4947.2013.469