Every few weeks someone writes to us worried that their honey has “gone off”. It hasn’t. Crystallisation is one of the clearest signs that honey is raw and unprocessed.
What is happening in the jar
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution — mostly glucose and fructose. Over time, the glucose separates from the water and forms tiny crystals. Pollen grains, which raw honey keeps, give those crystals something to form around.
Which honeys set fastest
- Fast: clover, rapeseed and wildflower — often within weeks
- Slow: acacia and dark forest, which can stay runny for a year or more
How to make it runny again
Stand the jar in a bowl of warm (not boiling) water for 15 minutes and stir. Never microwave raw honey: the heat destroys the enzymes that make it special.
