Wild Honey Questions. Need Your Help!

Does wild honey really taste sour? And does it produce a clear solution when mixed with water?

A new, prominent honey chain is springing up here in Singapore with its branches mushrooming over the island one after another quickly, selling a good variety of supposedly premium, high-end, exotic honey such as Mahogany honey, Kinghood honey, Anchovy Pear honey, etc., Claiming that their honey is unique and of greater value than others, the shop's aggressive marketing efforts include shop front direct selling, print advertising, and even TV commercials. Their claims can be summarised as follows:

"Unlike other honey, our honey is harvested from natural hives in the wild forests e.g those of Africa. They are gathered from drops of honey falling down directly from honeycombs and have bypassed all thermal treatments…Laboratory reports have established our products as wild honey, which has more superior health benefits than honey extracted form made-made hives. Wild honey has a very slight sour taste. And when mixed in water, the solution obtained is clear and not cloudy."

I got a few jars of the honey to satisfy my curiosity. Each jar (600g) cost about 65 Sing dollars, equivalent to about 46 US dollars (very steep price compared to regular honey!). Regardless of its appearance (both transparent and translucent varieties), the honey really turned out to be very clear when mixed with water. Much to my disappointment, the honey was unusually hard. It literally took me four to five minutes to dissolve it in warm water. And the taste? Generally pleasant, with a distinct sour after-taste. The shop is actually now running a TV commercial showing the results of the experiment, i.e. clear versus cloudy honey water. And I believe that has impressed many…
spoon of wild honey image

Some of their claims about wild honey have left me scratching my head. And I have also been warned that the clarity of the honey solution could be a result of an ion exchange process. After a few failed attempts in getting an email response to my questions from the shop, and before making any further purchases from the shop, I decided that it would be an excellent idea to get some opinions and advice on this from you, honey buffs, experts, beekeepers, etc.

Click on the Facebook icon below and let us have your opinion on my new found honey. Get your friends to join us in our discussion. (Yes, in moving with the times (ha!), I have finally created a group "Honey, I love You!" in Facebook to grow the voice about honey. Hopefully, what we talk about there can be contagious enough to get others to at least consider what the honeybees have in store for human's good health and that what they produce is definitely more than just sugar… Thanks in advance!)