Puzzling 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 several jars of the honey to satisfy my curiosity. Each jar (600g) cost about 70 Sing dollars, equivalent to about 55 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. The honey was unusually clear candy-hard (as opposed to the expected thick but soft texture of creamed honey). Much to my frustration, 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...
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, I began to wonder if these honey suppliers actually have an answer for this. So, if you are a honey buff, expert,or beekeeper and you know the answer, I can't wait to get your thoughts, advice and views on this!

Ruth Tan
1 Dec 2010

Drop a Comment: Wild Honey Versus Beekeeper's Honey
Please note that all fields followed by an asterisk must be filled in.
First Name* First Name*
Country* Country*
* *
Please enter the word that you see below.

Enquiring on the difference between wild honey and beekeepers' honey via retail checks.

Postings on Wild Honey Versus Beekeeper's Honey

PS: Give your posting some time to load and be published on this page. I've not made it work automatically due to spamming concerns.

I am a wild honey seller and i have no any experience about mentioned above. The difference with wild honey is its sweet smell and taste. My ph no:944702520.

Muhammed Shereef, India
_{1 Feb 2012}

I read with great interest on this section. Just yesterday I was at one of the wild honey stores. I was given to taste a few types of the wild honey and initially was very impressed with their claims. I nearly purchased and become their silver membership. Their sales strategy is very aggressive. But what disturbed me was their way of putting down Manuka honey. They claimed that the cloudiness of Manuka honey is due to the preservatives in the Manuka honey. They said that their wild honey has no expiry date and reason that Manuka honey has expiry date is again because of the presence of preservatives. That was when I decided to start my own research probject on honey and then found your site. I am writing to appeal for more info on this wild honey. Are they really better than the farmed-honey (a phrase that they use)?

Suriya, Singapore
_{19 Jan 2012}

Ruth: Suriya, I don't have answer whether wild honey or farmed honey is better. And I'm not sure if the question is that straightforward after all. However, until now the appearance of the candy-like form of the honey before mixing anything remains to be the most mysterious and puzzling to me. I have bought wild honey from other sources but have never encountered such thickness. I guess at that price tag, they had only medicial grade Manuka (as opposed to food grade)to pit against, but if they could come up with a credible measurement of the "ACTIVE" medicinal properties for their honey just like the UMF factor in Manuka (10+, 15+, 20+, etc), that would be more convincing.