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What is the difference between raw and wild honey? Is it raw because of honey collected from apiary domesticated bees, and wild when collected from the forests? Can any honey be used to make mead? More specifically, what about wild honey, such as Tualang Honey?

moscafj
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Amen
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1 Answers1

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To address your 'headline' question: Yes, any kind of honey can be used to make mead, however the mead may have a significantly different flavor depending on the honey chosen. Orange Blossom honey will create a sweeter mead that is lighter in color (like a lager beer) where buckwheat honey will produce a mead that has more earthy tones (like an amber).

Raw honey is 'straight out of the hive' without any processing and sometimes without even any filtering. "Regular" honey has been pasteurized and always filtered. "Wild" honey doesn't have an "official" meaning, but is probably the same as "raw". It is likely just a marketing/branding label.

note: I did find one reference to 'wild honey' being from bees 'in the wild', I find this unlikely as collecting honey from 'wild' beehives is not very efficient, is destructive to the hive and not at all good for the bees.

Cos Callis
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  • I've had honey from wild bees before. I can't find the brand I've tried but here's one that claims to be (at least partly): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tropical-Forest-Organic-Zambia-Honey/dp/B006JO30G2 – Chris H Apr 11 '18 at 14:52
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    @ChrisH I suspect they are playing around with the definition of "wild". If you let bees 'go free' in an orange grove, but they 'choose' to return to your manufactured hive (cuz that's where the queen is) to 'make honey' are they "wild" or not? I believe this comes down to word games.. – Cos Callis Apr 11 '18 at 15:51
  • That's why I was trying to find the one I had before. I recall much more explicit wording which would rule out your interpretation. – Chris H Apr 11 '18 at 15:56
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    Hallucinogenic Red honey from the The Himalayas might be problematic. http://awesci.com/the-hallucinogenic-honey-from-the-himalayan-bees/ The strain of honey can be found all the way to Turkey IIRC. – Wayfaring Stranger Apr 11 '18 at 23:06
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    @WayfaringStranger ... Problematic, yes... but if you could get enough of it, you _could_ make mead from it. It might have an effect more like absinthe :) – Cos Callis Apr 12 '18 at 14:09