Raw honey at WinCo?

[NoraB]

The other day, we went shopping at WinCo. I saw that they were selling honey dispensed from wooden box type thingies. There was a sign that said not to open the top of the box b/c of live bees. My DS opend the lid on the drip catcher part (not the top) before I could stop him and we did see a live bee. I asked if the honey was therefore raw and was told it was. I bought some and brought it home. The honey is very clear while the raw honey I bought at the FM had flecks of pollen in it and a kind of cloudiness. The honey tastes good and is more reasonable than the FM honey (especially if we are going to use a lot of if now that we've heard of the Hibernation Diet), but I wonder how it can really be raw and look just like pastuerized honey. How are the bees getting to pollenize flowers if they are in a box in a grocery store? There were different varieties (orange, clover and blackberry, I think) which would assume the bees have access to these different flowers, but the set up seems strange. Though, why have live bees in a box if it's not raw honey?

Is there a way that the raw honey could be filtered on the spot so that all the particles are removed? Does that effect the enzyme activity of the honey? Can bees be fed anything else to make honey besides pollen and would that honey be as good as "free range" honey?

I'm confused about this. I'd like to get fresh, raw, local honey but I'd also like to keep it w/in my budget. If WinCo offers the real deal, that would be great. It's just the whole set up that makes me skeptical and I couldn't seem to find a way to contact WinCo online.

TIA

[Mackenzie]

I have been wondering this exact thing about their honey.

[Amberoxy]

Hi, I'm not familiar with WinCo but I just bought some raw unfiltered honey today from a local apiary and I was surprised that it seemed very clear. There are tiny specs floating in it but not much else...

[mbravebird]

My understanding is that unheated and raw honey crystallize more quickly than heated honey, but that they start out pretty clear. I have some unheated, unstrained honey that was harvested recently and doesn't have any bee parts in it. It's also SUBLIME. Oh, my.

But the person who orders the honey should be able to tell you the source, whether it is certified raw (which means it was heated no more than 117 degrees), etc.

[dogmom327]

Seriously? I thought the live bee sign was a joke! Poor bees. I can't imagine a Winco store is a good place to hang out (or die).

[NoraB]

Thanks!

I was at Lassens today and checked out several different brands of "raw unfiltered" honey. Most of the brands were just as clear as the WinCo honey. I guess it's the real deal then. Yay. Wonder how the bees are treated though.

Seriously? I thought the live bee sign was a joke! Poor bees. I can't imagine a Winco store is a good place to hang out (or die).

I didn't quite believe it either until we saw one in the drip tray. I'm wondering how the bees are managed. Hopefully they're getting lots of access to flowers and not being fed sugar syrup or something. Maybe I can find the "beekeeper" at WinCo and ask. Maybe we can even make it a homeschool field trip or something.

[EmeraldGardener]

Not to sound goofy or anything, but don't bees eat honey? But I can't see having them in a store- what about folks who are allergic(like me) I don't bother them and they don't bother me, but I can see some foolish folks just having to open them up to take a peek and getting stung or letting them out and some unsuspecting person getting stung. I haven't heard of the store you're naming, what part of the country are they in?

[NoraB]

I agree that having the bees actually in the stores seems pretty unnecessary. I didnt think about the stinging thing. Still, bees are outside where there's flowers too. They don't generally sting unless provoked. Opening the box would probably be a bad idea, but they do have the "Danger" sign. I'm guessing they haven't gotten sued yet.

[dogmom327]

Is it possible the bees are there because they get into the store (just like bugs, birds, etc.) and are attracted to the honey--not because there are really bees living there? I don't know much about bees but it doesn't seem like you could have bees in a store and comply with health codes or that there would be any way for them to make honey with no flowers around. The sign could be a joke...

[NoraB]

I can see how a bee could find it's way into the store and end up in the honey drip tray b/c it was attracted to the honey.

Seems really strange for a grocery store to post a legitmate looking sign as a joke though. There's probably customers who would strictly avoid the section out of fear or even avoid the store. It's hard to believe that they'd keep that joke going at the risk of business loss. Still, having the bees there would risk the same loss. I don't know. I don't want to open the lid and find out. LOL.

[Mackenzie]

I asked one of the bulk section employees today and she said no.

[NoraB]

No it's not raw? No there aren't bees?

Seems weird to have bees in the box in the store but the honey be pasteurized. Seems like a lot of effort for nothing.

[Mackenzie]

No it's not raw... I asked her if it was, and she answered real quick and was confident like she has had the question before or knew what I was talking about. I even clarified and asked if it was heated and she said that it was.

[NoraB]

I actually got the opposite reply when I asked an employee in that section. She answered very definitely that it was raw. I wish they'd post more information. I want to be able to get raw honey but I can't be sure of WinCo's honey. Grrr.

[NoraB]

I went to get more honey and found another employee in the bulk section that seemed to be directly involved in ordering and such. He said the honey is raw and unprocessed but not local. It comes from Oregon (at least at our store in CA). He made some comment about "unproccessed except for adding the flavor" that I didn't get a chance to follow up on. I don't know what he meant by that. They're adding flavoring to the honey? Why? The prices of the various honeys are different (there's orange, clover, and blackberry). Wouldn't the flavor of the honey come from the flowers the bees collected pollen from? Sheesh. When our budget can take it, I'm going to get the local raw honey I saw at Lassens. For now I guess I'll stick to the WinCo honey...though the idea of additives concerns me.