Does your honey ever crystallize? I'll bet your answer is yes, but do you know why?
The easy answer is honey crystallization is natural and a character or attribute of pure raw honey. Honey is a super-concentrated sugar solution. It is made up of more than 70% sugars and roughly 17-19% water. Water would not naturally hold this much sugar and this is the crux of why pure honey is unstable, always on a path to crystallization. The sugars in honey are fructose (fruit sugar) and glucose (also referred to as dextrose or grape sugar). The ratio of these two sugar types has some fluctuations based on what the bees are gathering, but generally is about 1 to 1.3 fructose to glucose. The balance of these sugar types is what leads to crystallization, and the relative levels of each affects the speed of its crystallization. The glucose, due to its lower solubility, is what crystallizes. Fructose is more soluble in water and will remain fluid. As glucose crystallizes, it separates from water and forms tiny crystals. As the crystallization progresses and more glucose crystallizes, those crystals spread throughout the honey. The solution changes to a more stable saturated form, and in time the honey becomes thick or crystallized.
The crystallization is fully natural, but sometimes misunderstood. Some have thought that it is spoiled or going bad, but that is simply not true. Crystallized honey retains all of its taste and health quality—same as the liquid honey. Many even appreciate the thicker crystallized honey for its ease in spreading, without dripping, and feel the taste is richer.
