Have you ever tried organic RAW honey? It's seriously like nothing you've ever tried before! It is solid, a totally different color, and has little chuncks of the honeycomb on the top layer. It's different to get used to the texture and look, but it's seriously SO GOOD! There is no heat processing to it at all.
Did you know that the flavor (and color) of honey comes from where the bees gather their pollen? Many farmers use bees to pollinate their crops, and just leave the honey for the bees, esp in crops where the taste is not what you want in honey.
And here's some info I got from an organic honey website:
According to USDA regulations, honey cannot be labeled certified organic if its production uses even traces of prohibited chemicals, drugs or antibiotics. Non-organic beekeepers routinely use sulfa compounds and antibiotics to control bee diseases, carbolic acid to remove honey from the hive and calcium cyanide to kill colonies before extracting the honey¹, and of course conventional honeybees gather nectar from plants that have been sprayed with pesticides. Organic beekeepers sustain the natural life cycle of bees by safeguarding their natural habitat, and nourishing them as nature intended. And because certifying a hive as organic is costly, they don't exterminate the bees at the end of the season—a common practice in conventional beekeeping.
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My DH kept bees for a number of years, and the honey was out of this world. He did however, kill off the bees every fall. Otherwise we would have had to leave most of the honey in the hive to sustain them over the winter, and in Alaska, they probably wouldn't have made it anyway unless we put the hives in a heated location - kind of cost prohibitive. But we didn't use much heat on ours, just enough to get the honey to run out of the combs for jars we wanted without comb.
I shop everywhere for my organics! Literally! I go everywhere from Target to Whole Foods. I shop at Giant and Wegmans as well (east coast stores). Sometimes I am able to get some good organic things at Trader Joe's as well. Honestly, though, when I can't find what I want I go online for it. A company called Tropical Traditions has organic raw honey. I also buy coconut oil, tomato paste, lotion and a bunch of other stuff from them. Did you know that Amazon even has a gourmet food section that has a bunch of organic items? It's amazing what you can find online these days. I usually wait until there is a bunch of stuff that I want and then order a bunch of stuff online at once so I can make it more worth the shipping costs.
Sounds interesting! I've considered exploring honey. Jennifer told me that she can't stand wildflower honey. I'd never even thought about how the flower affects the flavor. Now I pay attention and there are so many different varieties, though I don't seem to notice it the way Jen does.
If you're into exploring honey, you should check out the Killer Bee Guy. He sells various honey products in conjunction with his hive removal business. And yes, the honey is made by African killer Bees.
I visited his store a couple of years ago when I was in Bisbee, AZ. Very interesting person. And the rum truffle honey butter is to die for
Oh my gosh, I was just writing about Raw Honey in my blog. I love the stuff. We went from regular honey to organic honeys and onto Raw Honey. You can order it online too.
Okay, I read this thread today and bought some raw honey on the way home. When they say "raw" they mean RAW, mine had a tiny dead ant inside! There some black flecks in it and I thought I was pretty tough with oogy food, but I can't eat dead ant bits!!!
Glory, I don't blame ya! I have found at the grocery store, Miller's pure and natural raw wild honey. It is sold in 5 pound tubs and this is our second one and it taste great and no weird things in it at all! At the store it is 13.99(though it was on sale for 10.99) and I recently seen it at a health store for 15.99. Good luck!!
I have to say I'm a little afraid of unpasteurized foods with all the food-borne illness going around lately. I know it tastes better (usually), but I'm will to trade a little taste for some extra food safety.
I didn't realise that this thread would generate so much interest!
I'm not sure what type of honey it was, I think it could've been wildflower honey. I've not heard of raw honey but I bet that's pretty tasty too. Lilly - I got my organic honey from Budgens in the UK, but lots of other people have made suggestions!
Sometimes I'm just really bowled over by the complete difference in taste between organic and highly-farmed stuff.
OMGoooooodness! Organic Honey!
Hooray for Organic food! 
But we didn't use much heat on ours, just enough to get the honey to run out of the combs for jars we wanted without comb.
But I think there is a trader joes up here and we will be going sometime this week! Yeah!
