I asked our omnipotent leader this queery in expectation of a reply and got none. I can only assume he doesn’t know and doesn’t want to admit it. SO … I give you , the general membership, my question:
“Does microwaving honey, to make it more liquid, alter its “makeup” and does it change its nutritional value?”
Thanks in advance.
Billy
No. It just makes it hotter.
Honey is mostly sugars, and sugars are pretty stable. As evidence, note that you make maple syrup by boiling the bejeesus out of sap for an extended period. And, of course, we regularly put sweeteners in our hot beverages with no problems. It’s also the case that when we’re speaking of honey, “nutritional value” pretty much just means calories. The amount of vitamins and minerals that you’d get in a normal serving of honey is pretty minute.
Now if you’re one of those people who thinks that honey contains all sorts of natural trace compounds that are good for you and if these are the “nutritional values” that you’re talking about, then the question becomes more complicated. I suppose you could be breaking down some antioxidants during the heating process. But realistically, you should only be heating the honey until it flows – e.g. maybe up to 120 degrees or so. That’s not a lot of energy to be breaking down molecular bonds with.
i happen to keep bees and have some knowledge about this. the general reason for microwaving honey is to reverse the effects of crystillization. this is basically what it sounds like, the sugar forms crystals inside the honey, in time, turning into a lumpy sludge. heating allows the crystals to break down and returns the honey to it’s original smooth translucent self. crystallization usually comes about from long term storage of honey. if you want to see this effect up close, put some honey in the fridge or freezer, not sure how long it would take though. it’s important to remember that crystalization in no way harms the taster or nutritional value of honey. also, honey is the only food on earth that doesn’t spoil (provided it doesn’t come in contact with water. also, if you are scared to microwave the honey, you can place it in boiling water and get the same effect. if you have a plastic honey bear and are afraid of melting it or chemical seepage, just place the honey in a warm sunny spot (i recommend the dashboard of your car). 
Microwaving whipped (spun) honey seems to permanently change its texture, though probably not its chemistry. A one-pound tub of whipped honey is usually too hard to stab a knife into. A mere 15 seconds on high in the microwave, though, brings it to the consistency of grape jam, and it stays that way after it cools. Why? I don’t know.
Whipped Honey: Honey processed, by controlled crystallization, to a smooth spreadable consistency. Also called “Cremed Honey,” “Spun© Honey,” “Whipped Honey,” “Churned Honey,” “Candied Honey” or “Honey Fondant.”
Crystallized Honey: Honey in which part of the natural glucose content has spontaneously crystallized from solution as the monohydrate. Also called “Granulated Honey.”
Honey Spread: A variety of edible, extremely viscous honey products made from honey or creamed honey. Honey spread is sometimes blended with other ingredients (such as: fruits, nuts, flavors, spices or margarine but excluding refined sweeteners).
heating the honey allows the sugar crystals t omelt back into the honey, just as how hot water dissolves sugar much more easily than cold water.
(bolding mine)
:eek: That’s good to know!
Scarface Z what is the difference beteen unstrained honey and the stuff I can buy at the store (besides the smart al;ec answer of it is strained)
Another noteworthy fact about honey that I always feel obliged to tell whenever the subject is brought up:
NEVER feed honey to a child less than one year of age, and wait till he/she’s two to be super-safe. Honey has botulism spores in it. There isn’t a lot, and they aren’t too strong, so any adult’s and non-baby’s stomach acid is strong enough to kill it. But at less than one year of age, a baby’s stomach acid is not strong enough to kill all the spores.
This has been a public service annoucement from the Bouv Advisory Board. Bringing you helpful pieces of random information since 2004.
Does this mean that the information you provided previous to 2004 wasn’t helpful and/or was more specific? 
OooHH ! Ask the Apiarist!
As a pro bee man/woman/frightening mutant love child of man & bee, might I ask you a honey question too? If I want to eat the comb whole, wax and all, are there any negative digestive consequences?
No he was drinking pretty heavily then, and was pretty much making it all up.
Who’s to say I’m not drinking heavily right now?
I hope you join up with the Board permanently.
We could use an Apiarist. 
Unstrained honey contains bits of comb (and probably bits of bees), pollen grains, and other debris.
there is no harm in eating the wax. no more than eating the wax they put on apples at the supermarket, or eating crayons. in fact, when i have a cold i will chew on a piece of honey comb, honey, wax and all. some people also chew the propylous (not sure i spelled that right) which is the glue that bees use to hold the hive together.
you won’t see it in a store, but some sell people jar and sell the comb itself. chewing honey comb is kind of like chewing gum, except it doesn’t last very long. if you want to eat the combe go ahead, i encourage it.
another reason not to give your baby honey is allergenic. while the child won’t have an allergenic reaction to honey, exposing a young baby to it could produce allergies later in life (or so i’m told)
Just as long as he keeps his stinkin’ paws off me!
This is a little embarassing. My first husband didn’t call me Honey. He called me Bee Poop instead. He said it’s the same thing. Well, is it? :o
(Notice, we are no longer married.)
bee poop? come on…
When a honey bee takes nectar from a flower, she stores it in a “honey sack” (an organ akin to a stomache). When this honey sack is full, she returns to the hive, deposits the drop of nectar into the honeycomb, and evaporates the water out of the nectar by fanning her wings. Once the honey has aged, wax is used to seal it in the comb, which keeps it clean and safe.
fun facts
* A honeybee makes 154 trips for one teaspoon of honey.
* A colony produces 60 to 100 pounds of honey a year.
* To gather a pound of honey, a bee flies a distance equal to more than three times around the world. It takes two million flowers to make one pound of honey.
* A honeybee will fly five miles in search of nectar
so it’s not bee poop. a more accurate description is bee vomit, but even that is not quite accurate.
while i’m on the board i might as well mention how honey is extracted from the comb (it’s bound to come up sooner or later).
if you’ve never seen a beehive, it’s basically a tower of stacked boxes. inside each box are nine frames that hang in there like files in a filing cabinate. on these frames is the honey comb. now each cell in the comb is sealed with wax. to open the cells, one takes an electrically heated knife and slices off the caps(think of it like skinning or filleting). then, one places the frame in a centrifuge and spins it. the honey flies out of the comb, hits the side of the centriguge, and collects at the bottom. after such and such amount of time, you drain the honey off into whatever container you want. i usually drain it into a bucket, let it sit overnite or so to allow anything like wax and stuff to float to the surface where i can skim it off (much easier than straining the honey). the buckets i use has a nozzle at the bottom that i use to fill up jars, honey bears, etc with honey. A colony produces 60 to 100 pounds of honey a year. one leaves a certain portion of that for the bees to live off during the winter (amount depends on climate)