Raw honey naturally crystallizes over time. After all, it is 82% sugar, so its normal to go back to a solid state. Storing your honey in a warm place, can help to hold off the crystallizing process. If you would like to re liquify your honey, it is best to just re liquify what you need. This can bee done by slowly warming the honey with a double boiler or warm water from a kettle. It is important to try and not heat the honey past 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Above this temperature you will begin to kill the enzymes in the honey. You should never micro wave honey. Microwaves have hot spots, which will super heat the honey in areas above the 104 degree threshold.
At Naked Bee Honey we are always on the lookout for great remote spots to expand more meadows too. If you feel strongly you have a place, please feel free to send us an email. If you would like to, you can include your full address so we can first look it up to get a general idea of what is around you. Don't forget that just because bees are not on your property, that doesn't mean you are not helping. Bees fly a long way for good nectar. You likely are already doing a wonderful job supporting the pollinator population.
What a tough question to answer. In short I would say no. There are a lot of problems affecting the honey bee population. But honey bees, unlike almost all other pollinators, have beekeepers carefully watching over them. There are many factors that are negatively affecting our pollinator populations. From loss of habitat, to chemical poisoning, to new diseases and viruses. There are a lot of ways to help, from planting flowers, to not spraying your lawn, and growing good crop of dandelions. If you would like to help further, a great place to donate is the Tech Transfer program. They are one of the leading researchers in North America for honey bees and diseases.
Raw honey is best stored at room temperature. It does not need to go into the fridge. In fact, if you store honey in the fridge it will crystallize faster.
Unfortunately, at some point in time your maple syrup likely will develop some sugar crystals. Luckily, it has absolutely no affect on the taste, nor does it mean it has gone bad.
Maple syrup is best to be stored in the fridge. Because of the high sugar content of our syrup, I know of many people who store it in their cupboard without any issues. This may make it crystallize faster though.
If it is white or light yellow, it is likely wax. Because we course strain all of our honey, occasionally some wax makes it through into the jars. It is nothing to worry about and totally edible. if you dislike it, the easiest was is to just gently scrape it off the top. Wax naturallly settles to the top since it floats in honey.
We are always open to new opportunities and love meeting and working with new people. If you have an awesome shop and would like to carry our products, please send us an email with your information. We look forward to talking!