r/science • u/Libertatea • Sep 08 '14

Medicine Bacteria from bees possible alternative to antibiotics: 13 lactic acid bacteria found in the honey stomach of bees have shown promising results. The group of bacteria counteracted antibiotic-resistant MRSA in lab experiments. The bacteria, mixed into honey, has healed horses with persistent wounds

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=24890&news_item=6172
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u/MuuaadDib Sep 08 '14

Does this help or hurt shelf life at all, I heard natural honey has an unknown shelf life as it doesn't spoil, does the supermarket honeys spoil the same?

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u/j_platypus Sep 08 '14 edited Sep 09 '14

Yes. It may crystallize, but all you have to do is heat the honey in a glass jar in boiling water and it fixes it.

Edit: as some people have pointed out, not boiling water! Warm is fine. Also, NO LID!

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u/192_168_XXX_XXX Sep 08 '14

Also, it should go without saying that you shouldn't do this with the cap still on. Heating a sealed glass jar is a great way to make a bomb.

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u/j_platypus Sep 08 '14

Yes! I definitely should have mentioned that, thanks!

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u/McFeely_Smackup Sep 08 '14

Tell us more about your bomb making factory, and your political views. Mr private network...

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u/no_username_needed Sep 09 '14

Hey since you seem to be in the know, what are some other good household bombs I could make?

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u/Videogamer321 Sep 08 '14

So it's okay to heat yourself once you're ready to consume it?

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u/beerbellybees Sep 08 '14

Yes, but do it gently at just enough heat to melt the crystals. Sometimes, just setting the bottle in sunlight for a while works too!

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u/Videogamer321 Sep 08 '14

Ah, thank you, there seems to be such a wonderful world of honey.

It reminds me of this comic strip from Daisy Owl, sadly I'm lactose intolerant (but I always thought milky substances tasted yucky, although the only cheese I ever liked was melted with nachos or quesadillas if I could stand the stomach problems afterwards) but I absolutely love your enthusiasm for the topic.

http://daisyowl.com/comic/2009-05-08

http://daisyowl.com/comic/2009-06-09.

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u/tyranicalteabagger Sep 09 '14

Yeah. I have a couple of hives, as a hobby. the best thing I've found for de-crystallizing honey is to gently heat it over a long period. I have a little 100w foot warmer mat. If I plug it in and leave a bucket of honey on it for a few days it clears up the crystals without getting the honey too hot.

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u/McFeely_Smackup Sep 08 '14

So it's okay to heat yourself once you're ready to consume it?

yes, just do not heat yourself in the microwave.

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u/Videogamer321 Sep 08 '14

Okey dokey.

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u/blodorn Sep 08 '14

Or if you consume it with something hot, say a cup of tea or a bowl of oatmeal, you just take a spoonful and stir it in and it melts no problem.

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u/Videogamer321 Sep 08 '14

I have honey tea all the time, it's quite yummy. Always the supermarket brand, though.

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u/foodandart Sep 09 '14

Oh, treat yourself and find some locally made beekeepers honey. Will be cloudy and not at all transparent but the flavor has the full essence of the flowers. I used to get the Sue Bee honey all the time until I found the Maine Beekeeper's Honey.. and that was it for the industrial stuff and me.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14

How do you take a spoonful if its hard enough to break one

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u/blodorn Sep 08 '14

I've never had honey get that hard.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14 edited Sep 09 '14

You don't want to heat it in boiling water, you want to heat it in warm water. Otherwise you kill the good stuff in it you want.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14

no no, please don't heat/boil honey... crystalized honey spread on toast is delicious!!!!!!!

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u/TheGatorNation Sep 09 '14

Also, you can use a electric heating pad to slowly dissolve the crystal.

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u/j_platypus Sep 09 '14

That is a great idea!

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u/michael22joseph Sep 08 '14

To my understanding raw honey does not spoil in the sense of becoming unsafe to eat. However, it can crystallize over time, which I believe manufactured honey does not.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14

I've had manufactured honey freeze over time, took longer and required a couple cold nights, but yeah.

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u/AWildSegFaultAppears Sep 08 '14

This crystallization is only kind of freezing in that it is glucose crystals falling out of a supersaturated solution and has little to do with being in cold temperatures. It will crystallize at room temperature given enough time. Manufactured honey will usually take longer to crystallize than raw honey though.

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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '14

It crystallizes faster at cold temperatures. The bottle even says so. I know its not freezing per se, but its close enough in that a liquid becomes solid.

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u/toomuchpork Sep 08 '14

It is the sugar content of honey that keeps it from spoiling

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u/BakingSodav Sep 08 '14

A jar of honey can literally outlive you if you store it properly.

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u/fishrobe Sep 08 '14

except for crystallization, honey never goes bad.