Raw Honey

So what's the big deal about "raw honey?"

It all starts with honeybees collecting nectar from blossoming plants and trees.  The worker bee (a hardworking and focused female) enters the blossom and ingests the nectar via a straw shaped tongue, a proboscis.  Mixed with enzymes in the honeybee's stomach it is regurgitated (sorry, but that's how it works) and placed into the beeswax cells or honeycomb in the hive.

During their life honeybees migrate through a series of jobs and duties.  Before beginning the "field bee" or nectar and pollen collecting phase they spend time fanning their wings throughout the hive.  When the nectar is first placed in the comb it has a very high moisture content.  The movement of air through the hive causes the  moisture content to drop and at the correct percentage the bees "cap over" or cover the cell opening with beeswax.

Beekeepers take the comb from the hive, remove the cappings on the cells and

extract or remove the honey.  For the most part honey will last forever.  Honey with an excess moisture content may ferment or crystalize.  Beekeepers historically heat the honey to lower the moisture content and remove any crystals of honey.  Heating also removes some of the flavor,  removes some of the aromas and starts to break down suspended pollen particles.

Raw honey has been not been heated or heated only slightly to facilitate the bottling process.  You may see suspended crystals and pollen and it may already be of a creamy consistency when purchased or may become creamy over a few months.

Honey that contains pollen particles from your local area and may be helpful in providing you with small doses of pollen providing some allergy relief.

As a cautionary note, children younger than twelve months of age should not eat honey.

References:
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/raw-honey.html 
http://www.blisstree.com/2012/10/05/food/benefits-of-raw-honey-832/