Crystallizing Honey

Is your jar of honey doing something strange ?  Do you have lumps, clumps or grains flowing around as the liquid becomes cloudy ? If so, you are probably experiencing crystallization.  This can be a good thing when making creamed honey where we control the rate of crystallization and end up with a smooth yummy product.  Allowed to crystallize on its own honey will be gritty and grainy and just try to get that out of a plastic bear !  Several things can encourage this process with the main factor being what type of nectar the bees collected to make your jar of honey.  Some types of honey crystallize fast, some slow, some never.  Raw honey (which we want and is minimally processed) can be a common victim of crystallization.  Don't throw out this honey, it is not ruined or even lesser quality.  It does not mean that it has been improperly handled or compromised in any way.  The best way to return the product to its former glory, is to put it in a glass jar, heat some water on the stove to "almost" boiling then turn off stove-gently set the glass jar of honey in the water bath, gently stir, (do NOT get any water in the honey).  You may have to repeat this several times but the product will re-liquefy.  You can even do this if you have a bear . (If you have a gift - gently remove the safety seal - wipe clean- transfer honey to a glass jar temporarily- re-liquefy and then pour back into bear and re-affix the seal and top.) Some people put honey in the microwave but I dont recommend that as it may destroy some of the nutritive value.  Remember, this is a natural process that we face when dealing with a raw product versus one that has been super-processed and looks great on the shelf for years.