Teach Soap

Do I have to worry about the bee bits in it causing problems with people allergic to bees if they are stung? Cause there are little bits of bees in the local honey i think and i didn't know if that meant it venom would be in the honey. Although, i suppose if that weer the case less people would eat honey right?

Are you saying that the honey has pieces of dead bees in it? I've bought local honey & seen it collected many times and they've never had dead bees in it. Sometimes they'd get some pieces of hive in it, but never the bees.

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Genny

All we've bought in the last 6 years has been local honey, from several different sellers, and I've never had bee body parts in the honey. Like Genny, only ever seen pieces of the comb in there, but not body parts. I would probably find it too disgusting if I found a leg or something, so I would be finding another source

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

what soapbuddy said. I find the idea of bits of bees in honey, quite disgusting. Next it'll be bits of sea urchins in kelp.

I'm not sure if it's actually bits of bees, all i found were about 4 little black peices but all in all it looks really clean. I was just told by someone else that sometimes it's bits of bees.

Maybe ask your supplier?

Anita

eewwwwww eating honey with bits, let alone soaping it?

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

Where's Mellifera? She can probably answer this one since she's a beekeeper.

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Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

I just bought some local honey, and the gal who picked up my order commented that "it didn't even have any bee bits" this time! So apparently this is pretty common, especially if your honey is unfiltered.

Then I only want the filterd honey! But what about the question of the allergies to bees... what if it was the stinger sac with the venom in it... could someone react? Since it is just being applied to the skin and not injected maybe the reaction would only be a local one.... not as severe. And then maybe the lye would react with the venom and ?????? Enough thinking I am going to bed, its been a long day!

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Waving hello! Beekeeper here. There are beekeepers who advertise "really raw" honey. Like they open the spigot on the extractor, and fill the jar. For those not enamored of bee bits and wax in their honey, this seems weird. For aficionados, it sells for $12 a pound. Shrug.

Even a hobbyist (which isn't a dirty word among beekeepers, like it is among soapers, apparently) usually filter their honey. There is a variety of cheap plastic and more expensive metal filters that go to about 600 microns. It's what I use. I prefer my honey to have none of the "chunks" or "bee bits," but retain pollen and other goodness. There is a tiny chance that a bee leg or something would make it into my honey, but there is a second round, so to speak: you put honey in buckets, and let it settle. Any "solids" that escaped the filtering will float. The bucket has a spigot on the bottom, and so when filling jars from the bucket, you stop at some point. Or, in my case, I fill jars for my own family and baking with the stuff on top. STill, I've never seen a bee part or a black speck of any sort in it--mostly just some foam and the occasional bit of wax.

Black specks sounds odd, like their extraction equipment isn't stainless or is shedding metal or something. It's totally normal for honey to be cloudy, to crystalize, to have some foam at the top. But black specks are not usual.

PS Making soap with local honey is fine. Even bee bits wouldn't set off an allergy.

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Lesli Sagan
Avital's Apiaries
Like us: http://www.facebook.com/AvitalsApiaries

Mellifera, thanks for the input. We knew you would have the answer.

As for being a "soaping hobbyist" - that is what I am. I have never felt second class or put down. I am a hobbyist until I perfect my craft, retire from my current two jobs and then maybe, just maybe will sell a bar or two of soap. If God is willing I will still have enough money that I could just continue to gift my soaps. I love cleaning the world just a little. I love making soap and I love eatting honey! So beekeepers and soapmakers, professionals and hobbyist alike are just striving to be the best we can be.

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!

Thank you for the clarification of bits! I love using honey in soap! Not more than 1TBS ppo but honey does help make a smoother bar and kicks up the lather in my experience. I have some powdered honey and haven't tried that in soap yet mostly for lotions.

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

海の皂

I have not quite figured out where to get powdered honey. Have \can you use that in cooking?

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Susie
Sometimes A Mistake is so much fun, You just have to do it again!