Is raw honey more nutritious than processed or filtered honey?
Honey is made by honeybees from the nectar of flowers and plants, not pollen. Pollen is actually an accidental guest in honey, brought back by bees as a source of food for baby bees (the “brood”), or incidentally introduced into the honey through other means, such as during the extraction process. Pollen in honey is sometimes analyzed to help determine the primary floral source. The amount of pollen in honey is minuscule and not enough to impact the nutrient value of honey. Honey is still honey, even without pollen.
What is raw honey?
While there is no official National Honey Board definition of raw honey, the National Honey Board defines raw honey as “honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat.” This definition does not have any legal authority, but is provided to help in the understanding of honey and honey terms. The complete honey definitions document created by the National Honey Board is available here: The Definition of Honey.