How To Make Homemade Honey

If you're wanting to learn how to make homemade honey, you aren't alone!

While buying it at the store is always an option, making your own is always the best! 

There are many reasons why someone might want to learn how to make homemade honey.

For example, maybe having your own beehive is just not practical or maybe you ran out of honey, but need some for a recipe and don't want to go to the store to buy some.

This is just one of the various reasons!

This recipe makes a sweet, flower-infused syrup that can be used in some of the same ways as honey, but it is not honey made by bees. Its flavor comes from the blossoms you choose, and the texture depends on how the syrup is prepared. Try a little stirred into hot tea after the tea has cooled slightly, spooned over biscuits, or drizzled over oatmeal. In baking, remember that substituting syrup for honey may change the moisture and flavor of the finished recipe.

You do not need to keep bees to make a floral syrup, but you do need correctly identified edible blossoms and a little patience with the steeping and straining. Follow the ingredient quantities in the recipe card, and use the notes below to decide which blossoms to gather and how to handle the finished syrup.

How to Make Homemade Honey - So Simple, Anyone Can Do It

While it is true that bees make the best honey, if you don't have a beehive in your yard, there is another way to make honey - on the stove using plants you either wild harvested or grew yourself.

To make your own honey you will need white sugar, alum, water, fireweed blossoms, red clover blossoms, and white clover blossoms.

You may want to set aside a section of your yard to grow these plants in so you know they have not been sprayed with fertilizer or weed killer.

How Hard Is It To Make Homemade Honey?

Making a flower-infused syrup is approachable, but the details matter. Start by gathering blossoms only from plants you can identify confidently, and avoid roadsides or areas that may have been treated with herbicides or pesticides. Shake out insects, inspect each blossom, and follow the quantities in the recipe card rather than estimating by the handful. Keep your saucepan, strainer, jars, and utensils clean before you begin.

What to Watch While the Flowers Steep

Steeping transfers flavor and color from the blossoms into the liquid. Watch the mixture as it heats, stir as directed, and strain out the plant material carefully so the finished syrup has a smoother texture. If you add berries for a different flavor, strain those out too. Don't assume a deeper color always means a stronger flavor; taste a cooled spoonful before deciding whether you like the balance.

Once you make it once, you'll find that it's easier and easier every time.

Because this is a homemade flower syrup rather than bee-produced honey, its storage needs are different. Make a batch you can use while it is fresh, and freeze extra portions rather than assuming it will keep indefinitely.

This is nice and helps so you aren't feeling as though you have to make it all the time. 

For those who like a fruit flavored honey, go ahead and add a handful of fruit such as blackberries or raspberries to the mixture along with the flower blossoms.

Remove the fruit, just like the flower blossoms, once it is done steeping.

Once you are comfortable using edible flowers in this homemade syrup, you can explore other ways to bring them into your cooking. The free starter guide is on the left of the image below, and the edible flower cooking guide in my shop is on the right.

Does Homemade Honey Taste Different Than Honey Made From Bees?

It's all going to depend on your taste buds.

Just because it's a recipe and not coming from a beehive, it's going to taste different.

There's not much you can do about that.

However, its' also comforting to know that you made it and you know what's going into it as well.

It's not something processed and filled with chemicals so that it has a long shelf life...this homemade honey is made from ingredients that you know and trust.

Can You Can This Homemade Honey?

Do not assume this flower-infused syrup is safe for shelf-stable home canning simply because it contains sugar. Its acidity and processing requirements have not been established by a tested canning recipe. Unless you are following a scientifically tested process for this exact formulation, refrigerate the finished syrup promptly or freeze it in suitable containers rather than storing sealed jars on a pantry shelf.

That's one of the best parts!

If you make up a batch, save some for later!

For everyday use, pour the cooled syrup into a clean, food-safe container, label it with the preparation date, and keep it refrigerated. Freeze portions you will not use promptly, leaving suitable headspace in freezer containers. Do not rely on a vacuum seal as evidence that an untested syrup is shelf stable.

Doesn't get much better than that! 

Making your own homemade honey is doable and simple to do.

With the honey recipe listed below, I'm giving you the step by step directions on how to make homemade honey a true dream come true! 

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