How to tell real honey from sugar syrup: 5 tests you can do at home

Most of the tests circulating on Facebook do not work. The flame test burns because honey is dry, not because it is pure. The water test separates because syrup dissolves faster, which adulterated honey often also does.

What does work is a moisture reading and an HMF value, and neither is something you can do at a kitchen table. That is what a batch report is for: moisture under 20% means it will not ferment, and HMF under 40 mg/kg means it was never heated to force it clear.

The one home test worth doing is time. Real honey granulates. If a jar has sat in your kitchen through a whole winter and is still perfectly clear, that is the finding.