PROPERTIES OF HONEY

Honey has many determinative properties but,  for the average beekeeper who wants to sell honey,  the important ones are as follows:

Hard or soft (liquid honey)
Most honeys eventually crystallize,  but the rate of  crystallization depends on the ratio of  glucose  to  fructose  in  the  honey,  and  that  depends  mainly  on  the  floral  source.  Some honey,  such as  that from oilseed rape (canola),  often crystallizes on the comb while still in the hive,  making it very difficult for the bees to use as stores and difficult for the beekeeper to  extract using standard equipment. To  the beekeeper,  honey viscosity is very important,  especially during extraction and packing. Larger companies will heat their honey so that  it flows through their equipment more readily and can be packed in  jars or drums easily. 
Some honeys may be thixotropic,  which means they become jelly-like if  left undisturbed.

Taste
The taste of  honey varies enormously.  It depends on the flowering plants the honeybees foraged on. Try some clover honey and then some citrus honey and you will find a huge difference.

Colour
Colour  shouldn’t  be  an  issue  really  but,  in  fact,  in  some  countries  such as Nigeria,  the  USA and Germany,  it is very much  a determinant of  price. 
The  Americans prefer their honey  ‘water white’,  and dark honeys are referred to as  ‘bakers’  honey’  and command a lower price.
In Nigeria, honey consumers prefer golden yellow colour as being genuine while dark coloured honey are seen as being inferior or of lesser quality. In  Germany,  dark honey is preferred,  and pale or white honeys are lower in price. 

Antibacterial quality
Honey’s  ‘hyper-osmotic’  nature  (due to  the high concentration of  solids and low moisture content) prevents the growth  of  bacteria and yeasts as  this draws water out of the organisms,  killing them by desiccation.  It  literally  sucks them dry. 
Consumers of honey mix up this attribute when it comes to ascertaining the quality of honey.
Original honey, when it has not been exposed to moisture through opening, can kill ants because of its hyper-osmotic nature. That is the reason when you pour some quantity of honey on any object, the ants will gather near it but will not be able to taste it. If they move closer, the honey will "magnetise" them and they will die in the honey content because of this hyper-osmotic nature.
Do you know what the ants will do? They will wait for some time for the honey to gather moisture from the atmosphere to dilute it, they then start licking the honey.

Honey is acidic. This plays an important role in the system that  prevents bacterial growth. The pH of  honeys may vary from approximately 3.2 to 4.5 (average pH = 3.9),  making it inhospitable for attack  by most,  but not all,  bacteria. Honey also has its own antibacterial substance in its make-up.  Bees add an enzyme called glucose oxidase to  honey,  and this enzyme reacts with  glucose to  produce hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid,  both of  which have  an antibacterial effect.

Like most products of  the hive,  honey is essentially a by-product of  the all-important pollination process.  The value of  honey in the economy of  the major honey-producing nations is far less than the value of  pollination,  but there is a huge global trade in honey and many beekeepers can make a very decent living by producing good honey either in bulk or packaged for sale.