alt Hacker News> So if you’re interested in keeping honey for hundreds of years, do what the bees do and keep it sealed
Doesn't this make honey somewhat less unique? Aren't there many foods that will keep for hundreds of years if kept sealed?
Replies
adrian_b • yesterday at 5:41 PM
The seal for honey has only the role to prevent it to absorb water from air.
As long as honey retains its original water content, it will not spoil.
In sufficiently dry air, you could keep honey without a seal.
For most sealed food, the integrity of the seal is much more important, because it must prevent bacteria and fungal spores to land on the food.
Most foods taken from nature will still rot in their naturally-sealed forms. Pressure canned foods last a long time but use far more robust and energy intensive processes than a thin layer of wax and "the way that it is" to seal and stabilize the contents.
Ferments could be an outlier but usually dance on the edge of rot by design and can last longer than the raw cabbage or milk or meat they start from, but like honeycomb, they must be carefully stored.