2026 Honey Lab Results: Proven Purity & TA 42.3 of Killer Bees Honey
Every year, we make a substantial investment in something virtually no North American honey producers do, we send our honey halfway around the world to Analytica Laboratories in New Zealand for one of the most comprehensive honey analyses available anywhere. ALS Labs examines our honey for contaminants, adulteration, freshness, enzyme activity, and biological potency using sophisticated analytical methods that go far beyond anything performed in North America. Why? Because we believe exceptional honey should be proven, not merely claimed. The 2026 laboratory results have now been completed, and they tell a remarkable story of our bees and the mountain forest in which they live and thrive.
The Star of the Show: Total Activity
This year marked the first time we independently tested the honey from each of our three mountain apiaries for Total Activity (TA). The results exceeded every expectation.Together, the three apiaries averaged an astonishing 42.3 TA.
That number deserves some explanation. What Is Total Activity? In simple terms, TA measures honey’s natural ability to inhibit bacterial growth. Most people assume honey’s antibacterial properties come from one compound. TA measures the combined antibacterial strength of honey from two different sources:
Peroxide Activity (PA): When honey is diluted by moisture, such as inside a wound or during digestion, an enzyme called glucose oxidase slowly produces hydrogen peroxide. Unlike the concentrated hydrogen peroxide sold in drug stores, honey releases tiny amounts continuously over time. This slow release provides antibacterial protection without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.
Non-Peroxide Activity (NPA): Some honeys also contain naturally occurring antibacterial compounds that work independently of hydrogen peroxide. The best-known example is methylglyoxal (MGO) found in Manuka honey, but many wildflower honeys contain other naturally occurring phytochemicals, plant phenolics, flavonoids, bee-derived peptides, and organic compounds that contribute significant antibacterial activity.
Many people have heard of Manuka honey because of its medicinal reputation. What many don’t realize is that honey doesn’t have to come from New Zealand to possess impressive antibacterial properties. Nature has been making medicinal honey long before marketing departments started putting UMF numbers or “True Source” and “USDA Organic” on labels. It’s less about the hype and more about where the bees live. Our Hive Girls don’t live on Madison Ave. They sortie into the mountains of Western North Carolina where healthy forests produce healthy nectar. Where healthy nectar produces extraordinary honey.
Looking for Things That Shouldn’t Be There
Every year our honey is screened for agricultural herbicides, including glyphosate (Roundup®), glufosinate, and AMPA. None were detected. How is this possible? We are surrounded by mountains and forest instead of large-scale agriculture. The bees spend their days visiting tulip poplar, blackberry, basswood, sourwood, clover, and dozens of native wildflowers, not endless rows of sprayed crops or trees. The laboratory results simply confirm what we’ve always believed about these magical mountains.
Honey Fraud is Real
We asked ALS Labs to examine our honey for added sugars. Many foreign honey producers introduce inexpensive sweeteners such as corn and rice syrup, beet and cane sugar to their honey. Their adulterated honey is then shipped to America. The industry actually has a name for this: economically motivated adulteration. It’s one of the biggest problems facing the honey industry worldwide. ALS Labs found 0.0% C4 Sugars in our honey. You’re buying 100% honey from us. What a concept; pure, unadulterated honey.
Freshness Matters
Honey isn’t just sugar. Far from it. Raw honey contains enzymes the bees add during the honey-making process. Those enzymes are surprisingly delicate. Heat honey too much and many of them disappear. Handle it gently and they remain intact. With a diastase number of 14.9, our enzyme and freshness testing once again confirmed that the honey reaching your table is still very much the honey our bees placed into the comb.
Why Do We Keep Testing Our Honey?
Because anyone can tell you their honey is “pure and organic”or, “raw.” Words are easy. Science is harder. Independent laboratory testing isn’t inexpensive, and nobody requires us to publish the results. We do it because transparency isn’t a marketing strategy, It’s one of our core values. If someone claims their honey is, “the best,” Then ask them to prove it as we do every single year.
Once again, ALS Labs confirmed what the Hive Girls have been telling us all season. When healthy bees are allowed to forage in healthy mountain forests, they produce exceptional honey. And that’s a story worth sharing. So remember, every time you taste our honey, give the Hive Girls of Killer Bees Honey the credit they deserve. They’re doing remarkable work.
