A small ceramic vessel is taken and a small quantity of honey is placed in it. About 5-7 drops of aniline chloride is added to it and stirred well. If the honey is adulterated a crimson red colour appears.

In another method honey is taken in a test tube and equal quantity of water is added to it and stirred well. About 100 millilitres of this solution is taken and 5 ml of ether is added to it. This mixture is kept aside for some time in order to get a fine solution after stirring. The ether layer settling on the top is transferred to another small flat bottom vessel. The ether gets vapourised in a short while and to this resorcinol is added. This gives a red colour. This indicates that the honey has an adulterant.

Fake and impure honeys have become commonplace in the market today, despite many people's preference for 100% bee-produced honey. Unfortunately, unless you live in the European Union or Florida, you may not be able to trust 'pure honey' labels. Because of the wide variety of honeys and the large number of sugar syrups or other ingredients that unscrupulous manufacturers dilute it with, no single home test is completely successful. Use several of these tests if possible to obtain a good guess about whether or not your honey is pure.

Know your region's honey purity laws. Some countries or regional governments issue honey standards that require the mention of added substances. Others do not have laws relating to honey purity, or may release voluntary guidelines with no ability to enforce them. Try to find honey purity laws in your area so you know how much faith to put in honey labels in your local grocery store. Any product sold in the European Union as honey must be free of additives by law, including antibiotics used to treat bees for disease.[1] Any honey with defects seriously affecting the taste must be sold as 'baker's honey' intended for use in processed foods.[2] The United States government does not test for honey purity, and allows trace amounts of antibiotics. A USDA logo does not mean the honey is pure.[3] Florida is the only U.S. state that requires honey to display all additives as long as it is both manufactured and sold within Florida.[4] Beware substances sold under a different name, such as 'honey blends' or 'honey products,' which do not fall under this law.[5]

Taste the honey if a sample is offered. Tasting is not an accurate way to test for additives, but if taste is your main concern, it could be all you need to make a decision.. Note that a 'weird' taste does not necessarily mean the honey isn't pure. There are many varieties of honey made from the nectar of different flowers, saps, or even the secretions of sap-eating insects.[6] Each of these produces different flavors, and even the honey of one beehive can vary from year to year as they collect nectar from different sources.