Raw, strained, but unfiltered honey will last a long time too, but it will crystallize. I have half a 5 gallon pail of crystallized wildflower honey that’s ten years old, and I scoop out some, decrystalize it, and it’s still good. Honey co-ops like the ubiquitous Sue Bee will hot-filter honey to keep it from crystallizing on the shelf, because grocery store consumers won’t buy crystallized honey. But they don’t usually take the step of removing ALL the pollen.
Most of the article is true, unfortunately. I was a beekeeper for years and kept up with the trade magazines and government actions, and saw this develop.
My customers loved the raw strained honey, sometimes with a little bee leg or wing in it, because they felt it was superior to the filtered, pasteurized supermarket stuff. I used to love the irony of getting more per pound for a less-processed product (though I could not deliver 10,000 pounds per year). I even had customers who would not buy UNLESS it was fully crystallized because they thought it would keep better.
The bears you bought at Kroeger are USA real honey. I checked a local “club store” and their honey said, product of the USA, Argentina, Chile, or France, which is a major clue.
Buy American! Buy from a local beekeeper!
I am so impressed that you used to be a beekeeper! Many years ago I lived in the country in the South and there were hives on the property. I always wanted to go back and have beehives and sell honey.