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If a little honey drizzled on a piece of homemade toast or into a cup of tea is how you like to start the day, you're not alone. One drawback to honey, though, is that after sitting too long on the shelf, it crystallizes and that soft, amber liquid turns to a hard, gooey mass.
如果这是你一天生活的开始：将一点蜂蜜细腻地涂在自制的烤面包上，或融入一杯咖啡中，那你并非特殊的一位。然而，蜂蜜有一个缺点，如果长期不食用就会变成晶体，那些柔软的琥珀色液体就会变成坚硬而胶粘的一团。
Actually, though, only part of the honey is crystallizing. Honey is made mostly of two kinds of sugar: glucose and fructose. What crystallizes is the glucose, so the more glucose there is in comparison to fructose, the more likely it is to crystallize. But before honey can crystallize, it needs what's called a “seed” for the crystals to grow on. The seed might be a grain of pollen, a speck of dust, or even a scratch on the inside of the jar.
然而事实上，蜂蜜中只有一部分会结晶化。蜂蜜主要由两种糖组成：葡萄糖和果糖。葡萄糖是晶体，因此葡萄糖对果糖的比例越大，那么蜂蜜结晶化的可能性越大。但在蜂蜜变成晶体之前，需要有所谓的“种子”催化晶体生长。“种子”可能是一粒花粉粒，一粒灰尘，甚至是罐子内壁的刮痕。
But the best seed of all is a bit of honey that has already crystallized. Most of the honey in a supermarket has been heated and filtered to remove virtually all the possible seeds. That slows the crystallization, but the heating process also drives off some of the honey's distinctive flavor.
但最好的种子是少许已经晶体化的蜂蜜。超市里卖的大多数蜂蜜都已经加热过，几乎过滤掉了所有可能的种子。这样会减慢结晶化过程，且加热过后也驱散了蜂蜜某些独有的风味。
When honey does crystallize, you can soften it again in a microwave or a pan of warm water, but as it cools the crystallization will begin again-faster even than before. Honey crystallizes faster the second time because heat alone can't remove all the seeds. Dust, crumbs, and other tiny particles that have accumulated since you first opened the jar will remain as seeds to start the process all over again.
蜂蜜晶体化了，你可以用微波炉或者一锅温水将它软化，但当温度冷却时，蜂蜜会以更快的速度再次晶体化。蜂蜜之所以第二次结晶速度更快，是因为即使加热也无法清除所有的种子。自第一次打开罐子时，灰尘，碎屑或者其他微小颗粒会在罐内积累，它们作为种子会重新开启这一过程。
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