Honey never spoils, even after thousands of years

Its low water content and acidity block microbes. Archaeologists have found edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs sealed for over 3,000 years. Honey holds very little free water, so microbes landing in it are drawn dry rather than able to grow. Bees also add an enzyme that generates small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, and the result is mildly acidic on top of that. Archaeologists have recovered honey from Egyptian tombs still chemically recognisable after three thousand years, though whether anyone should eat it is a separate question. Preservation depends entirely on staying sealed: honey pulls moisture from the air, and once diluted enough it ferments like anything else. Crystallisation is not spoilage but glucose leaving solution, and gentle warming reverses it. One hazard does survive the sugar — Clostridium spores, harmless to adults but the reason honey is kept from infants.

Honey never spoils, even after thousands of years

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