Making Mead?

  This was a new one for me.  When cleaning the kitchen shelves, I came across a gallon of honey that I had purchased from a local beekeeper.  As honey will, it solidified as it sat unopened on the shelf.  Still. this honey had not been sitting for that long!  Knowing that I could liquefy the stuff again by merely placing the jug in hot water, I promptly filled a pot and did just that.  I also promptly forgot that this stuff was sitting in the kitchen sink which was ok as the honey was doing its thing.  It takes hours to liquefy so time was my friend here.

  Along about noon, Son came inside to get a bite of lunch. He and I had been out doing some yard work when the thought of lunch called.  Once in the kitchen, he brought my attention to the honey pot.  "Making mead are we?"  Huh?  No, I am liquefying the honey.  "Looks more like you are fermenting it.  Honey is not supposed to foam like that and it is surely not supposed to smell like that!"  Uh, oh....

 So...do I toss the whole gallon of honey or do what a "safe-food" site says and let it heat until the foam disappears?  Will it be safe to eat?  I have never had honey "go bad" so I am not sure this has.  I am this die hard person that insists that some things can be salvaged...hopefully, the honey will be one of those things.  I will continue the hot water method until the honey is completely liquefied then see how long it takes for the foam (and odor) to disappear.  It seems a shame to lose an entire gallon of honey!  

  Now the question...why did this happen in the first place?  I know that honey solidifies but this is ridiculous.  Since the honey was sold to me in a used tea jug, perhaps it was contaminated from the get-go. Perhaps the jug was not sterilized/  Perhaps I should seek another supplier.  What can you do with fermenting honey??  Ponder, ponder.  There has to be something.