If it were polished, hands down, the answer would be no. But being that it's honed, rule of thumb is normally to go ahead and seal it. My way of thinking, is that you're not going to hurt the finish, sealed OR unsealed, and as for staining, how will you know?!?!? If it were me, I wouldn't bother, but it CAN be sealed, if you wish.

thanks, Bill - I appreciate your response! I won't bother - that's easy :)

this is off: marblecleaning.org:
"There are indeed different opinions on the issue of sealing black hone granite, but there is a unanimous consensus about the fact that it presents maintenance issues.
The problem with honed black granite is that it is not, well black any more! Most black stones are but an optical illusion: they become black only when highly polished, or when wet. (See the back of your slab to see the real color of your stone!) As you take gloss off the stone surface (and honing does just that) you lose depth of color and the stone turns gray; but when you wet it ... here it is black again! As you spill oily liquids, or you simply touch the stone surface with your fingers (perspiration), you're going to have all sorts of dark surface stains that are a terrible eyesore. Please notice that I said, surface stains, not imbedded stains. In fact, you can clean those stains off (though with lots of labor), while if they were imbedded you would have to poultice them out. If you apply an impregnator/sealer to the stone you will not solve your problem one bit: in fact the sealer will only prevent liquids from being absorbed by the stone (which in the case of black honed granite is an unlikely event to begin with), not the staining of its surface.
Any solution?
Well, yes: you have to give up the gray!
If you apply a "good-quality stone "color" enhancer" to your countertop instead of an impregnating sealer (a good-quality stone color-enhancer like MB-6 is also an impregnator/sealer) it will turn it permanently black, while preserving the hone finish. In that way, the "surface-staining problem" would be minimi z ed.
Like I said before, letÂs "just hope that your fabricator", in their "infinite wisdom," did not apply an impregnator/sealer to your stone: this would have to be "stripped" (not an easy feat!), or else the color/enhancer wouldnÂt stand a chance to work properly.

And donÂt you forget that in order to upkeep your stone and the color enhancer, your best bet is to use good-quality specialty products for stone."

From my experience: July 2007 : we had a customer buy honed AB granite: they wanted it "shinny" and forced us to put a high gloss sealer on after install! Guess what? DIDN"T TAKE!!!!! It took to some parts of the stone and not in other parts. Customer was LIVID MAD! After talking to Hard Rock Tools: installers went back to their house: stripped the shinny high gloss sealer: with stripper. let dry 3 days and went back over there: slab was milky white!!!! LOL: then they applied the color enhancer and explained to the customer that is the best product to use: hard rock when to their house and talked to them. They were happy after that. So I know about AB not taking a sealer and stripper changing the stone milky white!!!!!

I personally buy from hard rock tools: I do not sell their products. I give them away for free. I truly believe in customers taking care of their granite/marble.
(windex and soap are not good for natural stone!)
VOC compliant Commercial brand color enhancer sealer: don't go buy retail! I personally buy pro stone www.prostoneonline.com: dealers all over the USA:
Hope this helps. People at Hard rock tools are highly trained and know about stone care! They may recommend a stone doctor as well. they seriously know what they are doing and they have taught me so much regarding stone and care!
~Happy New Year~

VOC compliant Commercial brand color enhancer sealer: don't go buy retail! I personally buy pro stone www.prostoneonline.com: dealers all over the USA:

Out of that whole post, this is about the only thing I disagree with. There are three-- Aquamix, Miracle, and Stone Tech, that are good quality sealers, and can be found in most areas. Mario Bertoli's products are also top notch, but tough to find other than on line. As for Prostone, this is the first I've heard of them, but that doesn't really mean anything.

I have had my honed AB for almost 18 months now and I just realized a couple months ago that I never sealed it (the installers did put a sealant on it). So, I sealed one side of the kitchen (time consuming) and promptly forgot to do the other side of the kitchen. I now cannot tell a difference between both counters so I have decided that I don't need to worry about sealing it.

On a side note, I originally had my heart set on soapstone, but here in Alabama, it just wasn't found anywhere and I couldn't find anyone to fabricate a slab I bought from NJ. So, I went with the honed AB -- so many people tried to talk me out of it, including the stone supplier. He pretty much told me that I waived my right to complain about it after he told me all the down falls of honed AB. The funny thing is....I LOVE IT!!!!! Sure, it shows dust, but that just reminds me when I need to clean! I LOVE the look, the feel, the texture -- everything!

Readers: If you want something that screams, "GRANITE", honed AB is not the stone for you. If you want understated elegance, honed AB is perfect!