The problem with discussions such as this, where what is happening in one commodity market is transposed to beekeeping, is that beekeeping is just to far under the radar. We are a bit puffed up with our own importance. To transpose the problems in the cattle industry to beekeeping is a stretch. The only comparison I see is the classic friction between producer and seller (packer/processor). Beyond that, the scale of the operations as well as the impact on the market are equivalent to an elephant and an ant. In a supermarket, how much shelf space is there for honey compared to meat in all its manifestations? As I understand it, most of the push for tags was from the meat processors who wanted to get back the foreign (read Japan) market as well as Canadian imports. They used the government to push the tags and suppliers fought back. But it is hard to fight "mad cow". I have talked about Maine beekeepers and our attempt to join with larger commodity interests. We were marginal compared to all of the others. (I was the rep because I wanted to be able to use their influence to do things we wanted.) We eventually gave up, mostly because I left the board of the MSBA. (One good thing about our name, Maine State Beekeepers Association, was it matched Maine Sheep Breeders Association. So the legislature occasionally listened when MSBA was mentioned, until they found out our "sheep" flew.) Or look at the USDA organic standards for honey. Even mushroom standards have been set but honey is still languishing. Is honey actually less important than mushrooms? We are in a closed group, and when you just talk to each other, you feel that you are in a larger community than you actually are. All your prejudices, for good and bad, are reinforced until you meet reality. It would be nice to actually be noticed but that is both a blessing and a curse. If any problem come in the honey world, it will not be from government but from honey packers/processors (as it always does), and there, the packers have a larger problem because of imports, not exports as in the meat industry. They do not want to kill that goose. Hence, I doubt if there will be any concerted drive to tag honey. We are just not that important. However, raise a big enough stink about it to be noticed and people will wonder why we do not want tags. Mad cow honey? Bill Truesdell (Who has copyrighted the name "Mad Cow Honey" just in case it catches on. Great name for a woman's Rock group.) Bath, Maine -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---