Christine Gray wrote:

> Is there any body however within world beekeeping that is in a position to
> set the standards that would define a new category of honey as say
> 'guaranteed natural'?   If it is only given a different meaning by each
> indiviual beekeeper then the classification will never get established with
> the consumer and will fail to establish effective competion with (imported)
> 'organic honey'.

My guess is that you could call it that now, no matter what you do to
the bees since honey is natural.

> If there is no such body, could we arrive at a definition on Bee-L that we
> could print on subsidiary labels and put on our jars as a way to start
> countering competition from (dubious) 'organic honey'?   Bob has th
> experience and measured approach to problems to be able to make the first
> proposal.

The problem is you can have as many definitions and rules as you wish,
but it does not get around the problem that almost all honey will pass
basic purity tests.

There are those in Maine who sell "Blueberry" honey. There is such a
variety of color and taste that it is difficult to believe blueberry
nectar varies so much from the same plant.

I have blueberries in my area so it is blueberry honey, along with
everything else. If people can get by with what I consider deceptive
labels in something that can be seen fairly easily, how can you police
honey that is labeled, "natural", "organic", "pesticide free" or even "I
use chemicals to kill bugs" when there is no difference between any of
the honeys?

I was in on the early setting of standards for organic honey. I
disagreed with the standards then (and they have not changed much) and
felt the real purpose had everything to do with the movement and little
to do with the actual purity of honey. I also knew that those who
labeled their honey "organic" cheated since they had to treat for varroa
just like I did.

You cannot police the problem if the end product is the same.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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