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Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter
Apis--Apicultural Information and Issues (ISSN 0889-3764)
Volume 14, Number 2 February 1996
ORGANIC HONEY?--RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
At a recent honey sales seminar put on by the National Honey Board
and the Minnesota Honey Producers, there was a great deal of
emphasis on adding value to honey products. This idea was
reinforced by Carl Loop Jr., president of the Florida Farm Bureau,
discussing the October 1995 report of a task force of the Council
for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) in his remarks in
the February 1996 FloridAgriculture. According to Mr. Loop,
besides helping producers, adding value to agricultural products
would have many positive influences on the total economy. However,
Mr. Loop concludes, this new "mindset" requires a change in how
many segments of agriculture are presently doing business.
Perhaps no challenge is greater for the agriculturalist than
beginning to produce and market "organic" products. Reliance on
pesticides, fertilizers and other non-organic inputs has been
described as almost an "addiction" in many agricultural operations.
A few years back, none of this would have been the case for honey
producers who already had what many considered by fiat an organic
product. But, ironically, the introduction of tracheal and Varroa
bee mites has placed the beekeeper in the same position as those
farmers who still rely on chemicals. The present control methods
for these parasites appear to have greatly reduced the
possibilities of marketing organic products from the hive.
I continue to get inquiries concerning the possibility of producing
organic honey, however. Other hive products also come under this
rubric, including propolis, pollen and beeswax. It would be
tragic, though because of honey's reputation not catastrophic, if
the opportunity to sell value-added organic products was lost to
the beekeeping industry. The possibility is real, however, and the
industry should take note of recent activity on the organic
certification front.
Recent History of Organic Production:
According to recent issue of Farm Aid News, Vol. 3, No. 20,
December 1995, the use of organic materials in farm production
dates back to the beginning of crop cultivation. However, non-
organic farming has dominated our country's fields since the 1940s
when synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides were
introduced at relatively cheap prices offering large yield rewards.
After several decades of this intensive production, farmers saw
their soil deteriorate and their income shrink to below poverty-
wage levels. At the same time, a growing number of consumers have
become more aware of food safety issues and consequently are
beginning to demand food grown without synthetic chemicals. This
changing consumer demand has made it possible for many family
farmers to earn a viable living from the sale of organic farm
products.
Historical records of organic farming trends are unavailable from
the USDA, according to the newsletter, because this type of
production has not been practiced on a wide scale over the past 50
years. However, private and non-profit organizations have begun
tracking the progress and growth of organic production in the
United States.
According to a nationwide survey conducted by the Organic Farming
Research Foundation (OFRF), quoted in the newsletter, most organic
farms are run by family farmers. Eighty-four percent are sole
proprietors or family partnerships. "The reason family farmers are
responsible for much of organic production is because they are able
to respond more quickly and innovatively to market demand changes
than someone who has a lot of overhead," explains OFRF'S Bob
Scowcroft.
OFRF estimates that there are approximately 4,000 state and locally
certified organic farmers in the United States and another 6,000 to
8,000 farmers who meet general organic certification requirements
but who are not yet certified. It also estimates that the amount
of farmland devoted to organic crops has increased ten-fold since
1980. On this acreage farmers grow a variety of crops, including
vegetables, fruits, herbs, fresh cut flowers, dairy products,
meats, grains and beans.
Organic Products Price Driven:
Organic crop prices vary depending on local supply and demand
conditions, according to Farm Aid News, and premiums can range from
25 to 100 percent of the conventional market price. Research
quoted from the Midwest Organic Alliance, for example, found that
producers growing organic soybeans received three times the price
paid to growers who sold non-organic. Greg Welsh, an Iowa
Extension agent and advisor to organic growers in several states,
is quoted as saying growers in the Midwest receive, on average, $14
to $15 per bushel for their organically grown soybeans. Likewise
New Mexico farmer Martin Connaughton says he earns up to $2 per
pound for specialty, organic potatoes, compared to eight cents per
pound for non-organic U.S. varieties.
Consumer Demand Drives Price:
The newsletter also reports that a study by Rodale Press found in
1993 that nearly two-thirds of all consumers had tried organic
produce, and nearly 90 percent said they would buy organic food
consistently if it cost the same as non-organic food. Some 41
percent of those consumers surveyed were willing to buy organic
produce even if it cost more. As a result, sales of organic foods
have increased steadily over the past four years:
Sales of Organic Food Products:
Year Sales in Billions
1990 $1
1991 $1.25
1992 $1.54
1993 $1.89
1994 $2.3
Source: Farm Aid News quoting The Packer, October 24, 1994; PANUPS,
July 12, 1995.
Organic Standards:
Unfortunately, the term "organic" means different things to
different people, the reason Congress promulgated Chapter 94 of
U.S. Code Title 7 concerning organic certification. Under this
legislation, The National Organic Program in Washington, D.C., ph
202-720-2704, is finalizing proposed standards. Once published in
the Federal Register, and after a comment period, these standards
will be mandated to the states for their use. However it is not
known when this process will be finished; the bill called for much
of this to be in place as early as 1993. In the meantime, many
states have gone ahead with their own programs. A listing of U.S.
Organic Certifiers is currently available on the World Wide Web
site: http://www.mother.com./agaccess.
The State of Florida promulgated statute 504.22-504.36, the Florida
Organic Farming and Food Law in 1990. It defines "organic food" as
that labeled organic or organically grown, produced, transported,
distributed, processed and packaged without the use of synthetic
pesticides, synthetically compounded fertilizers, synthetic growth
hormones or artificial radiation, verified by a certifying agent.
A certifying agent must make application to the Florida Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Department's Division of
Marketing and Development (ph 904-488-4277) has published a
directory of licensed certifying agents and organic farms.
According to my copy, there are seven agents who have certified 69
farms for a number of crops ranging from citrus to shitake
mushrooms. Significantly, no honey producer or packer is among
these.
One of the Florida certifying agents is Florida Organic Growers and
Consumers, Inc. (FOG), Box 12311, Gainesville, FL 32604, phone/fax
352-377-6345. This non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation inspects its
growers yearly. A call to their office revealed that they had no
knowledge of any Florida organic honey certification.
This is not surprising, considering the guidelines FOG has made
available on a limited basis to those interested in the subject:
A. Feeding of bees
1. Honey and bee pollen from a known certified organic source
is permitted.
2. The use of sugar or sugar syrup as a regular feed source
in prohibited.
B. Control/prevention of disease
1. Hives should be regularly checked, with diseased hives
kept separate from healthy hives.
2. Use of antibiotics in honey production is prohibited,
except when the health of the colony is threatened.
a. Options:
i. If antibiotics are used in a health emergency,
the hive must be removed and immediately taken out of organic
production.
ii. Only the extraction immediately following the
use of antibiotics may not be sold as organic.
3. Extracting honey for organic sale from brood chambers in
which antibiotics have been used is prohibited.
C. Foraging areas
1. Apiaries must be located on certified organic land.
2. It is prohibited to locate apiaries within three miles of
flowering agricultural crops that have been sprayed with
conventional pesticides, if the bees could be using these crops for
forage.
3. Apiaries may not be located within two miles of sanitary
landfills, golf courses or major traffic areas.
4. Beekeepers must provide clean water and sufficient
certified organic forage to feed bees throughout the season.
D. Queen rearing
1. Cross breeding of bee families is encouraged, although the
making of artificial swarms is permitted.
2. Artificial insemination is permitted.
E. Honey treatment
1. All surfaces that honey contacts should be stainless steel
or coated with beeswax. Honey may not contact galvanized steel or
metal with surfaces that oxidize.
2. Mechanical uncapping of combs is preferred to uncapping
with heat. In no instance should heat be higher than 95 degrees F.
3. Honey extraction facilities should be designed to prevent
the spread of disease.
4. Oxidized barrels are prohibited; re-used barrels are
permitted if previously used for food service.
5. Chemical bee repellents are prohibited.
Those working at the National Organic Program Office couldn't give
me details about the final guidelines. However, they could be very
much in line with those above. If that is the case, there should
be plenty of room for commentary by beekeepers and others when they
appear in the Federal Register. Especially significant is the
relevance of queen rearing to organic production, the absence of
references to other hive products and the lack of any guidelines
about tracheal and Varroa mite control.
LOOKING FOR RESISTANT BEES
The USDA-ARS Bee Breeding Genetics and Physiology Laboratory is
looking for honey bees resistant to Varroa mites. Honey bees that
have survived for more than a year without being treated and/or
those in abandoned hives are ideal candidates. If you have
knowledge of candidate queens, then do yourself and the industry a
favor by contacting the Lab, 1157 Ben Hur Rd., Baton Rouge, LA
70820-5502, ph 504/767-9280, FAX 504/766-9212, email:
[log in to unmask]
Upcoming International Bee Meetings:
Costa Rica: Sixth IBRA Conference on Tropical Bees, 12-17 August,
1996. Contact IBRA, 18 North Rd., Cardiff CF1 3DY UK, phone (+44)
1222-372409, fax (+44) 1222-665522, email:[log in to unmask]
Cuba: Apitherapy, Propolis, Honey Flora and Pollination, 21-24
August, 1996. Contact Adolfo M. Perez Pineiro, Estacion
Experimental Apicola, El Cano, Arroyo Arenas, La Lisa, Havana, Cuba
19190, ph 84-5511, fax (537) 33-5086.
Israel: Bee Products: Properties, Applications and Apitherapy,
26-30 May, 1996. Contact Dan Knassim Ltd., P.O. Box 1931, Ramat
Gan 52118, Israel, ph 972-3-6133340, fax 972-3-6133341.
Havana, Cuba
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (352) 392-1801, Ext. 143
FAX: 352-392-0190
Address: [log in to unmask]
APIS on the World Wide Web--
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