Mark D Egloff asked how beekeepers on the list sell,  distribute, or  oth=
erwise
market their honey crops.
 
Hi Mark,
 
I am but a small scale hobbyist beekeeper [6 hives] but my best customer =
is the
largest chemical company in the UK!
 
In order to demonstrate committment to the environment and to involve the=
 local
communities, many of ICI's factories have made over peripheral land withi=
n their
boundaries as ecological study areas.  A factory local to me has such an =
area
and to increase interest for local schools who visit the ecological reser=
ve, I
manage two hives on it; the factory is in a rural setting, processes no =
agressive
chemicals and is within a security fence.
 
My colonies do extremely well and the company BUY! honey produced in them=
 to
give to visiting VIPs who have an environmental interest to reinforce the=
ir 'green
credentials' - and very effective it is too; my honey has gone to Japan, =
India,
Israel, USA, Korea and many European countries too.
 
I appreciate that this situation is not one that many beekeepers will be =
able to
repeat but the lesson for me is that niche markets can be profitable and =
reliable,
perhaps this may point a way for others.
 
 In this case the sale of my honey is very dependant on the perceived pur=
ity of
the product, mercifully Scotland is still Varroa free and I have run colo=
nies for
several years without needing to administer medication of any kind, I hop=
e that I
can continue for many more but recent threads on BEE L re treatments whic=
h
minimise the likelyhood of chemical contamination are of great interest =
to me.
Here in the UK we are witnessing in a forcible way, what happens when pub=
lic
trust is lost in a food product - with the banning of British beef in man=
y countries
because of the BSE/CJ disease scares.
 
Geoff Allison
Dalbeattie, Scotland
Email [log in to unmask]