Greetings
        The whole is of "Organic Honey" seems to hinge on the
question of where the bees forage, not the practices of the
beekeeper. If there were standard accepted practices, any beekeeper
could try to follow them (whether his or her bees would survive is a
different matter).

        However, one has less control of the forage. For example, I
know that the primary sources of honey in this area are wild plants
(basswood trees, goldenrod, etc.) but I was told that since this is
an agricultural area, the honey "could not" be certified organic.

        If the bees got honey mostly from sprayed crops (like
alfalfa), that would be another matter, though I don't see how, if
the crop was being sprayed, the bees would manage to get back to
produce any honey from that source.

        But if the bees collect nectar mostly from wild sources
(sage, wild buckwheat, tupelo, to name a few) that would seem to be
exactly what a consumer of "Organic Products" would want. I think the
line is being drawn to strictly here.

        I don't know of any beekeeper that has been able to meet
these requirements, hence - there is no "Organic Honey" available. If
the rules were a little more reasonable perhaps it would be possible
to market such a product.

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Peter Borst
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http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/plb6/
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