On 2 Oct 2003 at 11:04, Bill Truesdell wrote:

> Christine Gray wrote:
>
> > From: "Bob Harrison" " I also believe that there is no such thing as organic
> > honey."
> >
> >
> > This smacks too much of trying to resist change - 'what I already sell is
> > all anyone should need'.
>
> I am with Bob. It is not any resistance to change, but an acknowledgment
> that there really is no such thing as organic honey.

    I'll vote with Bob as well. It's not fear or resistance to change, but
honesty.  There may be remote areas that *could* produce organic
honey, but my own experience (acknowledged all east of the
Mississippi), I could never honestly claim "organic" for any honey
that I ever produced. If I took the bees to places that would be
more apt to be organic, such as the remoter regions of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, or the Adirondaks, they would starve for much of
the year. Besides these mountains actually act as pollution filters
for the prevailing winds anyway.

    I place a lot of my own confidence (and have told my customers
so) in the fact that bees have a self cleansing mechanism to get rid
of pesticides in honey. Honey is produced internally, therefore if
there is a poison in the nectar, the bees usually die, and the batch
is lost. This one simple fact keeps honey remarkably pure.

   I also am aware of several "organic" products on the markets
right now that are simply scams. Their honey is no different than
mine. One major packer implies that all their honey is produced by
wild bees, and is harvested from trees, not hives. If you believe
that, I have a used car to sell you.

   Pollen, however, does not have the cleansing mechanism.
Pesticides are naturally concentrated in pollens, and I would not
trust any pollen produced along the East Coast without testing.
Many beekeepers simply do not recognize low level poisoning of
their bees, and any pollen collected at such a time could well be
badly contaminated.

   I also told my customers, who asked for pollen, why I declined to
do it. The only time I would dare to produce pollen would be early
in the spring long before any spraying occurs, and that is when the
bees need the pollen most,  for spring build-up.


Dave Green  in SC  USA
-Thinking honesty is the best policy.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::