In message <[log in to unmask]>, Chris Slade
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>
>Maybe Murray could do it as I think he is about 30 miles from the nearest
>public road.
Hi Chris/Gavin and anyone else not driven to somnambulance by this
already...........
I was not going to enter this due to the amount of ill informed 'holier
than thou so your honey must be bad' type stuff swilling
about............I have better things to do.
However, Chris brought my name up, so............as Gavin may be
alluding to I had extensive discussions with the Soil Associations bee
expert on this very subject and we were going to do something of a
re-write on the rules to make the standards expected of honey of similar
standard to that for fruit and veg crops.
I also did a sizeable trial.
It IS possible to do organic honey in the UK. I am lucky in that respect
as both Balmoral and Lochan estates, our two main upland areas, are
fully certified organic, and in both cases it is quite possible to site
the bees far enough from any major roads, dumps, or conventional land
use. (Note, even hill grazing that gets a light spreading of nitrogen is
NOT organic and will prevent these colonies being organic that season).
On lowland ground I am also the main beekeeping tenant of two of the
three main estates in the Sidlaw Organics group, and one of these is
12500 acres of mixed use land. There the bees can be kept in preparation
for the key upland crops then migrated. They must NOT EVER be used for
honey harvest from conventionally grown crops, but they CAN be sited in
non organic places OUT OF SEASON before they gather spring forage. This
is very important as bee survivability in the upland areas is very
poor........due to wetness it is like sticking them in a frozen swamp,
with high winds, and expecting them to prosper. They just dont.
The trials revealed that annual production if only those areas, and only
organic treatments, are used is roughly halved. Work levels are higher
(even the lack of wing clipping cuts the number operated as you have to
be round them more promptly), and if they have to feed on only their own
honey in many years there will be no harvest at all. Bee health is
noteably lesser. Heather honey is bad winter food.if forced to winter on
this stuff (its high in protein and the bees need to fly a lot to vent
the faeces, which can be lumpy on this honey), and this makes for high
dysentry levels in cold winters (not the last three though, which have
been very kind)
The main client is Duchy Originals, who are the driving force behind the
project and who will probably get their way eventually, and a separate
unit will be set up to meet their needs. We studied the costs, yields,
and practicalities of doing this and came up with a price for the honey
that left us margin neutral on a per colony basis. (Earning the same
income)
This meant a PREMUIM of 110% was required for the product, and heather
honey is already expensive, so they went away and canvassed opinion from
the key onward clients 9high end retailers) and came back with a 'yes it
will sell.....................but the volumes predicted
are...........response. Now these figures are Duchy ones and must remain
confidential.......but we had calculated our costs on doing an initial
300 colony unit and the market estimate came back much
lower.......actually below the point of viability due mainly to
certification and admin costs.
At this time they are trying to establish a better size of market in
order to reach the critical level I have stipulated for the project to
proceed.........but everything is in place for a fast start if the green
light comes. We have everything we need either in hand or sourced. Yes,
even the organic bee stock.
Finally Chris....I wish I was 30 miles from a public
road...........sadly not.......I am in a small town and two main A class
roads cross not 200 yards from where I am sitting. But thats just home
base.......the bees are over a very wide area and none are within a
couple of miles of home base.
--
Murray McGregor
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