I feel like I'm about to stick my face into buzzsaw here, but some very strong things are being said about the "ethics" and "purity" of honey which seem a bit over the top.

First, my qualifier.  I am a hobbyist, not a producer.  My point of view is purely that of an educated consumer of honey.

1.  Last I heard, sugar was still derived from plants.  (Yes, I acknowledge that it's factory-processed.)  Even given the legal definitions that have been cited, you have not yet convinced me that sugar-based honey is definably different from other-based honey.

2.  Sugar is not dangerous to eat (excluding obesity risk which is not the point of the discussion).  Throwing around the word "contamination" in the context of sugar in my honey strikes me as irresponsible.  "Contamination" is an emotionally laden word with very strong connotations of toxicity and danger.  Please find a different word.

3.  Feeding sugar with the INTENT to dilute or replace nectar-based honey certainly falls over the line of consumer deception, but ...

4.  Trace or insignificant amounts of sugar-based honey does not automatically spoil the whole batch.  (Please do not use the strawman that this argument means that trace amounts of miticides are therefore acceptable.  See 2 above - sugar is not toxic.)

"Pure" anything is a myth.  We can strive for purity.  We can achieve 99.99...% of purity.  But we can never achieve a guarantee of "purity".  You may not feed sugar, but do you really want to set a level of consumer expectation that will put you at risk if your bees rob a little from the hive of a neighbor who does?  (And just to preempt the strawman that got used during the "organic" honey discussion - even in the most isolated apiary, how can you be sure that some hiker didn't leave a half-full can of lemonade around?)

Can we move past the emotional rhetoric of absolutism and purity to a more nuanced discussion of intent and maybe thresholds?


Mike Rossander

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now

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