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Subject:
From:
Derek Steed <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Derek Steed <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 3 Oct 2003 14:18:08 +0200
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Hallo Todd, Iīm the beekeeper / paintman who likes solvent-borne coatings.I
donīt really understand this organic honey thing. Obviously you canīt know
exactly where your bees have been and next year it may well be
different -same colony, same apiary, same time of year-
due to weather, crop rotation, crop spraying, what-have-you.Despite this,
honey analysis can, for one harvest, give a very good idea of the level of
contamination, at least for those substances which are known and can be
analysed without it costing a fortune. I use beeswax which comes with an
analysis so varroacides, PDB etc.are excluded from my foundation. I treat my
hives with organic acids, essential oils and thymol. This still leaves the
problem of insecticides and fungicides, particularly those sprayed into open
blossom ( e.g. rapeseed) and this can change from year to year.However,if
your local government departments are deciding in an arbitrary manner which
regions / areas shall be excluded from organic honey production then you
have a problem.Such regulations could hardly stand up in a court of law,
what would they supply as evidence?
An analysis of ones own honey from one apiary should indicate if there are
general problems e.g high heavy metal concentrations.I say if there is no
such thing as organic honey then organic foodstuffs full stop do not exist
but this is throwing the child out with the bathwater and kills any attempt
to improve matters.I suspect that the bees themselves are the best
indicators of environmental pollution.Currently the seed treatment Gaucho
( imidochloride ) is in question here in Europe, it is suspected of causing
nerve damage in bees, disorientation etc.No-one is talking ( yet ) of
effects upon humans .
Regards Derek Steed

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