The market for honey slowed for a while, and I guess the Argentine crop
is still unknown; Feb 8 in the Argentine is like Aug 8 here, and still
early for a good estimate.  Nonetheless, prices continue firm.  A broker
told me yesterday that he had turned down an offer to purchase at $1.60
US in expectation of higher prices. Meanwhile, a number of Canadian
packers are meeting in Ottawa and I'm told that, among other things,
they are trying to figure out how to limit and reduce the prices paid to
beekeepers.  Over this past season, the offers from those in that group
have been amazingly similar from one to another, but I know they would
not be price fixing, because that would be illegal.

With better communication between beekeepers, buyers are finding it
tough to fool the beekeepers and it is worrying them.  Some of these
buyers still manage to find a few beekeepers who are out of touch and
buy cheap -- I've seen it happen -- but with the internet and hotlines
like the Mid-US hotline (1-763-658-4193) more beekeepers know what the
market price is, and the old tricks do not work as well.

Claims of retail buyer resistance made by some packers' are not being
met with much belief or sympathy, either, since beekeepers can find out
the facts.  As always, some accounts are changing hands, and some, like
MacDonald's, are switching from honey to something else, but this last
item is due to concerns about honey quality in the wake of the Chinese
chlorampenicol recall (caused by their own policy of buying the
cheapest), not price.  Apparently some packers are losing business, but
others are doing just fine. While some packers are complaining about the
price, these others are realizing that the (revenue) size of their
business just doubled!  Margins may not be what they were, but the
profits are still there for the smart ones and will creep back up.

The current price bump is due to quality problems with Chinese honey.
In the near future, we are going to see increased demands for quality
assurance and smart beekeepers are starting to think about better record
keeping and diverting some of the windfalls of this past season towards
improving facilities and moving in the direction of HACCP.  When the
current countervail actions wear off, the only factor that will keep
prices up for the beekeeper is quality assurance.  Volume buyers and
packers -- and their insurance companies -- are going to want proof that
what happened with Chinese honey does not happen again.

In five years, I predict that beekeepers who cannot provide convincing
documentation of their management and handling practices may not be able
to sell honey in any developed country.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com