Hi Tracey/All
 
Tracy, you mention your worries about chinese honey - I have mine too
(my country has just unwisely as usual decided to import a few
hundred tonnes of chinese honey).
 
However one must bear in mind that Asian peoples havea fantastic
understanding of life that is missing in the west. They view farming
practises (I am generalising here) in a three dimensional perspective
- whereas we in more western/ised countries view it more on a two
dimensional perspective. We would do monoculture - the chinese not.
 
An example is varroa - I would never like to see western honey sold
in my country as it is produced in countries which are so balze about
dangerous chemicals it is terrifying. I would prefer chinese honey
produced by a people who have survived successfully
with a high density civilisation for more than 4000 years as opposed
to our chemical enhanced western one.
 
My immune system can deal with bacteria and gunk in honey that may
have a bit of brood - but my liver cannot get rid of fluvalinate, my
bones will have orange lines in them from terramycin that
will enable archaeologists in future times to work out exactly how
many times in my life and how old I was each time I got sick.
 
As regards your question about rats - I wonder if Chinese people
would be vaguely queasy about buying things from a culture which is
blatantly at war with the environment - we spend millions of
dollars a year in westernized countries on poisons which cause rats,
one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, to die by having
their guts chewed out and haemoraging to death! I can tell you I
would much rather buy something from a country which utilizes animals
which use environmental 'waste' space, rather than turning those
animals into biohazardous waste that kills falcons, felines, canines
etc.
 
Just some thoughs
 
Keep well
 
Garth
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!!