So now we have organic honey. (Letter 21-8-96). Originally the word organic was an adjective describing anything derived from a living source, i.e., plants and animals. In this respect all honey is organic since it comes from plant sap, directly or via aphids. The public's idea of organic today is linked to the farming of plants and animals without the aid of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, synthetic fertilizers, growth hormones and so on. Such farming is still rare. Whether we use any form of medication in our hives or not the fact remains that our bees fly two miles or more in their search for nectar and pollen, thus covering some twelve square miles of surrounding territory. Within that area gardeners are spraying flowers, fruit and vegetables and farmers are spraying fields and orchards. Some of these residues must end up in the nectar and on the pollen and we can do nothing to prevent it. In this respect no honey is organic, using the word in the sense of purity. Will the use of Apistan, for example, used as directed, when no surplus honey is being produced, make all that difference.? Two years after Varroa appeared in my part of the world the effect was devastating. Beekeepers, beginners and experienced alike, suffered 50 to 100% losses. If we had let nature take its course we should now be practically bee-less. As it is the use of Varroa strips has allowed our bee population to be re-built. The honey may be slightly more tainted (the jury is still out on that one) and if that worries the individual he has the option of not eating it. What is far more important is that we maintain sufficient bees for effective pollination. Last year I was counting Varroa drop in hundreds. Strips saved my bees and this year, after early spring treatment, they have prospered, allowing me to send out between a quarter and half a million foragers daily to pollinate my area. Someone recently quoted statistics to the effect that if one hundred stocks were left to fight Varroa naturally probably only one would survive. Pollination is so important that we cannot take risks like that. Natural immunity may take a long time to arrive. Use of strips or other treatments may slow down the development of immunity but the need for pollination requires that we keep our bees alive. Sid P. _________________________________________________________________ Sid Pullinger Email : [log in to unmask] 36, Grange Rd Compuserve: [log in to unmask] Alresford Hants SO24 9HF England