Hello All,
Boy, I really miss Andy at times like this. He had a way of addressing the debates and making the points that were always great regardless on which side of the issue you weighted in on. I really wanted to hold back on this one but my medication must have worn off. :-)
Statements of point:
1) If anyone is knowingly feeding huge amounts of sugar with the idea of harvesting it and marketing it as Honey; they are WRONG no matter how you look at it.
2) If sugar, corn syrup, or anything else is intentionally added to honey, that is criminal!
3) Using the word contamination to refer to honey that may have a trace amount of "sugar honey" is also VERY Wrong. If this discussion somehow made its way from this list to the media, something would start that none of us would benefit from.
4) Anyone claiming to have 100% pure honey only obtained from flower nectar that has their bees anywhere within a few miles of human existence is misleading. Using this fact in the "my honey is better than your honey" argument is again very wrong. (Those of you living in the mountains or deserts, don't get too smug, just yet.)
I doubt if anyone has issues with 1 or 2 so I will only expand on the rest.
Contamination in a true definition would indicate anything in a product that does not belong there. However in today's society contamination usually refers to something that is HARMFUL and does not belong there. This could be chemical, bacteriological, or any other nasty thing you can think of. When you start using the "C" word you may end up down a path that you really don't want to be.
A few years back we were traveling along Interstate 95 through the state of Maryland. We stopped at a rest area and I noticed a trash can with a large number of honeybees coming and going. At first I thought a swarm had taken residence but quickly realized they were working the "nectar source" that included Coke and Pepsi (why they would choose Pepsi is beyond me), Snapple, Very Fine fruit juice, a piece of watermelon and some other items. I thought because of where I was these may have been some of George Imire's bees but then thought otherwise when I saw them on the Pepsi. My point is if the keeper of these bees never fed them sugar can he/she still claim 100%. I seriously think not. O'l Andy referenced many times the strange things bees would bring back to a colony.
Feeding sugar, too keep bees alive in a dearth, getting them started in Spring, or to draw some comb is not a bad practice and should not be constantly challenged as poor beekeeping. If a small amount of this "man made" honey gets into the beekeeper's final product it would have to be a such a trace amount, probably equivalent to the garbage can bees, that even discussing it is ridiculous. We have too many important issues to improve beekeeping, so why should we be attacking each other?
I have followed this list for many years. I have learned that when someone puts forth a statement that is incorrect or just plain bad, a number of folks, who are well respected members of the list, will be quick to point out the error. Other topics that seem to go on and on usually do not find our "List Elders" wasting too much time commenting, other than to get things back on track. Lets get back to good bee and beekeeping discussions.
One last comment on point 4. Those living in remote areas and claiming a higher standard of honey, a few final thoughts. You are very lucky not to have to deal with pollution, pesticides, etc. But........ A fellow beekeeper of mine had some colonies in his backyard. He also had a dog pen with two dogs; a Husky and a Labrador Retriever. Every morning the Husky would pee on the fence and few minutes later the bees would bee there. Surprisingly they ignored the Lab. We nicknamed his product "Husky Honey", which took a blue ribbon at the State Ag show. My point here is that even remote locations have potential for bees frequenting areas that we would not want to share with consumers.
Take care and enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
Ron
Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA
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