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Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:45:43 -0400 |
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Clearly there is a range of what might reasonably be considered organic
beekeeping. The fact that in the E.U., no clipping of wings has been
included in what is acceptable for organic labeling, I would think is the
result of wide ranging views trying to reach some kind of consensus. You
can bet that some people feel very strongly about what they might consider
cruel and unnecessary mutilation at worst and disruptive interference in a
natural process at best. For some, and apparently for the E.U. organic
beekeepers, it is about the process as much as the product.
One might reasonably argue that a lot of what is text book beekeeping
practice or maybe industry standard practice, while not resulting in honey
that is bad or un-organic, is nevertheless shortsighted when it comes to
the overall health of bees and beekeeping. For example, I can see how
someone might feel that swarming is an important function in the interest
of honeybees as colonies and as a species, and therefore should not be
aggressively suppressed, if at all. I can see a lot of eyes rolling about
now, but I think it really is high time beekeepers as a whole start to look
past the immediate concern for this year’s crop and start really trying to
comprehend the gestalt of bees and man’s relation to bees with the goal of
understanding what is not right with beekeeping these days. Reading Ari’s
posts, I got the feeling that in Europe at least, there is movement in that
direction. It feels like the intention at least is to establish, not only
a level playing field, but a common understanding of good stewardship of
and reverence for the activity as well as the products of beekeeping. The
fact that all those countries, much less all those beekeepers could come
together in agreement of what will be considered organically produced honey
is amazing to me as an American rugged individualist. A lot of
comprimising must have been done.
Steve Noble
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