> Or has anyone investigated recently?

I believe I inquired in 2019. Not much more recently than the 2017-2018
threads that were active. Back then, the USDA rep that I spoke to admitted
that organic apicultural certification was possible, but that it would have
to be done by a third-party authorized certifier, and they were unaware of
any third-party authorized certifiers that were certifying apicultural
operations. I reached out to a few third-party certifiers, but got
brick-walled over and over again. In discussions with one, the certifier
was unsure how they would verify that the foraging zone was organically
managed, or what that meant (did they need to inspect the 6,000 surrounding
acres? If I didn't own them, what records would they need to inspect and
how would they get them? If a residential area was found in the forage
area, would that mean it was automatically not organically managed?).

The only other option that I'm aware of to offer domestic organic honey
sales is the $5,000 gross sales limit. As long as your annual "organic
sales" are below $5,000, certification is optional and you can market your
products for sale as organic, provided you follow all other organic
requirements, don't use the USDA logo and don't market your product as
"certified organic." Because it's based on a dollar limit of "organic
sales" and not all sales, there is some availability to skirt between the
lines a little, if you are creative with how you structure your sales. Much
like the ticket scalper that doesn't actually sell you the ticket to the
basketball game, but instead sells you a rock, and if you buy the rock they
give you the basketball ticket for free. Not how I choose to operate, nor
is it how I advocate others to do it, but as far as I'm aware the only way
to sell domestic organic honey.

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