In a message dated 6/22/99 7:01:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> One of my major interests is chemical free "organic" honey.
>  Some people have told me this can't be done and there is no
>  organic honey produced in the United States. Others say
>  it is possible. Am I just crazy or can it be done on a small
>  scale.
>
>  I am currently using essental oils in my 2 hives (I hope to
>  increase the number to what my farm can support) and a
>  wire mesh "floor" raised 1/2 inch above the bottom board
>  for mite control. I plan to use "grease patties" and "tracking
>  strips" also.


    Put me down as skeptical, particularly in Florida.  You can't control
where the bees go, and they can range quite far.  Furthermore you have
area-wide applications, such as those for mosquitoes and medflies.  You might
get on some of the very wide river swamps in the north for tupelo, and they'd
be relatively safe from spraying there, but are apt to starve at other times
of the year.

     Remember though, that honey is sort of self-cleansing, because the bees
process it internally. If a batch of nectar is contaminated with an
insecticide, the bees that process it die, so that is not added to the total
honey production. Of course it kills off your "livestock," but it keeps the
honey pure. (This protective system is NOT in place for pollen, which is
carried externally back to the hive, or pollen trap.)

     It's all a relative thing. We do the best we can, but must remember that
pollutants and pesticides drift for hundreds of miles, and there will always
be some tiny percentage of contamination, at least in the eastern USA.   If I
knew a honey were produced in the Sonoran desert of Arizona (yes, honey is
produced there), I'd be less inclined to be skeptical about an organic label.
But there are few such spots in the US.

     With honey, in most of the USA, at least, "organic" is a marketing
technique, not a reality.

[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
The Pollination Home Page:    http://www.pollinator.com

Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
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