mark berninghausen wrote:

> So, if you want some of the ORGANIC market, produce ORGANIC Honey and
> bottle it yourself or sell it to a packer who will.

The issue here is not making organic honey but "What is organic honey?".

The problem is that there are no organic honey standards. Organic honey, 
currently, only needs to meet the minimum USDA standards. The problem 
with the US organic law is that it is almost exclusively directed at 
organic farms and the produce and livestock on those farms. The law 
spells that out well, but the States are the ones who certify the farms. 
Since there are no national honey standards, there is a wide spread of 
opinion on just what "organic honey" really is from State to State.

If all you need is State certification that you operate an organic farm, 
which I do (but not certified), from there it all depends on what the 
individual State's criteria is for honey, if there even is a standard. 
If none, you could call your honey organic and be within the law, just 
because it came form an organic farm.

Right now, my guess is that much so-called organic honey does not even 
meet the law's requirements. Honey is so far beneath the radar, that it 
will take a bit for bad guys to get caught, especially since standards 
can vary from state to state. I do not know what the standards are in 
Maine, and I doubt if many here know what they are in their own State. 
Which is why a national standard is necessary. But what is in that 
standard is the sticking point.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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