Peter said: >In other words, go after the criminals, not the honest guys trying to make >a living with bees. Most of the honey sold in stores comes from outside the U.S. ( 70-80% is the most used figure) and most is unchecked for purity on arrival (although the USDA knows contamination is common). . The recent news articles about the Chinese honey with all its contaminants barely made the news although the story is about honey headed for store shelves. All the indictments was told but little about the contamination in the honey confiscated. Current price for water white Chinese honey in Florida & Texas around the ports is around eighty five cents a pound. Current price for water white U.S. honey is running from a buck sixty five to a buck eighty five. The reason store prices seem unchanged is because of the current low price of import honey although U.S. honey prices has climbed. I applaud packers which are buying the U.S. honey instead of converting to all foreign honey. However those packers confide if a price war starts for market control they can not compete unless they convert to foreign honey. The last time this happened warehouses of U.S. honey were full with few buyers. I think those packers involved last time may have learned the lesson the oil companies learned back when I was a kid with their price wars. What the USDA does not tell people is that the safest contaminant free honey is produced in the U.S. U.S. produce is lower in pesticide residues than what is shipped in from Mexico. You do not find chloramphenical in U.S. honey or fish from southern fish farms! bob Honest beekeeper trying to make a living selling only U.S. honey. I have NEVER bought even a drop of foreign honey although I most likely would be in better shape financially today if I had! *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm