Regarding a Food Processing License for a honey house:
 
     Don't fight it. (You can't win!)  But don't worry about it either; it's
probably no big deal.
 
     Several years ago (in Pennsylvania) as a hobby beekeeper selling only
about 1000 lb of honey per year through farm markets I was contacted by an
inspector from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and reminded that
I was subject to an inspection of my honey processing operation if I was to
continue legally marketing my honey.  So the next time we turned our kitchen
into a "honey house" for the annual extraction I called the inspector.  She
came, found nothing to complain about,  issued a license, and granted us the
"privilege" of printing "Reg. Pa. Dept. of Agriculture" on our honey labels.
 The only cost to us was the fee paid to have a bacteria count done on the
well water (a cost covered by a case of honey).  It wasn't a big deal.
     One can argue that honey isn't "processed," or that water isn't used in
the extraction and bottling, or that honey is antiseptic.  But there are
regulations and I don't think it's worth fighting them.  Besides, maybe we
do need a little monitoring.   I've seen some extraction/bottling operations
that were down-right dirty!
     Don't confuse a food processor license (probably issued at the state
level) with a food handler's license required of persons preparing and
serving food on the spot (perhaps for honey sample tasting or honey based
food products consumed ).  The latter is probably the jurisdiction of a
local Board of Health.  With a little common sense about sanitation this
should not cause us problems either.
     So my advice based upon my own experience is to be cooperative rather
than antagonistic, to maintain a low, quiet profile, and of course to
package a clean product.  (We should provide a clean, quality product even
if we just give it away.)  Personally, my greater concern is of product
liability and of unwarrented claims of the sort we read about every day.
 Insurance is available for beekeeping and for honey production, and some
customers buying honey for retail sales demand it.
     And, of course, some states (Pennsylvania is one) have a mandated
apiary registration.  So beekeeping has its growing responsibilities.  But
it's still worth it!
 
Robert Hawkes
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