Organic honey

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REDWOOD

Queen Bee
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Messages
8,381
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Location
swansea south wales
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
10
Can anyone tell me what conditions do you, your hives and the sourounding area have to be to call your honey organic
 
The Soil Association standards are at section 15 of the document you will find at this link: http://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=z0H2T3JIwPQ=&tabid=353

It is a 4MB download so expect a delay if you have a slow connection.

However, unless you live in the wilds of nowhere you won't be able to meet them in the UK because of the radius of organic ground needed around your hives.
 
Thank you for that it made interesting reading, I think I meet 90% of the critiria but where do you get organic wax foundations from ?. It is good to know that most beekeepers keep thier bees the organic way its just a shame:confused: that farmers do not keep thier farms that way
 
Hello Redwood.
I have had to address this same question. My hives are geographically in the middle of an organic farm.

Customers often ask "How do I know your honeys organic". I reply "I don't. It only takes one Bee to fly over the fence, However if You'de like to see where the hive are , You can make up your own mind".

Don't claim your honeys organic unless you can prove it.
 
How do you prove that one of your bees didn't go over the fence though?
 
How do you prove they don't.

Most beekeepers Redwood are NOT organic.

I would think that it would be very difficult indeed to comply with the rules for Organic in the UK


PH
 
.
Don't ask too much. he will have enough punishment when he obeys those organic orders.
 
After a lot of research even down to where the wood in my hive came from that was not a problem but I did find a farmer who does sprays his land with chemicals that has white clover growing on it and the distance from the hive was about 2 miles, I did try converting him to be a better farmer and to think of the enviroment but there was ££$$$$$$$$$$$$££££ in his eyes. The most head banging thing is that no one in a 10 mile radius uses any chemicals.
 
Well that's an issue Redwood but not the biggest one.

How do you propose to successfully treat for varrroa within the guidelines?

I am not knocking you personally I am having a poke at the guidelines which frankly are pie in the optimistic Skye.

PH
 
The most head banging thing is that no one in a 10 mile radius uses any chemicals.

Do you mean that, how can you tell that a cottage gardener has not used a Bayer Bug spray to get rid of their aphids...following the BBC Gardening world advice they have just heard on the radio
 
Redwood.

Good evening. This is my first post.

Having had many dealings with trading standards I can tell you that you will be on a very sticky wicket in the UK for even implying that your honey is organic. I am lead to believe that you cannot have organic honey produced in the UK due to the potential 5 miles that bees can travel. To even imply it is organic (and trading standards have lots of literature on what covers 'imply') could land you in trouble. Yes, I do keep bees on a soil association organic farm.
 
"organic" is like many words, it can, in fact be many things, not least a bit of a moveable feast........
I'd agree that common sense dictates that it would be pretty much impossible to guarantee true organic honey in the UK (thanks to the tosser with a can of Provado in their garden), but you must question the precise meaning of the term
- as has been already mentioned, there is the gospel according to the Soil Association - taking it to extremes, some "organic" certification boards in the US have laughably poor standards that bear little resemblance to the far stricter European ones.
Believe it or not, manufacturers are allowed to label things as "natural" which are chemically synthesised (as long as it's a copy of a genuinely natural substance........) - it's nearly ALL semantics of one sort or another.
If "being organic" matters to you, meaning "as free as I can get it from chemicals" (which is what I try to achieve,) then you've done all you can- even if it were allowed to label it "organic" I feel it would be dishonest.
There's nothing to stop you being honest - if I were marketing my own honey I'd do so something along the following lines - "Raw natural honey, unfiltered, unpasteurised, unprocessed in any way - no pesticides or antibiotics used - from naturally-drawn honeycomb"........... it's honest, it tells the punter what they're getting, and as I understand the rules, completely legal!
 
Redwood.

Good evening. This is my first post.

.


welcome Namadickarl

i am finding that other beeks are starting to use wording like " Raw Honey", Natural Honey, unrefined Honey, Double Filtered Honey, Cold extracted, Natural treated

which would applying to all of my honey...but i call it honey
 
The most head banging thing is that no one in a 10 mile radius uses any chemicals.


So if the local council use chemicals on roadside verges you have to be 10 mile from any public road:eek:
 
So if the local council use chemicals on roadside verges you have to be 10 mile from any public road:eek:

Do local councils use chemicals on roadside verges?

Have you any evidence to back up this statement? And if so what do you think they would be spraying?

I do a fair bit of travelling round the country, through a number of counties and have never seen roadside verges being sprayed.

I've seen them being cut (regularly) litter picked (ocassionally) Ragwort pulled (seasonally) and hedge/tree trimming (seasonally)

:hat:

Frisbee
 
How about

http://www.wholesomefood.org/

Taken from the site

sustainable beekeeping

Beekeeping is a traditional part of smallholding and the WFA welcomes beekeepers who use sustainable practices in the management of their hives.

We consider sustainable practices to include:

The use of renewable, natural materials in hive construction (e.g. wood from sustainable sources in preference to polystyrene)

No synthetic chemical or medicinal treatments (i.e. no pyrethroids, no prophylactic treatments including antibiotics, no organo-phosphates). Organic acids (e.g. oxalic, formic) and powdered sugar are permitted.

Allowing the bees to build their own comb in preference to the use of foundation

Top bar hives in preference to framed hives

Honey sold either in the comb, or cold extracted and strained but not fine filtered to remove pollen grains
 
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"It wil cost you only £27 a year to affiliate to us"

It would be better to belong to the:
"Raw natural honey producers" as it would only cost £26 a year to join.

All I need to do is go set it up..

P.S The site above is owned by one of our members who posts here..
 
Do local councils use chemicals on roadside verges?

Have you any evidence to back up this statement? And if so what do you think they would be spraying?

Frisbee


Around here once in a blue moon you get a couple of council guys walking the pavements with knapsack sprayers with what I guess is a 'roundup' type weed killer but I've never seen them spray verges on a larger scale, I can't really see why they would bother.

Si.
 

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