Real honey at RHS Wisley,

[Beefriendly]

The problem is the general public consonantly ask for Raw honey..., whilst having no idea of what "Raw" honey might be.

 

[Murox]

That rules out all honey then apart from cut comb as what is extraction but an industrial process?
Never heard of the Cambridge dictionary before - you must have had to scrape around to find that definition.
Needless, regardless of what some obscure internet site says, the description has no real standing in the industry and is just a phrase coined by the sandal wearing brigade and the shysters to try and convince the gullible public that their real honey is in some way different to others.

isn't the term "raw honey" just another ubiquitous import from the united states of america ?

 

[Anduril]

Company was formed in April 2018. Accounts show £750 fixed assets at cost so don't know how many hives Mark has let alone apiaries.

Also. according to his website beekeepers are torturing the bees by giving them too many boxes to fill up with honey. Also contributing to the decline of colonies by not permitting bees to swarm into the wild, and by hiving wild swarms which would otherwise re-swarm into the wild thereby increasing the honey bee population.

I thought beekeeping was environmentally beneficial. Obviously I was wrong. So I will have to get rid of all my hives, just as I was really getting going

I was looking at the About Us page, stating a group of beekeepers got together in 2016 from Surrey Honey Farms Ltd. I wonder if I can keep mine in matchboxes! Will they be small enough? The only research was our annual hive count.

 

[Repwoc]

That rules out all honey then apart from cut comb as what is extraction but an industrial process?
Never heard of the Cambridge dictionary before - you must have had to scrape around to find that definition.
Needless, regardless of what some obscure internet site says, the description has no real standing in the industry and is just a phrase coined by the sandal wearing brigade and the shysters to try and convince the gullible public that their real honey is in some way different to others.

Why are you being so rude? I think it was at the top (after the usual adverts) of the Google search list. Perhaps the OED definition is more to your liking: "Uncooked, unprocessed, unrefined", particularly meaning 2. "In a natural state; not yet processed or worked" and especially 2.d. "Of various natural substances, products, foodstuffs, etc. (occasionally also of their qualities): untreated; unrefined or only partly refined".

https://www.oed.com/viewdictionaryentry/Entry/158694

Anyway back to the point - the law allows for the use of additional descriptive words in the product name and doesn't specify any restrictions. Doesn't that make it difficult for TS to stop people using "raw"? So long as the honey is "Uncooked, unprocessed, unrefined"?

Maybe using "Unadulterated" would differentiate our product in light of recent news. The problem with just calling it "Honey" is it gets confused with the cheap stuff on supermarket shelves.

 

[beeno]

The problem is the general public consonantly ask for Raw honey..., whilst having no idea of what "Raw" honey might be.

All my clients see raw honey as unpasteurised same as raw milk.

 

[enrico]

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the words raw honey. I use it on advertising but not on the jars and if anyone wishes to ask me what it means I will tell them. It infers it is straight from the hive and that is exactly what it is. It is no lie, it is not intended to deceive. It is a discriptive word that suggests exactly what is in the jar. Honey that is not in any way changed from the way it was produced by the bees. Get a life!
E

 

[ericbeaumont]

The problem is the general public consonantly ask for Raw honey, whilst having no idea of what "Raw" honey might be.

Time for a chat, if there's time: I define mine as unprocessed and that's usually enough; sometimes it ends up as an in-depth convo, but depends on the customer: often the fluffy ones haven't the capacity for a long chat and want a yes or no. When they find out that I'm the beekeeper and not just the seller, and that I do the work by hand, they buy.

The problem with just calling it "Honey" is it gets confused with the cheap stuff on supermarket shelves.

Precisely; that was why (Beecraft link earlier) Dale Gibson at Bermondsey Street Bees chose to use raw (although one of his outlets objected!).

I prefer to sell by area - Tottenham Honey, Dagenham Honey, Walthamstow Honey, and so on - and that goes a long way to convince them of the difference.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I too have customers asking for raw honey, although I am sure that they don't really know what the term means. I explain what I do - warmed to allow jarring - and let them decide.

If you were to sell OSR honey that went straight into the jar and set, as it does, spoon-bendingly hard, you would probably get a lot of complaints!

 

[thorn]

I sent the RHS a shot of the label on the honey they were selling at Harlow Carr last summer, which showed it to be a blend of honey from EU and non-EU countries. Next time I get to Harlow Carr I'll see what they're selling there now. Perhaps they've taken local provenance on board.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

beesmax opening page "The UK honey bees are in sharp decline, with up to 50 per cent of colonies dying out each year". Really? And there's the usual mixing up of other bee species and honeybees. What are their blue boxes like?

 

[drex]

The honey regulations, schedule 1 states
"6. No other additions have been made to the honey except for other honey."
I know pollen is already in most " natural" honey, but surely adding extra pollen pellets is contrary to the regs ?

 

[Ian123]

Nothing wrong with adding pollen if you wish and labelled correctly. Seen it done before and sold as extra pollen honey. Never tried it myself I believe it’s called adding value!!! Probably appeals to those hayfever suffers. You would like to think it’s Uk pollen though from his own hives. Given the packs of pollen you can see in the corner of 1 of the pics you could be forgiven for wondering. As to Raw it rather goes along with the rest of the BS on the web site.

 

[Finman]

The honey regulations, schedule 1 states
"6. No other additions have been made to the honey except for other honey."
I know pollen is already in most " natural" honey, but surely adding extra pollen pellets is contrary to the regs ?

It seems that pollen is from pollen trap.

 

[deemann1]

The bags of pollen looks like the same brand that's in aldi ,hill top honey

 

[Newbeeneil]

I prefer to sell by area - Tottenham Honey, Dagenham Honey, Walthamstow Honey, and so on - and that goes a long way to convince them of the difference.

I agree, mine is all sold with a specific village name which gives local punters a sort of cosy feeling as its from just round the corner (I even name the road its from).... the problem I get is getting them to try the bl**dy honey from a village 2 miles up the road as they only want "their " honey!

 

[Beefriendly]

You could do what most successful business men or politicians do.....Lie

 

[beeno]

The honey regulations, schedule 1 states
"6. No other additions have been made to the honey except for other honey."
I know pollen is already in most " natural" honey, but surely adding extra pollen pellets is contrary to the regs ?

I would have thought so too.

 

[enrico]

I would have thought so too.

Surely not when they say clearly that it has been added
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

Surely not when they say clearly that it has been added
E

Yes, just as you can sell honey with all sorts; nuts, herbs, spices and even garlic

 

[Buzzlodge]

Yes, just as you can sell honey with all sorts; nuts, herbs, spices and even garlic

Yes, but then its not honey; its a food product and a whole lot more complicated.
I'd love to see their HACCP.