Real honey at RHS Wisley,

[Newbeeneil]

I was pleased to see a couple of decent looking local honeys when I was at RHS Wisley last night. (There was however another blend of eu and non eu honey on the bottom shelf.)

One of the labels had a note about beesmax.org ..... anyone knows anything about it?

 

[beeno]

Interesting about the added pollen pellets - irradiated?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I was pleased to see a couple of decent looking local honeys when I was at RHS Wisley last night. (There was however another blend of eu and non eu honey on the bottom shelf.)

One of the labels had a note about beesmax.org ..... anyone knows anything about it?

What’s that on the top of the honey?

 

[Ian123]

What’s that on the top of the honey?

Pollen....zoom in on labels I doubt it needs to be irradiated if coated in honey.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well I’ve just had a good look round the website.
It’s one of those “save the bees by hosting/adopting a hive or just giving us money” outfits.
They don’t say how much it costs
Probably a lot if they are saving enough bees.

I hope it’s nobody here or I’m in trouble

 

[Buzzlodge]

Can you still use the descriptor "Raw Honey" when you have aded something to the honey, pollen granules?? Have they comme from the same hive or same apiary? How are they manufactured?

And the sentence "consider allergies before eating" is worth precisely nothing. All it does is indicate that the manufacturer (I use the word because this looks like a food product not a raw honey) is aware that there may be allergy issues but can't help the consumer any further.

I think it could be a minefield.

 

[ics19]

Can you still use the descriptor "Raw Honey" when you have aded something to the honey, pollen granules?

Isn't it more the case of not using the term 'Raw' at all as there's no recognised trading standards definition?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Can you still use the descriptor "Raw Honey" when you have aded something to the honey

You shouldn't use it full stop - it's a ridiculous description that means nothing (unless you're selling meat) and has no meaning in the context of honey - some county council TS departments are already starting to clamp down on the nonsense.

 

[Millet]

Interesting about the added pollen pellets - irradiated?

...

 

[Millet]

Interesting about the added pollen pellets - irradiated?

Whoops.

 

[Buzzlodge]

You shouldn't use it full stop - it's a ridiculous description that means nothing .

I agree. But those that use it, use it to imply that the honey has been minimally processed and in this case he has added a material of uncertain source and make up which takes the product some distance from what 'raw' is usually understood as..

 

[beeno]

I agree. But those that use it, use it to imply that the honey has been minimally processed and in this case he has added a material of uncertain source and make up which takes the product some distance from what 'raw' is usually understood as..

I am not hung up on raw as to me it means unpasteurised i.e. not heat treated as in raw milk. However, it is not a legal term for selling honey although much sought after.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I must say most of you comments were in my mind as I read the labels last night. The use of the term "Raw" grates with me as we all know it's not a legal term with regard to honey but I assume the supplier is either ignorant of the fact or has decided to flout the law until TS find the time and money to take action.
There was a display of pollen granules which I wish I had read the labelling on as I could have answered your comments re irradiation etc.
The Beesmax.org site seems to indicate a business very similar to the Plan B outfit that imported a load of Italian bees and seem to have abandoned a load of hives in the West Sussex countryside due to lack of takeup of the scheme.
The state of some of the hives in the videos on the Beesmax site is appalling! I wouldn't be advertising using those hives if it was my business.

 

[Repwoc]

In The Honey (England) Regulations 2015, Part 4 "Additional Labelling Requirements" paragraph 5 says:

"The product name of a relevant honey may be supplemented by information relating to its specific quality criteria."

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1348/made

There aren't any specified words that can or can't be used relating to any specific quality criteria, so why is there an issue with using the name "Raw Honey"?

(I don't call my honey Raw Honey by the way.)

 

[Anduril]

Considering they started in 2016, the info on their website is out of date.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

There aren't any specified words that can or can't be used relating to any specific quality criteria, so why is there an issue with using the name "Raw Honey"?

Because it's a make believe word which means nothing

 

[ericbeaumont]

You shouldn't use it full stop - it's a ridiculous description that means nothing (unless you're selling meat) and has no meaning in the context of honey - some county council TS departments are already starting to clamp down on the nonsense.

Agree; trouble is, TS depts. have no common inclination (or perhaps time or money) to act collectively and nationally. Beecraft published a useful piece about raw which stated that while a voluntary group of chief TS officers in England and Wales wanted to end the use of the term, it was up to individual TS depts in local authorities to choose what to do. End result is that it may be permissible to sell raw in one borough but not in the next.

Either way, the muddying of public perception (not difficult) by the use of the word leads inevitably to confusion of definition of our quality product.

 

[Repwoc]

Because it's a make believe word which means nothing

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary it means " in a natural state, without having been through any chemical or industrial process".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/raw

Seems to be a real word with lots of meaning.

Anyway, the point I was making was the law allows for additional descriptive words in addition to "Honey" without any specific restrictions so I think it will be hard for TS to stop folks from using "Raw".

 

[Popparand]

Considering they started in 2016, the info on their website is out of date.

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

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

According to the Cambridge English Dictionary it means " in a natural state, without having been through any chemical or industrial process".

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/raw

Seems to be a real word with lots of meaning.

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.