trading standards :dupe:

[thurrock bees]

Hi all
Ive noticed that alot of people are worried/concerned about the laws of producing honey at home and selling.
Well i have emailed the local trading standards office ( may need to call as well ) as i want to double check everything im doing.
I will update this post as soon as they email me back or knock my door down in a dawn raid lol.


TB

 

[VEG]

I called trading standards and environmental health in for a visit. They couldnt have been more helpfull. I dont know why people are so worried. They explain the rules that apply to you and really are there to help. After their visit I got a letter from each stating that my labels and premises are up to standard.

 

[VEG]

We have also got the fella from trading standards coming to our association meeting next week for him to explain the in's and out's to our ever growing number of new beeks. We have 44 new members so far, not bad for a small association.

 

[oliver90owner]

The only ones who should be afraid of Trading Standards are those that do not comply to basic food hygiene standards (maybe higher level certificate if near-commercial) and those that simply flout the rules. That is my opinion of the situation.

Regards, RAB

 

[Chris B]

Food hygiene is more the realm of Environmental Health, and this is rarely, if ever, a problem.
Trading Standards are more concerned with weights and measures and legality of your labels. Flouting the rules, and accidentally breaking them through ignorance are one in the same thing to Trading Standards. The trouble is the rules change so it's a great idea to have TS in to the local BKA from time to time. (This year for instance it's now legal to sell honey in any metric weight).

 

[jezd]

any updates TB?

 

[thurrock bees]

any updates TB?

Hi all, No updates as of yet, they have not got back to me ( how look does a email take??) I will call them sometime this week.
Im wanting to get it right first time, im looking at increasing my honey production to near commerical scale, And i believe that prevention is better than cure.

TB

 

[VEG]

Thurrock in that case you would be better calling them asap. We had the trading standards chap come to an association meeting last night he managed to confuse lots but got there in the end.

 

[Chris B]

im looking at increasing my honey production to near commerical scale

TB, have you told the bees yet? Their union might have something to say.

But seriously, what's your strategy and timeframe? Splits, stock improvement, bee purchase, migration to good forage, or some combination. Over the last few years it's become more and more apparent to me that some apiaries are consistently much better than others. I've slowed the expansion in numbers to focus on siting the bees better and improving the quality of the bees.

 

[thurrock bees]

TB, have you told the bees yet? Their union might have something to say.

But seriously, what's your strategy and timeframe? Splits, stock improvement, bee purchase, migration to good forage, or some combination. Over the last few years it's become more and more apparent to me that some apiaries are consistently much better than others. I've slowed the expansion in numbers to focus on siting the bees better and improving the quality of the bees.

pm sent and my preduction for next years harvest is appx. 2000lbs

 

[VEG]

Thurrock off how many colonies are you predicting this?
I am very interested as am also thinking of increasing.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Better not to predict how much honey you may get,better to predict how many tons of sugar you may need just to keep them alive,and how much this will cost you among other things.

 

[jezd]

Better not to predict how much honey you may get,better to predict how many tons of sugar you may need just to keep them alive,and how much this will cost you among other things.

ie business plan

I did some work on this side, happy to share with anyone going the same route, what I did find is you have to factor in the major variables - poor weather (productivity), disease/pest issues and feeding being the major ones

 

[thurrock bees]

Thurrock off how many colonies are you predicting this?
I am very interested as am also thinking of increasing.

im working this out from one hive, that hive produce 277 lbs this year, i now have 12 hives, so working on 10 hives producing 200 lbs each and 2 hives producing nil, i thought that 2000 jars ordered should cover it, my bees are at the same places next year as this year including being on a OSR field.
I know that the weather plays a huge part in my expectation, however i cant control that .
But please remember this a prediction, not a est. before some members here rip in to me.
It terms of increasing, i split my hives when needed as part of swarm control and requeen any swarms i collect.
chris

 

[OXFORDBEE]

Better not to predict how much honey you may get,better to predict how many tons of sugar you may need just to keep them alive,and how much this will cost you among other things.

That all depends where you are. Some areas require less sugar than others... Hedgrow Pete did really well this year....

 

[Hivemaker.]

Oh yes, i had forgot that,....the perfect place...

 

[Hombre]

I'm impressed with the honey crop from your single hive this year. You must have had your work cut out with those nine or ten supers to extract.

I estimate that my bees probably brought into each of their hives between 15kg and 30kg of pollen this year.

Nostrodamus, he predicts bankrupsy

 

[thurrock bees]

Update!

hi all, i recieved this email on monday.i will be following up asap.

TB



Dear Mr Harvey,

Thank you for your email enquiry regarding the sale of Honey. I apologise for the delay in getting back to you. As the regulation regarding honey can be quite complex, can I suggest that we arrange a mutually convenient time and date to discuss this further. I have a guidance document produced by the food standards agency that should be able to clarify most of your issues. If you could give me a ring on 01375 652266 to discuss this further I would be grateful.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Gareth

Gareth Olive BSc(Hons), MSc, MCIEH, FRSH
Environmental Health Officer
Public Protection
Thurrock Council, Civic Offices,
New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL
' 01375 652266 7 01375 652780

 

[RoofTops]

I'm guessing that will be the Honey Regulations 2003, which covers things like grades of honey (Bakers etc) and labelling. It would be interesting to hear if he has any views on the conditions under which the honey can be extracted and packed. I understand small scale production gets by under different rules to commercial production (farm gate sales?) but I haven't been able to find any reference to these rules.

 

[Poly Hive]

If thinking of going semi commercial then please remember to factor in winter losses. They can make a huge odds to the next years plan. It's a bit difficult to expand on hives that are dead.

Produce good nucs for winter, and plan to expand on them. Produce enough to cover losses, and times that by two to be safe. IE if you expect to lose 10% of a hundred put down 20 nucs to cover that loss. As you will likely lose some nucs too. But at the same time put down another 20 nucs to expand to 110 min. And so on.

No it's not cheap. Obviously if you have more nucs survive than needed then you have a wee cash cow to buy more parts with.

PH