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Tests Show Most Honey Isn't Honey

DonM

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A couple of observations:


If you want to insure that the honey you're buying hasn't been processed, buy only comb honey.

The article talks about organic honey. I'm not an organic expert, but I thought that organic means that no pesticides were used in the production of the food in question. Bees can travel a distance of 2 miles or more in search of nectar (honey) and pollen. They do not have leashes on them limiting their foraging.

Wouldn't a 2 mile diameter would result in an area in excess of 3 miles? That would mean that the source of the nectar would have to be cerified pesticide free in a very large area. This could only be carried out in a large farm, and the hive could not be moved out of that area for even a short period of time- unless it was to another similar site.
 
L

laurac260

A couple of observations:


If you want to insure that the honey you're buying hasn't been processed, buy only comb honey.

The article talks about organic honey. I'm not an organic expert, but I thought that organic means that no pesticides were used in the production of the food in question. Bees can travel a distance of 2 miles or more in search of nectar (honey) and pollen. They do not have leashes on them limiting their foraging.

Wouldn't a 2 mile diameter would result in an area in excess of 3 miles? That would mean that the source of the nectar would have to be cerified pesticide free in a very large area. This could only be carried out in a large farm, and the hive could not be moved out of that area for even a short period of time- unless it was to another similar site.

What, you've never seen the bee farmers out walking their bees every morning??? You need to get out more! :p
 

JudyS

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...
The article talks about organic honey. I'm not an organic expert, but I thought that organic means that no pesticides were used in the production of the food in question. Bees can travel a distance of 2 miles or more in search of nectar (honey) and pollen. They do not have leashes on them limiting their foraging.

Wouldn't a 2 mile diameter would result in an area in excess of 3 miles? That would mean that the source of the nectar would have to be cerified pesticide free in a very large area. This could only be carried out in a large farm, and the hive could not be moved out of that area for even a short period of time- unless it was to another similar site.
I'm no expert on organic honey, either, but bees aren't going to travel further than is necessary to find a flower type that they like. So, if you put the hive in the middle of something like organically grown clover or buckwheat, you will get honey from organically grown flowers. Honeybees generally prefer to work on one type of flower at a time, so even if there is a small amount of non-organically grown flowers over in the next field, they will likely ignore them.
 

CSB

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Thank you for posting this. I am wondering if we have the same situation here in Canada. We probably do as I think that the government has for years cut back on inspectors/inspections and left the industries to police themselves.
 

memereDoris

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Raw (unpasteurized) honey has the most health benefits. It has never been heated over 135 degrees. It is strained to remove the larger particles. It does not remain in a liquid state. It still contains pollen.

It is being used on large wounds on horses and other livestock because of its healing qualities. Our local vets are using it more and more. The honey must be unpasteurized. I have found that it controls infection in large wounds and the healed tissue has much less scarring. Zincoderm works almost as well but is much more costly.

I live in the "Honey Capital of Canada" and we are fortunate to be able to purchase raw honey from our local beekeepers.
 

Passepartout

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Interesting article. Yet another way for the high fructose corn syrup makers to corrupt the world's appetite for 'sweet'. Seems they find their way into any market that lacks regulation, inspection and oversight.

We are fortunate here to have a guy who bottles his own bee's output and puts a couple of quarts at a time on a table by the curb with an 'honor jar' to pay for it. You can see 'stuff' suspended in it. It gets hard if it's cold, and flows like motor oil when warm. And is wonderful on warm, homemade bread.

Jim
 

MichaelColey

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Yet another way for the high fructose corn syrup makers to corrupt the world's appetite for 'sweet'. Seems they find their way into any market that lacks regulation, inspection and oversight.
If you look closely at what you think is honey, much of it doesn't even claim to be honey (although they imply it). It actually says "HONEY (flavored syrup)", and by syrup they mean corn syrup. Even some of the places mentioned in the article are like that. For instance, the last time I went to KFC I asked for some butter and honey for my biscuit. They gave me a packet of margarine and a packet of honey flavored syrup.
 

CapriciousC

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We have a great place here in Savannah that sells true honey:

www.savannahbee.com

They have online ordering. If you're ever visiting Savannah, be sure and stop in at their store on Broughton Street - in addition to wonderful products, they have a huge bee skep inside that kids can play in. My daughter would spend all day in there if I let her :)
 

stonebroke

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From the Source

We had some friends in Eastern Montana give us a mason jar full of the milky real stuff (delicious) and that got me looking around the great plains for other sources I found this one in North Dakota http://shop.dakotahoney.com/ .
 

dmharris

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I bought honey from a roadside market here last summer, locally produced. When I opened the jar I could smell flowers. It was the most amazing honey I've ever had. Sold out fast because I went back for me and it was gone!
 

Patri

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A couple friends raise bees, so I buy from them. Love comb honey. Helps with allergies too, since the pollen builds up immunity.
 

MULTIZ321

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"Ulee's Gold"

If you get a chance, see the 1997 movie "Ulee's Gold" starring Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, and Christine Dunford. Ulee is a beekeeper whose "gold" is tupelo honey.

From Wikipedia -

"Tupelos are valued as honey plants in the southeastern United States, particularly in the Gulf Coast region. They produce a very light, mild-tasting honey.

In northern Florida, beekeepers keep beehives along the river swamps on platforms or floats during tupelo bloom to produce certified tupelo honey, which commands a high price on the market because of its flavor.

Monofloral honey made from the nectar of N. ogeche has such a high ratio of fructose to glucose that it does not crystallize.

The Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle is the center for tupelo honey.

The honey is produced wherever tupelo trees (three species) bloom in southeastern USA, but the purest and most expensive version (which is certified by pollen analysis) is produced in this valley.

In a good harvest year, the tupelo honey crop produced by a group of specialized Florida beekeepers has a value approaching US$1,000,000."

Richard
 

persia

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We've been buying honey from a local apiary for years now. We know the grower. Much as I love Costco, their honey is just bad. And who in their right mind would buy honey from Walgreens/CVS?
 

ScoopKona

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Our honey isn't honey. Wood pulp is added to our food. Our beef is often treated with ammonia to kill off E.Coli. Eighty percent of the chickens sold in the US are infected with campylobacter or salmonella.

I'm surprised the honey story is making the rounds now, as it's a few years old.

While the only way to be sure is to buy comb honey, any small apiary isn't going to have ultra-filtration equipment. So unless they're diluting their product with drums of Chinese "honey," it's probably 100% honey. I doubt any beekeeper worth his buzz would risk the bad press that blending would bring.
 

CapriciousC

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"Tupelos are valued as honey plants in the southeastern United States, particularly in the Gulf Coast region. They produce a very light, mild-tasting honey.

In northern Florida, beekeepers keep beehives along the river swamps on platforms or floats during tupelo bloom to produce certified tupelo honey, which commands a high price on the market because of its flavor.

We buy Tupelo honey by the gallon. My daughter and I both have pollen-related allergies, and a physician friend recommended tupelo honey, because it contains the local pollens that may be causing our allergy issues. For the last couple of years, we add it to tea, cereal, etc. every morning, and have seen a significant decrease in our allergy symptoms.

The downside is that I believe this only works if you live in the areas where the honey is harvested, so Tupelo honey would only work for those of us living in the southeast. However, I would think that locally harvested honey could potentially have similar benefits for other allergy sufferers.
 

dioxide45

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Raw (unpasteurized) honey has the most health benefits. It has never been heated over 135 degrees. It is strained to remove the larger particles. It does not remain in a liquid state. It still contains pollen.

It is being used on large wounds on horses and other livestock because of its healing qualities. Our local vets are using it more and more. The honey must be unpasteurized. I have found that it controls infection in large wounds and the healed tissue has much less scarring. Zincoderm works almost as well but is much more costly.

I live in the "Honey Capital of Canada" and we are fortunate to be able to purchase raw honey from our local beekeepers.

Growing up in Southern Ontario Canada, my grandparents were bee keepers with a few hives that they would use to supply them and the family with honey. One night while at my grandparents I had some kind of ailment. My grandmother gave me unpasteurized honey to fix the ailment. Well, that night I never had hives so bad in my life. So it seems that I can eat honey from the store but not that which came from her house. We don't really know why I had a reaction, but I haven't had unpasteurized honey ever since.
 
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