2 MILLION BLOSSOMS
wasps, may also contract the viruses. If so, these individuals may pass them on to others. In other words, allowing infect- ed honey bees loose in the environment is a serious assault on pollinator health, possibly creating unhealthy and disease ridden ecosystems for the pollinators that feed us. Remember that North American beekeepers imported the honey bees, the varroa mites, and the related viruses. We also imported the tracheal mites and several of the brood diseases. Spreading them carelessly throughout the environ- ment isn’t much different than seeding invasive weeds. Do we really have the right?
Unethical or Unaware? Many ethical issues arise from misrepresentation: a seller
says a product is something that it is not. These breaches are seldom deliberate attempts to deceive, but result from a lack of understanding on the part of the beekeeper. Beekeeping is not simple. It takes years to develop a solid understanding of the details so, in the meantime, things can get confusing. A good example is selling honey with a high water con-
tent. Every year someone sends me a photo of a jar of honey they purchased that literally exploded. The honey fermented until the lid popped off and honey oozed down the sides of the jar and onto the shelves below. To me, this doesn’t look deliberate. Instead it appears that the beekeeper lacked a good understanding of the water content of honey or he didn’t know how to measure it. Per- haps he extracted too many uncapped cells or added water under “unaware.”
Another example is selling sugar-syrup laced honey. In all
my beekeeping years, I’ve never seen anyone do this on pur- pose. However, I’ve seen lots of people do it because they didn’t know better. The unsophisticated beekeeper often be- lieves that honey bees somehow distinguish between nectar and syrup and manage to keep them separate. Tonya, the beekeeper whose naiveté motivated me to start a blog, insisted that if you feed your bees all season long, they will eat the feed and store the nectar. In her mind, there is no possibility that honey bees might do anything else. She sold her harvest labeled “Pure Honey” and didn’t believe I could be so crass as to suggest it may contain syrup. A third question comes from purchasers of honey who
wonder about its provenance. “How do you know this is 100% alfalfa honey?” Well, that’s a good question. The US Department of Agriculture says beekeepers may use a vari- etal name if the honey comes predominantly from one type of plant. But how do we know that? Experience with varietals certainly plays a part. I can tell
certain ones by taste, and if you add in the color and season, you can often be pretty sure of the variety. Many beekeepers who sell varietal honey move their bees in and out of various crops as they bloom, which is probably the best assurance that the honey comes from predominantly one source. Some look at the pollen in the honey because that can be a good, al-
26
though not perfect, indicator of where the nectar originated. Without experience, though, determining variety is more
something that sells for a high price. Manuka honey, for ex- ample, is so prized and expensive that overzealous beekeep- ers may believe their honey contains more Manuka than it actually does. Even here in the United States, some varietals such as sourwood, sell for such a premium that beekeepers need to reign in the urge to exaggerate their crop’s purity.
Hive Product Woes
Another practice some see as unethical is heating crystal- lized honey to liquefy it for sale. In North America, buyers of honey typically want it in liquid form, so in order to sell it easily, beekeepers often warm it. But if honey is warmed too much—typically above hive temperature—it begins to lose some of its best aromatic and medicinal properties, making it less desirable. A few beekeepers think any warming should be disclosed, while others consider warming to be under- stood—just part of the marketing process. Similarly, organic labeling is a point of contention. Some
beekeepers believe if they don’t treat their colonies with chemicals, and don’t treat their homes or farms with pes- ticide, then they can use the organic label. But it’s not that simple. The USDA labeling laws for organic products are confusing, especially for honey, so beekeepers are left with- out a clear pathway. While selling hive products is fun and rewarding, it is also
fertile ground for fraud. Selling mishandled or mislabeled honey is easy, and so is selling mishandled pollen and royal jelly. Using nuc sales to rotate old combs out of an apiary is not a new idea, nor is selling “slightly used” queens as brand new. If your new queen isn’t performing as she should, just sell her—no one will ever know.
Renting Colonies to Growers Stories of less-than-honest beekeepers are popular in
February when almond trees are in full bloom. Rumor has it that few growers actually inspect the hives they rent for size and strength, which means those who provide strong col-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
