Organic Honey?

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by BenTheMan, Jan 5, 2010.

  1. BenTheMan Dr. of Physics, Prof. of Love Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,967
    I saw this in the grocery store the other day.

    How do they know which flowers the bees visit?
     
  2. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  3. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    I can't imagine there is any organic honey in the US.
    Didn't a lot of beekeepers use anti-biodics and other meds when the bee die off started?
     
  4. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  5. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    I googled this and you're right, there is no such thing as organic honey, and in fact no standards for honey at all!
     
  6. Google AdSense Guest Advertisement



    to hide all adverts.
  7. -ND- Human Prototype Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    861
    Lol, I say sue them. Tell them you are allergic to regular honey, and you bought a jar of organic honey, and you got a bad reaction.l
     
  8. John99 Banned Banned

    Messages:
    22,046
    it can be organic honey.
     
  9. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    I'll address this since I'm an ex-beekeeper. (A hobby that I thoroughly enjoyed!)

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    There are no standards for "organic honey" but some might say it simply means using no drugs or medication in the hives.

    As to the last question, every beekeeper with good sense knows *exactly* what is blooming in his particular area at *any* given time. While it's certainly true that more than one thing blooms at the same time, there is *always* something local that will attract the bees more than anything else. And the honey produced during that time span will be more than 90% from that single source.

    Please note that most honeys are slightly mixed and MOST are blended on purpose. The latter provides for longer storage before it begins to crystallize.
     
  10. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    How? This country is full of chemicals and pesticides, and you can't control where a bee will fly.
     
  11. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    I can handle that one, too.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    Bees are extremely sensitive to chemicals and particularly pesticides. Those that come in contact with them will never make it back to the hive to unload.
     
  12. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    54,036
    So maybe all honey is organic?
     
  13. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    More or less. But as I said earlier, it should also imply that the beekeeper isn't treating his hives with drugs or medications. And very few would forgo that because they wouldn't have any bees at all in a short time. There are a number of diseases and parasites that can wipe out 100 hives over the course of a single week.
     
  14. otheadp Banned Banned

    Messages:
    5,853
    What is the difference between "creamed", "pure", "raw", and "organic" honey?
     
  15. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Those are mostly imprecise terms. I've already talked about "organic" more than once.

    "Creamed" has air beaten into it - similar to whipped cream.

    "Pure" means nothing artificial added - such as preservatives.

    "Raw" means unheated. Most honeys are raw.
     
  16. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    25,817
    I was told that creamed honey was low grade honey that they didn't want to go to waste.
    I love that stuff!
     
  17. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    That's far from true in every case. Moral? Don't believe everything you hear.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!



    "Sue Bee" is one company I'm well familiar with. They use top-grade honey in their famous creamed product.
     
  18. Doreen Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,101
  19. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Your statement about "an non-organic blooms" is not only very poor English but could also create a lot of confusion. What you're actually trying to say is "a field or orchard that is treated with chemicals and/or pesticides."
     
  20. BenTheMan Dr. of Physics, Prof. of Love Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    8,967
    Sure, but you can by clover honey or orange blossom honey, too, right?

    So, for example, if the bee hive is in an orange orchard, I could imagine the bees just being too lazy to go and find something else...is this about right? Or will some of them (~10% I guess, as you said) take it upon themselves to find some variety?
     
  21. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Hi, Ben,

    It's actually about taste.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

    When a batch of honey is well over 85% of one type, and orange and clover are good examples, the consumer will not notice any loss of distinctive taste from the fractional components. And in the end, taste is all that really matters anyway.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  22. Read-Only Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    10,296
    Let me add a footnote to my previous post.

    In the northern part of the Southeast, particularly north Georgia, there is a very desirable honey produced during a narrow season each year - it come from the blossoms of the sourwood tree which starts blooming on July 1.

    Serious beekeepers have a *great* demand for this particular honey and very little of it ever leaves the area where it's produced.

    The beekeeper will start by removing ALL honey from the hives on the first day of July. The honey produced often exceeds 95% purity because the bees favor it above anything else that blooms during the same season. The trees are very plentiful and can be easily spotted everywhere throughout the region. Besides the bark being pretty distinctive, the blossoms as even more so - they form long strings of tiny bell-shaped flowers on long twigs and even a small tree will bear thousands of them.
     
  23. Doreen Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    4,101
    The 'an' was a typo. In the context of the thread - organic honey - I assumed people would know I meant in the sense of meeting - or in this case not meeting - certain criteria for that categorization. In the US 'organic', in England I think they use 'ecological.' Another word that can be misleading, of course, but I'm working with the terms we have. 'Organic flowers' is the going name of flowers raised 'organically' as is 'organic blooms', though the latter is a little less common.

    I do agree, as I said that terms are misleading. I know that in Sweden they use are word that means, more or less, 'requirement'. This is also misleading but not in a scientific sense.
     

Share This Page