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Six Weeks As A Beekeeper, and NOW WHAT???? See our next webinar in the series. Everything you need to know is at the bottom of this message.
CATCH THE BUZZ
‘Honest Honey’ Launched
Duty circumvention a threat to U.S. honey industry, honey supply quality
WASHINGTON, May 6, 2010 – Four North American honey marketing companies and importers – Golden Heritage Foods, LLC, Burleson’s Inc., Odem International, and Dutch Gold Honey – today launched the Honest Honey Initiative and pledged to help protect the quality and reputation of the U.S. honey supply, as well as the sustainability of U.S. beekeepers and honey businesses. The initiative seeks to call attention to illegal sales of honey in circumvention of U.S. trade laws, a practice that the organizers estimate cost the United States up to $200 million in uncollected duties in 2008 and 2009 combined and threatens a vital segment of U.S. agriculture.
The group unveiled a website, HonestHoney.com, an educational resource providing information about where honey comes from and ways consumers, honey companies, food manufacturers and retailers can take action to eliminate illegally imported honey.
“When honey is imported illegally, no-one can be confident of its true source and quality. Some products are not 100% honey and have other quality issues,” said Jill Clark of Dutch Gold Honey, Lancaster, Penn. “We’re asking people who buy and love honey to find out more about how the honey they enjoy is sourced. By raising awareness of unfair trade practices and taking the Honest Honey pledge, we hope to protect consumers and manufacturers who use honey, and to preserve the fair honey trade.”
While many Americans purchase packaged honey, an even broader population enjoys honey in such products as cereals, breads, cookies, crackers, breakfast bars, meats, salad dressings, barbeque sauces, mustards, beverages, ice creams, yogurts and candies.
“Pick an aisle at the grocery store and you’ll probably find at least one honey product there,” said Clark. “It’s a product that is added because of its wholesome, pure quality and taste, which is all the more reason why this issue is important.”
“I'm glad that efforts like Honest Honey are educating people, because the quality of honey does matter – it matters to consumers and it matters to our nation’s bee industry,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a honey bee researcher at Pennsylvania State University. “Illegally imported adulterated honey simply adds yet another problem to an already hurting bee industry.”
“We estimate that millions of pounds of Chinese honey continue to enter the U.S. from countries that do not have commercial honey businesses,” said Clark. “For example, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Mongolia raise few bees and have no history of producing honey in commercial quantities, yet have recently exported large amounts of honey to the United States.
“Honey has earned a special place in people’s hearts and minds as a wholesome, natural food. We want to protect that reputation and quality,” said Clark. The Honest Honey Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. Learn more at www.HonestHoney.com.
The Honest Honey Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. Learn more at www.HonestHoney.com.
Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better survival, better production, and better wintering. Learn More. Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.
BEEKEEPING WEBINAR INFORMATION On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, there will be a FREE webinar for everybody and anybody just starting out with bees this year. This is especially geared to those who tuned in earlier this year for our Urban Beekeeper Workshop with Cindy, Cameo and and Toni. Entitled 6 Weeks as a Beekeeper, Now What?, the discussion covers what your bees should be doing now, what issues to look for that are problems now, and anything that might come up in the near future that you can prepare for now. We’ll be evaluating your queen’s productivity, examining brood patterns and balance, along with making sure there isn’t a drone laying queen or laying workers mucking up the works. Plus, we’ll be looking at IPM programs and options for varroa and other issues. Supering? You bet, it’s time to give those bees more room, or if not, we’ll look at why not. And in some places this year, feeding is still an issue…we’ll explore that too. Some may even have a crop ready to harvest, so we’ll take a look at those issues, along with getting ready to harvest…which most of us ho pe to do in just a little bit. This isn’t for Beginner’s only though, so if you just want a refresher or what to find out what the newest information is on any of these topics, come on along. Kim Flottum, from Bee Culture magazine, and Shane Gebauer, General Manager and long time beekeeper from Brushy Mountain Bee Supply are hosting this Free Webinar. How to register is below. |
Title: |
| 6 weeks as a beekeeper...Now What? |
Date: | Tuesday, June 1, 2010 | |
Time: | 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT |
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/960734619
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