CATCH THE BUZZ - Honey Standards In India

CATCH THE BUZZ    

India Issues  Standards For Honey

Recently some reports have been appeared in the newspapers regarding the permitted levels of antibiotics in honey. The following advisory is issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority to clarify the issues involved.

Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of blossoms or from secretions of plants.

When visually inspected, the honey shall be free from any foreign matter such as mould, dirt, scum, pieces of beeswax, the fragments of bees and other insects and from any other extraneous matter.

The colour of honey varies from light to dark brown.

            Standards for honey have been prescribed under Prevention Food Adulteration (PFA) Rules, 1955 as under.

(a) Specific gravity at 27OC                          Not less than 1.35

(b) Moisture                                                  Not more than 25 per cent by mass

(c) Total reducing sugars                              Not less than 65 per cent by mass

(c-i) for Carbia colossa and Honey dew      Not less than 60 per cent by mass

(d) Sucrose                                                    Not more than to 5.0 per cent by mass

(d-i) for Carbia colossa and Honey dew      Not more than 10 per cent by mass

(e) Fructose-glucose ratio                            Not less than 0.95

(f) Ash                                                          Not more than 0.5 percent by mass

(g) Acidity (Expressed as formic acid)        Not more than 0.2 per cent by mass

(h) Fiehe's test                                               Negative

(i) Hydroxy methyl furfural(HMF),  Not more than 80

        mg/kg                                        

 

If Fiehe's test is positive, and hydroxy methyl furfural (HMF) content is more than 80 milligram/kilogram, then fructose: glucose ratio should be 1.0 or more.

Rule 44 D provides for restriction on sale of Carbia Callosa and Honey dew. Carbia Collosa and Honey dew shall be sold only in sealed containers bearing AGMARK seal.

Rule 45 specifies that food resembling but not pure honey cannot be marked as honey. No person shall use the word „Honey‟ or any word, mark, illustration or device that suggests “Honey‟ on the label or any package of, or in any advertisement for, any food that resembles honey but is not pure honey.

Violation of the provisions of PFA Act/Rules attracts penal action.

            No pesticide residues or antibiotics are allowed in honey.

            The maximum limits of heavy metals in various foods are prescribed under PFA Rules, 1955. Rule 57 of PFA Rules prescribes the limits of contaminants under category “Foods not specified” (which includes honey) as follows:-

1. Lead                        Not more than 2.5 ppm

2. Copper                    Not more than 30.0 ppm

3. Arsenic                    Not more than 1.1 ppm

4. Tin                           Not more than 250.0 ppm

5. Zinc                         Not more than 50.0 ppm

6. Cadmium               Not more than 1.5 ppm

7. Mercury                  Not more than 1.0 ppm

8. Methyl Mercury    Not more than 0.25 ppm

Standards of Honey under AGMARK

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation has laid down standards of honey under the Grading and Marking Rules (AGMARK), which lays down the grades, designation of honey as Special, Grade–A and Standard to indicate the quality of honey for the purpose of certification. It specifies the method of packing, marking and labeling and conditions for grant of certificate for authorization. The standards of AGMARK are voluntary.

In the matter of admissibility of antibiotics in honey, safety standards in India are similar to those in European Union, Codex Alimentarius and USA where they are completely prohibited.

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This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

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CATCH THE BUZZ - New Demons Found...The Trail Gets Warmer

CATCH THE BUZZ

New Demons Found. The CCD Trail Gets Much Warmer.

In 2007a team* was formed to search for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, a technique modified by the military for screening samples for pathogens, they found a fungus and an unusual virus associated with samples from colonies with CCD symptoms.

An insect iridescent virus (IIV) in bees from CCD colonies is new to the U.S. It shows similarities to an IIV first reported in India 20 years ago, as well as to an IIV found in moths. The method of its introduction to bees in North America remains a mystery but it probably arrived in infected bees, or it crossed over to bees from another insect.

 

All animals, ranging from lowly bacteria to humans have DNA as their genetic material. Viruses, however, have either DNA or RNA as their genetic material. RNA is a chemical variant of DNA.

 

The viruses thus far associated with honey bees in colonies with colony collapse disorder symptoms have been of the RNA type. The insect iridescent virus the research team correlated with CCD is a DNA virus, however.  That is a fundamental difference and takes CCD research in a whole new direction. This was when the team brought in RNA virus experts.

 

The DNA in these viruses is something to behold. Their size and shape, and the way they are stacked inside the cells they infect fundamentally alters light in such a way that it causes iridescence. Viruses and infected host tissue may have a bluish green or purplish hue. Insect iridescent viruses have also been shown to contain a protein that causes host cells to self destruct in a process called apoptosis, which can be a viral attack mechanism or a host defense strategy.

 

Additionally there is a significant statistical link between CCD, the iridescent virus and a fungal parasite of the genus Nosema. It remains unknown if these two pathogens in concert cause CCD, or, are CCD colonies more likely to succumb to these two pathogens?  

 

Currently, the team is trying to isolate the specific strain of iridescent virus in U.S. bees so that they can characterize it alone and in combination with Nosema. The work is ongoing but it may be the most important advance in the previous three years.

There are more than two dozen known insect iridescent viruses. As a general rule, the impact of these viruses ranges from covert infections with relatively minor effects, to highly virulent and lethal infections. This lethality is one reason that this group of viruses has been scrutinized as a potential biopesticide, for applications such as mosquito control. This is not good news for beekeepers. In India, an iridescent virus, called IIV-24, has been implicated in high losses of honey bee colonies.

It is known that in an Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, a combination of parasites and pathogens co-exist, including: (1) a Nosema parasite called Nosema ceranae, (2) an iridescent virus, (3) parasitic and predacious mites, and (4) two other RNA-type viruses, Kashmir bee virus and a Sacbrood virus.

Both Kashmir bee virus and Nosema ceranae have been in North America for a decade or more. How similar is the CCD strain of iridescent virus to the IIV-24 from A. cerana? Is it possible that US bees acquired IIV from the Asian bee along with Nosema ceranae and Kashmir bee virus? 

This IIV also seems to be closely related to an IIV virus called IIV-6 that occurs in other insect species. So this may be a variant of this virus that managed to transmit to a new host – bees.

Knowing exactly what IIV species is involved will be important so that it can be tracked and monitored to develop a control strategy. There is not a means of controlling the virus, although there are simple ways of monitoring Nosema, which can be seen under a microscope, and some options are available to beekeepers for reducing Nosema levels.

Once the strain of IIV in CCD colonies is identified, and assuming that the IIV link with CCD can be confirmed, the potential exists to use IIV presence as an indicator of CCD. It should be very easy to develop a PCR assay or even to use simple serological tests like ELISA to rapidly detect IIV. Until then, proteomics will be used to screen samples. Proteomics is an excellent screening method, but it takes more time and analysis costs are higher than for PCR or ELISA.

With an inexpensive and rapid assay, the ability to screen all colonies in an area for IIV exists. Until an effective treatment can be developed, eliminating infected colonies may be an option, as well as screening before new colonies are allowed to enter.

Standard quarantine practices such as testing imported bees before they are added to colonies, and disinfecting equipment would likely help. We can do a better job if we know the exact identity of the culprit(s).

In the short term, the possibility of developing treatments against the IIV seems remote. Some possible treatments include antiviral drugs or heat treatment of hives. Most IIVs replicate at about 21 degrees C and do not replicate above 30-32 degrees C. Higher temperature may suppress the virus by halting replication, whereas cool weather and damp conditions may speed up replication of both IIV and Nosema. Many instances of CCD have occurred following extended periods of cool, damp weather, with more problems with bees in areas with frequent fog or in hill areas where the weather is cooler bein g reported. Placing bees in warm, sunny locations appears to help.

Finally, in a bee collapse that occurred in the northeastern part of the U.S. some years ago, an IIV was seen in varroa mites that prey on bees. Varroa may act as a vector for the dispersal of the virus among bee colonies, just as mosquitoes transmit West Nile virus or malaria to humans. Varroa is known to increase damage caused by other viruses, and beekeepers who fail to control varroa levels are likely to sustain high colony losses.

In all cases, management practices that reduce Nosema and mite loads and try to reduce long term exposures to cool, damp environmental conditions are likely to reduce colony susceptibility to IIV.

The entire paper is published in the online Journal Plos One. Find it at http://www.plosone.org/home.action

*The team includes bee specialists at The University of Montana in Missoula, fungal pathologists at Montana State University, and a group of virologists and chemists at the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC). Later, after they received the initial results, they added specialists in insect viruses from Texas Tech University and the Instituto de Ecologia AC in Mexico. Team members include Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, Univ. Mt, Colin Henderson, Univ. Mt., Charles H. Wick, U. S. Army, Robert A. Cramer, Univ. MT., Shan Bilimoria, Texas Tech, and Trevor Williams, Instituto de Ecologia AC in Mexico and several others listed on the research paper.

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Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - Marla Spivak Receives MacArther Fellow Award

CATCH THE BUZZ

Congratulations Marla Spivak!

23 New MacArthur Fellows Announced

Out of the Blue — $500,000 — No Strings

September 28, 2010

 

 (Chicago, IL) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2010. Working across a broad spectrum of endeavors, the Fellows include a stone carver, a quantum astrophysicist, a jazz pianist, a high school physics teacher, a marine biologist, a theater director, an American historian, a fiction writer, an economist, and a computer security scientist. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.

The recipients just learned, through a phone call out of the blue from the Foundation, that they will each receive $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years. MacArthur Fellowships come without stipulations and reporting requirements and offer Fellows unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create, and explore. The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors. The work of MacArthur Fellows knows neither boundaries nor the constraints of age, place, and endeavor.

“This group of Fellows, along with the more than 800 who have come before, reflects the tremendous breadth of creativity among us,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “They are explorers and risk takers, contributing to their fields and to society in innovative, impactful ways. They provide us all with inspiration and hope for the future.”

Among the recipients this year are:

·         a type designer crafting letterforms of unequaled elegance and precision that span the migration of text from the printed page to computer screens (Matthew Carter);

·         a biomedical animator illuminating cellular and molecular processes for a wide range of audiences through scientifically accurate and aesthetically rich animations (Drew Berry);

·         a sign language linguist focusing on the unique structure and evolution of sign languages and how they differ from spoken languages and each other (Carol Padden);

·         a population geneticist mining DNA sequence data for insights into key questions about the mechanisms of evolution, origins of genetic diversity, and patterns of population migration (Carlos D. Bustamante);

·         a sculptor transforming her signature medium of marble into intricate, seemingly weightless works of art (Elizabeth Turk);

·         a public high school physics teacher instilling passion for the physical sciences in young men and women through an innovative curriculum that integrates applied physics, engineering, and robotics (Amir Abo-Shaeer);

·         an American historian disentangling the interracial bloodlines of two distinct founding families to shed fresh light on our colonial past (Annette Gordon-Reed);

·         a fiction writer drawing readers, through spare and understated storytelling, into compelling explorations of her characters’ struggles in both China and the United States (Yiyun Li);

·         a computer security scientist pealing back the deep interactions among software, hardware, and networks to decrease the vulnerability of computer systems and networks to remote attack (Dawn Song); and

·         an entomologist protecting one of the world’s most important pollinators — honey bees — from decimation by disease (Marla Spivak).

For additional biographical information, video interviews, and downloadable photographs, meet the 2010 MacArthur Fellows »

“There is something palpable about these new MacArthur Fellows, about their character as explorers and pioneers at the cutting edge. These are women and men improving, protecting, and making our world a better place for us all. This program was designed for such people — designed to provide an extra measure of freedom, visibility, and opportunity,” said Daniel J. Socolow, Director of the MacArthur Fellows Program.

The inaugural class of MacArthur Fellows was named in 1981. Including this year’s Fellows, 828 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82 at the time of their selection, have been named MacArthur Fellows since the inception of the program thirty years ago.

The selection process begins with formal nominations. Hundreds of anonymous nominators assist the Foundation in identifying people to be considered for a MacArthur Fellowship. Nominations are accepted only from invited nominators, a list that is constantly renewed throughout the year. They are chosen from many fields and challenged to identify people who demonstrate exceptional creativity and promise. A Selection Committee of roughly a dozen members, who also serve anonymously, meets regularly to review files, narrow the list, and make final recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The number of Fellows selected each year is not fixed; typically, it varies between 20 and 25.

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This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

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Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

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

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - GMO Corn Pesticides Found In Stream Water

CATCH THE BUZZ

GMO Pesticides Released Into Environment

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Cary Institute aquatic ecologist Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall and colleagues report that streams throughout the Midwestern Corn Belt are receiving insecticidal proteins that originate from adjacent genetically modified crops. The protein enters streams through runoff and when corn leaves, stalks, and plant parts are washed into stream channels.

Genetically-modified plants are a mainstay of large-scale agriculture in the American Midwest, where corn is a dominant crop. In 2009, more than 85% of U.S. corn crops were genetically modified to repel pests and/or resist herbicide exposure. Corn engineered to release an insecticide that wards off the European corn borer, commonly referred to as Bt corn, comprised 63% of crops. The tissue of these plants has been modified to express insecticidal proteins, one of which is commonly known as Cry1Ab.

Following an assessment of 217 stream sites in Indiana, the paper's authors found dissolved Cry1Ab proteins from Bt corn present in stream water at nearly a quarter of the sites, including headwater streams. Eighty-six percent of the sampled sites contained corn leaves, husks, stalks, or cobs in their channels; at 13% of these sites corn byproducts contained detectable Cry1Ab proteins. The study was conducted six months after crop harvest, indicating that the insecticidal proteins in crop byproducts can persist in the landscape.

Using these data, U.S. Department of Agriculture land cover data, and GIS modeling, the authors found that all of the stream sites with detectable Cry1Ab insecticidal proteins were located within 500 meters of a corn field. Furthermore, given current agricultural land use patterns, 91% percent of the streams and rivers throughout Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana —some 159,000 miles of waterways—are also located within 500 meters of corn fields.

Rosi-Marshall comments, "Our research adds to the growing body of evidence that corn crop byproducts can be dispersed throughout a stream network, and that the compounds associated with genetically-modified crops, such as insecticidal proteins, can enter nearby water bodies."

After corn crops are harvested, a common agricultural practice is to leave discarded plant material on the fields. This "no-till" form of agriculture minimizes soil erosion, but it also sets the stage for corn byproducts to enter nearby stream channels.

Rosi-Marshall concludes, "The tight linkage between corn fields and streams warrants further research into how corn byproducts, including Cr1Ab insecticidal proteins, potentially impact non-target ecosystems, such as streams and wetlands." These corn byproducts may alter the health of freshwaters. Ultimately, streams that originate in the Corn Belt drain into the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.

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Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

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

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - Bees From Australia may be Banned

 

CATCH THE BUZZ

Australian Bees Supposedly Banned From U.S. 

An Editorial:

The Almond Board today sent the message below  to their handlers. We do not yet have confirmation from USDA APHIS and are awaiting official word. But if honey bee importation from Australia is halted, as we have felt it should be from the beginning, the push for bees from somewhere else will intensify. Mention has been made of bees from Mexico or from Canada. The negotiations and dealing to make either of those work will be interesting to watch.

 

If African bees from Mexico are allowed to come to the U.S., will they cause problems in orchards? Will they come as colonies and return, or as packages and simply stay here like the bees from OZ?

 

Would Canada allow U. S. bees to venture north, as honey producers, pollinators or simply as queens in return for the chance at California’s Gold? Would they bring colonies down early in the season…like next month…to overwinter in preparation for spring?

 

But would any of them actually want to come to Almond country and take the CCD gamble?

But the biggest question of all...Will there be enough U.S. bees next spring to meet the needs of the Almond Industry?

 

These scenarios bring out the good, the bad and the ugly side of all of this. Please stay tuned, the outcome will affect your beekeeping and honey packing business this season.

 

From The Almond Board to their Handlers:

We received a heads up that USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will be halting the importation of all honey bees from Australia. The ban will take effect the date the Federal Register Notice appears, which should be in the next 2 weeks.

 

APHIS reconsidered the potential risk that imported Australian honey bees may pose of introducing new pests and diseases to honey bees in the U.S. Based on the continuing spread of a non-native bee (Apis cerana) in Australia and the uncertainties about what new viral diseases it may be spreading among bee populations in Australia, APHIS believes honey bee imports from Australia pose an unacceptable risk of introducing new diseases in the United States.

 

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

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

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

 

 

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010

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Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010 Posted: 20 Sep 2010 05:00 AM PDT The next regular monthly meeting of the Central Beekeepers Alliance will be held on October 12th at the Agricultural Research Centre on the Lincoln Road. Tuesday, 12 October 2010 Central Beekeepers Alliance Meeting Agricultural Research Centre, Fredericton, NB 7:30 p.m. New beekeepers and "interested others" are welcome to join us, to learn more about beekeeping, chat with other beekeepers, and find out more about how to keep honeybees. Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010 was written and published by the Central Beekeepers Alliance - Honey Bees & Beekeeping in New Brunswick, Canada. For more information, please visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com.

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CATCH THE BUZZ - Antibiotics Found In Honey, Again...

WINTERING WEBINAR

Our next webinar will have a slightly different format than those you’ve seen in the past. Get comfortable because it will be two hours long. The first hour will focus on overwintering bees. We will discuss location (urban, rural), pests and predators, feeding, temperature extremes, as well as much more. This discussion features  Michael Palmer, a commercial beekeeper in northern Vermont, to help us with the northern climates, and Harry Fulton, retired State Apiarist from Mississippi, who will bring the southern perspective. To fill in the bits and pieces, Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine will be joining us. That is the first hour. The second hour will be a panel discussion of sorts on all things beekeeping. We have had numerous requests for just an Q;& A session. With this panel, there is not a question they won't be able to answer.

This Webinar is brought to you courtesy of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Overwintering bees and Panel Discussion
Date: Sept 21, 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00PM EST
Space is limited. Registration is free so reserve your Webinar seat now at: For more information and registration Click Here

 

CATCH THE BUZZ

By Alan Harman

  

Two international honey brands are claimed to have been found with antibiotic levels well above legal limits.

   India’s Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says Australia’s Capilano Honey Ltd.’s Capilano Pure and Natural Honey brand had three antibiotics detected, while Switzerland-based Narimpex AG’s Nectaflor Natural Blossom Honey brand had five antibiotics.

   The Press Trust of India news agency reports Capilano denies its honey contains higher level of antibiotics than the prescribed standards and suggests the sample may have been counterfeit.

   A Capilano statement says its own test results on the batches of honey identified by the dates on the packaging of the product identified in reports, show no detection of the residues alleged to be in the honey.

   “The company had found counterfeit products previously in Thailand and Indonesia where it had been copied to the extent that it was neither Capilano honey, nor even a product from Australia,” Capilano Managing Director Roger Masters said.

   “Recently, Capilano objected to trademark applications commenced in India to register a look-alike name Capilona.”

   CSE, a public interest research and advocacy organization based in New Delhi, says its pollution monitoring lab tested 12 branded honey samples for six antibiotics and found antibiotics in 11 samples. The tested samples were bought randomly from various markets in Delhi in July 2009. Ten were Indian brands and two were imported brands.

   The six antibiotics that PML looked for were oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, erythromycin, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin.

   The CSE says Capilano’s sample had 150.8 micrograms per kg of oxytetracycline, 15 times more than the 10 micrograms per kg set by the India Export Inspection Council.

   The sample also had 3.6 micrograms per kg of chloramphenicol, compared to the 0.3 micrograms per kg set by the council.

   The test also found 144.8 micrograms per kg of enrofloxacin, for which the council does not set a limit.

   Narimpex’s sample returned 112 micrograms per kg for oxytetracycline; 3.7 micrograms per kg for chloramphenicol; 614.2 micrograms per kg for ampicillin; 56.1 micrograms per kg for enrofloxacin; and 280.3 micrograms per kg for erythromycin.

   The CSE says the leading Indian honey producers - Dabur, Baidyanath, Patanjali Ayurveda, Khadi, Himalaya – all had two to four antibiotics in their products, much above the stipulated standards.

   But CSE director Sunita Narain says in a statement what is even worse and shows the regulatory double-standards is that the two foreign brands tested by CSE – from Australia and Switzerland – had high levels of antibiotics and would certainly be illegal in their own countries.

   “It is clear that foreign companies are taking advantage of the lack of regulations in India,” Narain says. “After all, if our government does not care about the health of its people, why should these companies care?

   “We have standards for antibiotic contamination in the honey we export. Government even tests and certifies that exported honey meets health and safety regulations. But we do not have any standards for domestic honey. This is clearly unacceptable.”

   “The Capilano Pure & Natural Honey sample was found to contain three antibiotics and was non-compliant with the EIC export standards as well as some standards imposed in Australia itself,” the CSE statement says.

   “The fact that more than one antibiotic was found in the samples indicates the prevalent practice is to collect honey from different sources and then blend them before packing and distributing for sale. This brings into question the issue of traceability of honey.”

   Oxytetracycline was found in 50% of the samples in the range of 27 to 250 micrograms per kg.

   Chloramphenicol, banned by the EU, was found in 25% of the samples with levels nine to 15 times higher than the 0.3 micrograms per kg standard fixed by the EIC.

   Ampicillin was found in 67% of the samples at a concentration of 10 to 614 micrograms per kg. CSE says there is no standard for ampicillin in honey in any country because it is not supposed to be used in beekeeping. It is, therefore, an unauthorized or illegal substance in honey.

   Similarly, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin, which do not have any standards, are being illegally used.

   The results of the tests on the Indian brands were not a shock. The European Union in June banned Indian honey from entering any of its 27 member countries because consignments were found to be contaminated with antibiotics and heavy metals.

   The CSE says the business of honey collection has changed – from small producers to large cartels of honey producers contracting small producers and pushing for high productivity and profits.

   “The business is no longer that of health,” the CSE says. “Besides the presence of the contaminants, investigations by CSE have also exposed the murky underbelly of the international honey trade, where fraud, deceit and illegal trade practices rule the roost.”

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter Quality Top Bar Hives by

Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

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

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!