Fraudulent Honey May Be Prevalent In The US

dbCooper

For those interested, this rather lenghty investigative article uncovered disturbing practices that seem to be occurring with regularity here.....

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/884kq4/your-fancy-honey-might-not-actually-be-honey

rifrench

It makes me angry to see this kind of thing happening... China in particular needs to get the cold shoulder.

Eoin

Bees deposit the nectar in the hives = honey. It's easy to 'feed' bees sugar and that becomes the 'honey'.

Botch

"Fraudulent Honey" WBAGNFARB.  

EggNorth

I have heard of this I think some show on Netflix (Rotten ?).    I try to only buy local, or Canada in the winter.    Not sure if true, but have read (on the internet so must be true) that local honey helps your system with allergies. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

EggNorth said:

I have heard of this I think some show on Netflix (Rotten ?).    I try to only buy local, or Canada in the winter.    Not sure if true, but have read (on the internet so must be true) that local honey helps your system with allergies. 

The thought is that local bees use the nectar and pollen to make their honey from plants, grasses, trees, and flowers in your area that you may be allergic to. They say eating honey made from the pollen that you are allergic to acts similar to an allergy shot by giving you small doses of the allergens for your body to build immunity over time.

I don't know that the science lines up but that's why people say local honey helps with allergies.

loco_engr

I am lucky enough to have local honey from a town 9 miles away  

JethroBodeen

I'm happy that my FIL has kept bees for 50 years or more. Real honey is a non issue for us..

CTMike

This is one of the reasons I started raising my own bees last year.

cheeaa

CTMike said:

This is one of the reasons I started raising my own bees last year.

Dude that's awesome. How is it going?

GregW

Very sad. 
I see one more popular kinds of honey on the market is on the list as being adulterated.
The Tenessee Sour Wood honey is actually made with honey from Vietnam and is also cut with other syrup. (This was considered premium honey)
There is nothing sacred in this world if somebody can find a way to make more money by cheating the consumer.   

Ozzie_Isaac

GregW said:

Very sad. 
I see one more popular kinds of honey on the market is on the list as being adulterated.
The Tenessee Sour Wood honey is actually made with honey from Vietnam and is also cut with other syrup. (This was considered premium honey)
There is nothing sacred in this world if somebody can find a way to make more money by cheating the consumer.   

That is the sad truth.  No pride in a product, it is all about the Benjamin.  Then good producers get put out of business because all the cheaters.

alaskanassasin

Buy local honey for no other reason than to support your local beekeepers. There is really no money in sideliner or hobby beekeeping. Most of us do it to help bees!

CTMike

cheeaa said:

CTMike said:

This is one of the reasons I started raising my own bees last year.

Dude that's awesome. How is it going?

Good so far, they seem to have made it through the winter so that is a good sign.

HeavyG

rifrench said:

It makes me angry to see this kind of thing happening... China in particular needs to get the cold shoulder.

No doubt China is involved in a lot of fraudulent products (ag/non-ag) but should they be singled out when the article reports on a US company that specifically claims their honey is pure from Tennessee when, in fact, it has stuff from Vietnam in it?

This problem with honey has been going on for decades and is just like the problem with extra virgin olive oil - whenever demand exceeds legitimate supply human greed finds a way to enter and cheat the game.

alaskanassasin

There is enough supply. People don’t want to pay for it.

alaskanassasin

honestly the general public doesn’t buy honey or couldn’t give a hoot about it.  The other day I was telling a millennial that I was tapping trees for maple syrup and he was completely confused and floored that maple syrup actually came from trees.

piney

I'm interested in beekeeping I have bought a sh!tload of frames, hive boxes, slinger, for about 5-6 hives, you name I've got it. I have 1 stand "hive" living and doing pretty well and have a couple more colonies of nucs and queens on order to be delivered in the spring. We need bees to keep the world going...wish me luck on beekeeping!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

alaskanassasin said:

honestly the general public doesn’t buy honey or couldn’t give a hoot about it.  The other day I was telling a millennial that I was tapping trees for maple syrup and he was completely confused and floored that maple syrup actually came from trees.

Don’t feel bad for the millennials, they think the same thing about you when you have 11 Facebook accounts because you keep forgetting your password. 

alaskanassasin

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

alaskanassasin said:

honestly the general public doesn’t buy honey or couldn’t give a hoot about it.  The other day I was telling a millennial that I was tapping trees for maple syrup and he was completely confused and floored that maple syrup actually came from trees.

Don’t feel bad for them, they think the same thing about you when you have 11 Facebook accounts because you keep forgetting your password. 

That is a interesting thought to ponder... what is a question that only a millennial could answer?
    Full disclosure by some calculations I am a millennial however I do not identify as one and growing up in Alaska definitely put me a few years behind socially so I think we’re ok there.
  I have only ever facebooked for profit and honesty if you figured out my password it would open many doors.... 

HeavyG

alaskanassasin said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

alaskanassasin said:

honestly the general public doesn’t buy honey or couldn’t give a hoot about it.  The other day I was telling a millennial that I was tapping trees for maple syrup and he was completely confused and floored that maple syrup actually came from trees.

Don’t feel bad for them, they think the same thing about you when you have 11 Facebook accounts because you keep forgetting your password. 

That is a interesting thought to ponder... what is a question that only a millennial could answer?
    Full disclosure by some calculations I am a millennial however I do not identify as one and growing up in Alaska definitely put me a few years behind socially so I think we’re ok there.
  I have only ever facebooked for profit and honesty if you figured out my password it would open many doors.... 

I'd bet that a significant percentage of people in the older generations that were not raised in the northern climes where tapping trees is a thing would be just as surprised as your millennial to know that maple syrup is "tree juice".

Never underestimate the general ignorance of the general public regardless of age.

gdenby

alaskanassasin said:

honestly the general public doesn’t buy honey or couldn’t give a hoot about it.  The other day I was telling a millennial that I was tapping trees for maple syrup and he was completely confused and floored that maple syrup actually came from trees.

Years ago, I found a large patch of wild strawberries within walking distance of home. As I was walking down the street, one of a group of kids, seeing me w. a bucket, asked where I was going.

"To the woods, to pick strawberries."

"No you're mot. Strawberries don't come from woods. Everyone knows they come from the store."

Sigh

alaskanassasin

My brother and I were enjoying a peaceful fishing float down a local river here last summer. About a hour into it a class of 7-8 graders from Cincinnati splashed through... anyways, several times they asked if the bait caster my brother was tossing was a fish.

speed51133

my sister thought deer eat rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, etc. because how could they grow so big from just eating plants?!! (she was in high school!)

alaskanassasin

I hope she’s pretty 

DoubleEgger

HeavyG said:

Never underestimate the general ignorance of the general public regardless of age.

Truer words have never been spoken. 

HeavyG

speed51133 said:

my sister thought deer eat rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, etc. because how could they grow so big from just eating plants?!! (she was in high school!)

https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2013/09/09/the-meat-eating-habits-of-deer/

She wasn't completely wrong.

YukonRon

I use a lot of honey in my sauces and in my cooks. I have a local supplier, 5 blocks away that has it for sale in the spring and summer. I have used his product primarily, and occasionally I will need more, and get it from the store. 2 completely different profiles in flavor. Local is the best. Not even close.

Thank you for posting this.

alaskanassasin

I am looking forward to this season, A local Meadery in Columbus is interested in buying our honey for a small batch mead. 

 Last year I did about 1,000 pounds of honey and probably could have harvested another 500 but I did not really have the market for that quantity.   They made a 1 gallon batch and loved it so hopefully we can work something out. 

billt01

I wish I had someone is South Georgia I could leverage for fresh honey. As with @YukonRon , my FWB Sauce is made with two cups of the stuff.

I love Honey (and maple syrup)..

side bar, i saw a documentary about maple syrup a few months ago..

apparently, there are gangsters in the maple industry...  

alaskanassasin

There is quiet a bit of shenanigans taking place during the almond pollination in Cali too, people steal whole truckloads of other people’s hives.