thistletongue:

According to the National Honey Board, per person consumption of the regurgitated nectar, has doubled in America since the 1990s. As demand has increased, prices have followed. Domestic production has not. In 2016 American bees produced 73,000 tonnes of honey, or 35% less than they did 20 years ago. This has given honey-sellers an incentive to dilute it with cheaper things like corn, rice, and beet syrup. According to the US Pharmacopeia’s Food Fraud Database, honey is now the third-favorite food target for adulteration, behind milk and olive oil. [x]

So you’re walking around a market and you see someone selling honey. If you’re like me you’re lulled into a false sense of security from the start. You’re at a FARMER’S Market after all, who would try to scam you with fake processed garbage? Well, the answer is, actually, almost everyone. 

You see A LOT of honey comes from shitty sources and neither are helping the bees or your health/allergies.

One type of fraud is people rebottling cheap, wholesale “honey” usually from China. This stuff is a mix of all sorts of bad stuff, especially since in China they don’t HAVE enough bees and have been pollinating by hand [x]. Most of this is various vegetable syrups and the honey that is there is from bees fed pure sugar water, which has 0 health benefits for you or the bees. 

Also, depending on where you live, rebottling is required by law be done in a commercial kitchen and the FDA requires specific labeling formats depending on the honey content and where it’s from.

If a food consists of honey and a sweetener, such as sugar or corn syrup, can I label the food as only “honey”?

No. A product consisting of honey and a sweetener cannot be labeled with the common or usual name “honey” because “[t]he common or usual name of a food … shall accurately identify or describe … the basic nature of the food or its characterizing properties or ingredients” (21 CFR 102.5(a)). Identifying a blend or a mixture of honey and another sweetener only as “honey” does not properly identify the basic nature of the food. You must sufficiently describe the name of the food on the label to distinguish it from simply “honey” (21 CFR 102.5(a)). [x]

Unfortunately, A LOT of people DO NOT do this. Unfortunately, A LOT of people LIE. So what you need to do, as the consumer, is ask questions.

• Is this pure, raw, 100% honey?
• Where are the hives located?
• Are the bees kept sustainably?
• Is the honey heated or treated?

If you ask directly the person selling the honey cannot lie. You need to ask if the product you are purchasing is 100%, pure honey. If anything has been added they will have to disclose the information to you. If they do not or lie they can face legal action.

Knowing where the hives are located will help with two things:
1) If you’re buying honey for allergies you need honey containing the same plant pollens that you’re allergic to for that season. If the honey is from too far away the plants can vary and you won’t get the same benefits. And 2) it also helps to know you’re getting local, real, not repackaged honey. 

Knowing how the bees are cared for is important because some beekeepers don’t look after their bees. Ideally, hives are stationary, established, and have enough foraging without needing sugar water to keep the hive fed and healthy. In my area, a healthy hive takes around 2 years to establish in order to survive our long winters. That means no honey at all for at least two years. It’s also important to know that no pesticides or chemicals are sprayed on or near the bees. A lot of farmers spray their crops and their bees and this can cause them to get very sick and die. 

Heating or treating honey (sometimes done to reverse crystallization) can break down the healthy enzymes that make it beneficial to eat. 

If you see someone selling huge amounts of honey for very cheap that’s a red flag. Either the honey is old, mixed, or rebottled. The bees are either being overharvested or improperly maintained and are very likely being harmed. 

The average honey bee will make only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime of 5 to 6 weeks in the summer. These foragers are the oldest bees in the hive and it is during the last two weeks of their lives that they gather nectar, pollen, water, and propolis. To survive our winter here bees need almost 100lbs. of honey and that must be established before any excess can be taken and sold. 

So, to reiterate, anyone is selling often at many markets and selling in large quantities the honey may be from previous seasons (which isn’t as potent for allergies) or may not be honey at all, or maybe overharvested at the expense of the hive. 

Please engage before you purchase, a good beekeeper will be able to answer your questions and will want to educate you. Ask for a card, ask for a website, as for a blog.

If your goal is to help save the bees make sure the honey you’re buying isn’t causing them harm. 

This blog has great resources for sustainable beekeeping if you’re interested in further research.