What Makes Pure Honey Pure?                                                  

 

                                                       Honey mixed with sugar might be sweet, but it is not "honey."

                                                       A new proposal would require food companies and other producers

                                                       who add sweeteners to honey to alert consumers by labeling

                                                       their products as a blend, according to the U.S. Food and Drug

                                                       Administration.  Only manufactures that do not add sugar, corn

                                                       syrup or other sweeteners would be able to label their products as

                                                       pure honey. The proposal aims to regulate the food industry on

                                                       the proper labeling of honey and honey products to help ensure

                                                       that these items are not misbranded.

 

Americans consume more than 400 million pounds of honey each year, but just 149 million pounds of that honey were produced in the United States. To feed America's sweet tooth, much honey is imported, and U.S. producers are worried about cheap substitutes. A large portion of imported honey containes sweeteners such as cory syrup.  Pure honey is generally more expensive than those mixed with corn syrup. This additive which is virtually undetectable to the consumer allows imported honey to be sold at a lower cost than honey produced in the United States. In response to this growing problem, the FDA in recent years has inspected imported honey to see whether it had been "adulterated" with corn or cane sugars. It has frequently detained honey containing such substitutes from countries such as Brazil and Mexico. 

 

Chances are if you purchase honey at your local grocery store, you are probably not buying pure honey, but rather a diluted substance containing corn syrup or sugar substitutes. Honey purchased from Rock Hills Farm is one hundred percent pure honey with no artificial additives or sweeteners.  You taste honey sweetened by bees, never corn syrup.

 

 

 

Other Honey Contaminants Come From The Hive

 

There is a great movement among beekeepers to reduce

and even eliminate the use of chemicals to control pests

in the hive. Historically, beekeepers managed honey bees

without chemical treatments; but practices changed after

the introduction of parasitic mites in the 1980s. As the mite

population devastated bee hives across the country, the

beekeepers turned to chemical pesticides. Each year more

and more chemicals are added to the beekeeper's regimen.

 

Now many beekeepers are moving toward chemical-free beekeeping in an attempt to breed bees that are genetically adapted to living in the presence of the numerous honey bee pests. Chemical-free beekeeping employs an array of integrated pest management techniques. These include a series of steps taken to weaken the pests and strengthen the bees’ chances of survival. Mechanical controls, like small hive beetle traps, are used because they remove the pests without building resistant populations of the pests themselves. Cultural practices, like removing and freezing frames of drone brood containing developing mites, also reduce pests without building pest resistance to chemicals. Biological controls are important pieces of the integrated pest management approach to chemical-free beekeeping. Unwanted insects, like small hive beetle larvae crawling to pupate in the soil, don’t stand a chance around keen-eyed poultry allowed to feed in the bee yard.  All of these techniques are helping to create a population of honey bees that are stronger and more resistant to pests and disease.  All of this is being done without the use of chemicals.  At Rock Hills Farm we have adopted a chemical-free approach to beekeeping.  This guarantees your honey and the hive it was harvested from are one hundred percent chemical free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Article Sources:

http://theocba.org/resources/chemical-free-beekeeping/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bees_and_toxic_chemicals

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/08/honey-fda_n_5111907.html