While you’re reading, though, why don’t you munch on some toast and honey!
A PERSONAL NOTE
We would like to encourage honey buyers to purchase U.S. honey whether it be from us or someone else.
The Beekeeping Industry in this country is very important and, without it, much of the agriculture in this country could not exist.
About one third of the food in an average grocery store, as well as a large portion of the produce department, depends on honey bee pollination.
Over the years we have been involved in the pollination of alfalfa, almonds, cranberries, cucumbers, apples, crimson clover, Dutch white clover, sweet clover, squash, pumpkins, pears, cherries, strawberries, sunflowers, radish seed, cabbage seed, watermelons, cantaloupe, plums and more.
There are many other crops that depend on honey bee pollination and, without them, the store shelf would look much different.
Although beekeepers get paid for much of the pollination that occurs, they could not survive without the income from honey sales.
U.S. beekeepers are often offered prices that are below the cost of production and many go out of business each year. The answer for this is for domestic honey to be in demand. Much of the honey consumed in this country is imported. And that is okay.
We do not produce enough honey to meet the demand in this country and some of the imported honey is a good, high quality product. Examples of this are imports from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and others.
However, there is also a lot of highly questionable, extremely cheap honey coming into this country.
Many countries do not have the laws and regulations in place, nor do they care enough, to keep their honey uncontaminated and pure.
In recent years, huge amounts of honey have shown up here, especially from some countries in Asia and South America, that have been highly adulterated with other sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup and also contain chemicals and antibiotics that are illegal to use in this country. It is hard to compete with this.
Our best hope is to raise awareness and promote our own product.
Our own National Honey Board is only able to promote honey generically and is not allowed to promote U.S. Honey as such. So, we have to toot our own horn.
We are not trying to suggest that domestic honey is perfect or goes without incident, but the chance of getting a quality product with U.S. honey is much better than most imports, especially when purchased from a reputable producer.
If you purchase honey from us, we really appreciate your business, and we sincerely hope you enjoy our product. If you purchase from someone else, we hope you enjoy theirs, too.
Quality honey, in its purest form, is one of the finest foods on planet earth. It is very good for us.
That having been said, I would like to encourage everyone to eat and enjoy more honey.
Bob Binnie
Blue Ridge Honey Company
Lakemont, Ga.
Blue Ridge Honey Company
Lakemont, Ga.
BEEattitude for Day # 399:
Blessed are those who know what they eat, for they shall thrive.
