So if it has the true source certification, does that mean its good honey? Or can it still be crappy?
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Let me ask my question in a different way. Will honey with the True source label have all the pollen pulled out. Where its not even considered honey anymore.
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I am a beekeeper in New Zealand. ***Generally*** the honey here is of very high quality (yes, dodgy imports from China and Iran have made it even to here, and local "pirates" being unscrupulous). A lot of negative propaganda is portrayed of American honey (I'm talking Walmart etc.). For one thing, the method of farming in USA is not ideal. I'm not trying to bag American industry, but the facts speak for themselves. Let's face it, trucking bees all over the country following different crops for pollination stresses the poor insects out. Pesticides even more so, and I'd say if not 100% of large commercial pollination beekeepers feed their bees with corn or cane sugar (cane sugar or "invert syrup" gets used extensively in commercial production, and has caused a storm of controversy lately in our unique Manuka honey industry, with C4 sugar residues, whatever they are!)
Try to find a local beekeepers' club/association. Hell, become a member! As a beekeeper myself, I can say any hobbyist beekeeper worth their salt who is beekeeping for the main purpose of producing honey (many do it primarily for other reasons) will have more than they know what to do with, and may be prepared to flick it off cheaply. Better still, become a beekeeper. Even a hive 3km down the road from my place (less than 2 miles), the honey at that site produces vastly different flavoured and coloured honey than the 4 hives at my place. As a beekeeper, you can choose where to keep your bees (especially if your friends don't mind having a hive at their place), and depending on what is in flower in your area, you can get quite different tones at different times of the year.
By all means if money is the most important factor, got to Walmart, but I think if you shop around your local scene, you may find top quality bulk honey at comparatively low prices. If nothing else, try to support your local guys. Honey from your own back yard would be my go-to for top quality, raw bulk honey at an affordable price, failing that, again, look to your local beekeeping fraternity. It is a hobby that is becoming a bigger and stronger movement every year (my local club, the Auckland Beekeepers' Club went from less than 300 members 3 years ago to almost 500 this year). I promise you, you won't be looked at weirdly for mentioning you keep bees, in most circles anyway!
EDIT:
One thing I forgot to mention in that runny honey from a bottle has been heated past 60˚C, which destroys the enzymes and chemically alters the sugars.
Also, many filtered honeys CONTAINS NO POLLEN. Honestly, what is the point? You might as well be making "mead" out of HFCS. Don't do it.
For many big pollination beekeepers, honey production is an annoying inconvenience, true. Your smaller hobbyists will generally be trying to squeeze enough honey out to make it worthwhile. You're spot on with the feeding of invert syrup, and this can be a problem because it is turned into 'honey' by the bees, but only for their own feed, not ours. This leads (I think!) to C4 sugar contamination (NOT toxic or anything, just not floral honey). As for neonics, filtering honey will do nothing. You see, neonics are systemic, meaning the entire plant, every part of it, including what they are selling as food, the fruit, leaves, nectar, pollen, seeds, you name it, is contaminated. The FDA will tell you these are chemicals are "safe". Beekeepers and organic followers will tell you otherwise! I will let you make your own judgement. Actually, honey collected from built-up areas is *probably* cleaner than that from conventional farms (You either get the pesticides or the diesel fumes. Seeing as diesel fumes aren't systemic, I'd prefer them
Honey labels here in the US are inconsistent and confusing to say the least. I've seen the terms, "raw", "unfiltered", unpasteurized, pasteurized, gently filtered, etc. Does New Zealand have a consistent term for different treatments of honey? I assume "raw" means the same thing as "unpasteurized" here, how about there?
That said, I think you are lucky to have this "true source" thing. I don't think that is here in NZ. [As far as I am aware] we just rely on the "honesty" (or lack thereof) of our local industry beekeepers. There have definitely been cases, especially in the incredibly lucrative manuka honey industry, where the label says something that is different than the product in the jar. Cheating. There have also been stories in the news of widespread thefts, vandalism, and other acts of piracy in the areas of bush where manuka grows wild, in the far north of our country.
Thanks NZ-beekeep, I count myself privileged to have your expertise available. I'm ordering an Italian queen for the spring. Hopefully I still have time to learn more from you. Thanks
I take it you're in the southern hemisphere? Some of those in the colder northern States or deep south of NZ/Sth America may find the "Carniolan" strain of honeybee better. They are originally from Eastern Europe (Hungary? Czech?) and can take the cold. You have to keep a closer eye during swarming season though!
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