Not all honey contains a mixture of honeys from other countries. The honey I consume comes from a local supermarket and is produced solely by U.S. beekeepers. I think that if foreign honey is involved, the container has to say so. Producers try to camouflage that fact as much as possible. When I was examining a honey container recently, I couldn't find any indication that foreign honey was involved--until I looked at the underside and found a very lightly stenciled notation that it was a mixture of honeys from Argentina, Canada, and the U.S.

Yes they are required to indicate where the honey is from. We do have some stores that carry local honey but not all do.

Here is a link at Honey.com on labeling for honey.

http://www.honey.com/nhb/indus...

It not only tells what has to go on the label, it also mentions the country of orgin information and the use of words like Natural, Raw, Pure etc.

Good link Margaret. Companies are so wiley these days ---- you have to watch everything like a hawk.

I get my raw honey at our healthy food store as well and it is local.

In the organic section of one of the grocery stores, it advertises honey as organic, etc., but it has Argentina on the label. Pffft...

Honey is the one thing that you can give a kid when they are coughing in the night that you don't have to keep them sitting up for a while afterwards to make sure that it will go down all of the way/right. It is so soothing and nice to a throat raw from drainage that my allergic family uses it a lot!

Honey lover here, too. I don't buy it much because its gotten so expensive around here, an 8 oz jar for $9.00 and something. Yikes. Last time I used some for medicinal purposes I "borrowed" four or five squirts from the neighbor. (I'm such a miser, ain't I!?) :>)

Vic, I once got excellent honey for a great price up your way once. Two elderly folks were selling it on the roadside, raw; a canning quart jar was $12.00. Yet another reason to get back to the mountains.

Nice article, Mindy/Margaret. I've enjoyed reading all your honey write-ups.

Shoe

You know you're welcome anytime Shoe -

Yeah, local is the way to go if you can do it. If I knew where to get raw honey directly from a local family, it would be great!

Linda, put a little ad in your local paper asking. I bet you'll get replies.

Thank you Shoe glad you enjoyed the honey articles. Hopefully, the other articles didn't bore you to tears.

Linda Ann's suggestion is a good one for finding local beekeepers. I'd check with your local mail carrier he/she would definitely know if there's any beekeepers in your area. Mine sure knows where other beekeepers are and how their honey is because he likes honey..

"Hopefully, the other articles didn't bore you to tears."

Hah! Nope! I think I've only read articles pertaining to honey...setting up bee keeping, what you need, what to do, etc. I'll have to look and see if you have "other articles" that aren't honey/bee related.

Thanks again! Good going!
Shoe

And Shooooe ~~~~ when do you plan to get some hives? I'm very surprised you don't have any.

Thanks Shoe. No other subject covered by me yet. Honey bees are too interesting to spare time for other subjects.

I agree! And you've done wonderfully well covering many topics concerning them.

I've been very fortunate by having a mini-farm that is basically an "island", surrounded by quite a few hundred acres on 3 sides and 20-40 acres on a fourth side which is boundaried by an interstate. Because of the seclusion and being the only farmer down our dirt road I've always had plenty of bees, never witnessing the loss of them, colony collapse, etc. I have no doubt it is because I've kept nature as intact as possible, encouraging wildflowers, wild "weeds", no spray programs, etc, and growing green manures, cover crops and such year round, allowing the flowers to declare. This does wonders for the insect life/wildlife population. A bee keeper would be happy to set his/her hives here.

Speaking of hives, flafwrgrl, I once considered having bees but at the time I didn't have the monetary investment (hives, supers, bees w/queens, extractor, "the costume", etc) so bowed out. I bet I could find a local bee keeper to put some hives on my land though!

Shoe

I would lay money down on that one Shoe & I don't lay my money down lightly!

Your farm sounds like how we do our farm most of it is allowed to grow however Mother Nature wants it, no pesticides here though I'm sure some of the neighbors in their range uses them. However, I think there's enough for our bees they don't have to leave home.
A beekeeper would love to set up hives on your place just make sure getting some of the honey is part of the deal.

Yep, we have some honey sellers at the market. At some point in time when pollination started becoming a problem for some bee keepers would RENT you their hives to help your gardens. It went from them looking for places to set up free to charging people rent on the hives to set them up. I'll still check around though.

I wonder if a hive of bees brought in would have a negative effect on the already-establish bee population...any ideas on that?

Shoe

I doubt there would be any impact Shoe.

Thank you for the info on bees.
Our local gardening club (Calgary Hort) is holding a workshop
on bees in January.
I think it is important to get local honey,
and have some idea of which plants the bees have been pollinating.
On ordering seeds for the Mayan Yellow Trumpet plant-I was researching this plant.
I know it is tropical, but I was going to get it growing in a pot,
and then place the pot outside for the summer.
Now I shall keep the pot of yellow trumpet flower in the house.
Apparently the pollen contains an alkaloid which can make people sick.
This can be a problem in Florida where the yellow trumpet flower is more prevalent.
I am wondering if there are other plants to which the bees should be protected?