No bio honey at Vicus Apis. You will find out why in just a few minutes when reading this blog post.
The bio industry has grown enormously in recent years. Vegetables, meat and even honey have a bio variant. These bio variants are priced higher on average than the regular products, which involves a large money flow. We are very conscious eaters ourselves, almost no meat, no e-numbers and harvest as much as possible from our own vegetable garden. However, we do not opt for bio in private. We find fresh, unprocessed and fair to be more important and that is exactly why we do not sell bio honey.
Bio honey not fair? No, unfortunately bio honey is not always fair. Let me start by saying that dishonesty is not, otherwise rarely, the initiative of the beekeeper. The deception is in the regulation. The rules are partly foolish regarding bio honey and with no doubt many other bio products similar deceptions arise. The regulations have been developed by the European Union and it misses the mark completely. Whether this is the result of a union that has grown too large, a lack of knowledge by those developing the rules, or the lobbying force of large companies, we will leave in the middle... as probably all of the above applies.
The deception arises because the regulations state that within a radius of 3 kilometres no environmentally harmful agricultural methods may be used or as little as possible. If an apiary complies perfectly with the rules, the honey can still contain conventional pesticides. This is because honey bees can easily fly 10 kilometres for a strong honey flow and therefore do not value the limit of 3 kilometres. Thus, a heavily sprayed agricultural crop that has a strong honey flow at 8 kilometres can be enthusiastically visited by the honey bees from a bio hive.
Pesticides that are taken by the wind can also easily end up within the magic 3 kilometres. If a crop is sprayed 4 kilometres away and the mist is taken by the wind on a field with wildflowers within 3 kilometres, the pesticides will still be found in the honey. So even the honey from a beekeeper who manages to keep the honey bees within three kilometres, which is impossible to realize, will contain traces of pesticides. *
To make the rules even more effective, the honey is also not tested for the percentages of pesticide that it contains. Theoretically, bio honey can therefore contain more pesticides than regular honey. And the honey can always be heated and mixed as this is not regulated either. As a consequence, bio honey does not contain more antioxidants.
In a nutshell, bio honey is not a guarantee for fewer chemicals, bio honey is not tested for chemicals and as icing on the cake, bio honey can also be heated and mixed so that the nutritional value is not higher than normal honey. As a honey lover, it is therefore wiser to research the origin of the honey and not to look at a label. Buy your honey from a region rich in nature and which has a diverse landscape.
By the way, we are not against Europe. On the contrary we are for Europe. However, we are against the oligarchy that has completely overturned in regulations. Like, subscribe and share this blog post, because this subject needs much more attention.
Team Vicus Apis.
*Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007: 1.9.6.5. c) "the siting of the apiaries shall be such that, within a radius of 3 km from the apiary site, nectar and pollen sources consist essentially of organically produced crops or spontaneous vegetation or crops treated with low environmental impact methods"