Important Changes to ELAP for Honey Bee Producers Announced by USDA
Significant changes to the ELAP announced that will be very important for honey bee producers. Read more…
Honey Bee Thieves Caught with $50,000 Haul
A local honey company relied on social media to catch the theives that stole almost five dozen of their honey bee hives. Read more…
MGH Study Shows Improved Wound Healing for Horses
There are a lot of claims about honey these days, some of them true, others just fairy tales. One tale we have heard quite often, especially when it comes to vets and animals, is that raw honey can help in the wound healing process assuming the wound is not a gaping cut. A new study…
New Zealand Government Bucks Up to Help Branding Fight Against Australia
Manuka honey producers in New Zealand are about to get a major boost from their government in the form of a $5.7 million grant. In an effort to help boost Manuka honey companies in the country, the government is offering up the grant to help fund more scientific research. Once all the details of the…
European Honey Production in Sharp Decline
Just as the honey industry here in the United States has been impacted by massive losses to honey bee hives, so has honey production throughout Europe. Honey producers all over Europe are reporting numbers that are at or near record lows. In some cases, honey production is only a small fraction of what it was…
Australia Fighting Back Over Manuka Honey Naming Rights
Recently, the New Zealand Manuka honey industry fired a shot across the bow of Australia by filing a trademark suit to get exclusive naming rights for Manuka Honey. If successful, it will dramatically impact Australia’s ability to take advantage of growing Manuka honey markets, such as China, were Manuka honey is absolutely blowing up right…
New Zealand and Australia Fighting It Out Over China Business
The market in China for Manuka honey is large and it is only going to get larger in the coming years. The Chinese have fully embraced the alleged health benefits of Manuka honey, resulting in a market that is exploding right now for Manuka honey producers in Australia and New Zealand. If New Zealand has…
Honey a Major These During Buffalo’s Beer Week
This is now the 10th year Buffalo Beer Week has been held but there is definitely a new twist to the festival this year. In addition to the slew of local craft beers that will be featured, those attending are also going to be treated to a new local brew… mead. For those of you…
Illinois Beekeeper Donates ‘Honey Money’ to Charity
Unless you have a massive number of bees, you will never get rich with beekeeping as your hobby. However, that does not mean the money made off the hobby cannot be put to good use. In the case of Allen Kracower, every cent of his profits are donated to a fund at a local hospital…
William & Mary University Incorporating Honey into Dining Services for Students
We have long been advocates of educating the next generation on the honey bee and William & Mary is incorporating a new program that will do just that. The University is partnering up with KelRae Farm to incorporate honey into its student dining menus. The hives producing the honey will also be integrated into the…
Chuck Schumer Goes to Bat for Honey Bee Surveys
All of a sudden, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has become the honey bee’s biggest advocate in Washington D.C. After appearing in Upstate New York last week, Schumer appears to have a new affection for the honey bee. The problem was brought to his attention during that appearance and Schumer vowed to help the state’s agriculture…
South Dakota Beekeepers Report Record Losses
South Dakota is regularly among the biggest contributors to the honey industry in the United States. It is also among the leaders in the pollination industry, so any untypical loss in honey bees is going to set the state back considerably. Due to the significant loss of hives over the last year, the entire country…
Polk County Police Investigating Honor Bar Honey Heist
A local honey store in Polk County, FLA, Struther’s Honey, caught a small honey-theft ring on tape and now the local sheriff’s office is looking for help to lock up the culprits. The store is putting a lot of faith in its customers by allowing them to pay on the honor system. While the “thieves”…
Wisconsin Honey Production Falls by 23 percent
Lately, it seems like all we have been reporting is negative news, but that, unfortunately, is the state of the industry right now. The honey production numbers from Wisconsin are finally in and once again, it is not good news. Wisconsin hit a 10-year low in 2018, producing a total of 2.3 million pounds. This…
Manuka Honey Company Fined $260,000
The drive to cash in on the honey craze has been taken too far too often by some honey providers. In the case of Evergreen Life and company manager Tak Yoon Lee, it meant some extremely heavy fines. According to reports, the company was fined $260,000 and Lee himself was fined an additional $112,500. Trying…
French Honey Producers Hitting Panic Button
Colony collapse disorder has proven to be a significant challenge for beekeepers all over the world, but France appears to be getting hit especially hard. Over the last two weeks, we have seen reports throughout the United States of massive losses over this past winter, and now France is adding to the numbers. Continued Problems…
Beekeepers Report Record Honey Bee Colonies Lost during Winter
Sadly, it seems as though every time another report comes out on the state of the honey bee, it is just more bad news. A new survey released by the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) is offering more of the same. According to the group’s latest survey, U.S. beekeepers are estimated to have lost roughly 40…
Wisconsin Latest State to Report Lower Honey Production
As more and more states start to report their 2018 production numbers, there is a very clear trend that honey production is far lower than usual. Wisconsin is yet another state reporting declining production, but the situation is far more serious than just this past year. This is now the third straight year where production…
Montana State University Begins Producing Its Own Honey
The honey industry in the United States has taken quite a hit over the last couple of years. While a recent international study showed a 16 percent decline in colonies, the number here in the states is almost double that. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cites the decline at roughly 30 percent here in the…
Honey Production’s Continued Decline in Wisconsin
We have seen reports of declining honey production throughout the United States, but one state, in particular, seems to be getting hit extremely hard. The numbers for 2018 were just released for Wisconsin and it is not good. According to the National Agriculture Statistics Service, honey production in Wisconsin was down 23 percent from the…
Beekeepers to Residents: Don’t Kill the Bees!
Beekeepers in South Carolina are asking for some cooperation from residents. As bee season kicks into high gear, they are begging residents to leave the bees alone. Call for help if you must, but do not kill off the local bee population. Big Problems Most people do not realize how vital bees are to the…
So-Called ‘Safe’ Pesticides Could Still Hurt Some Honey Bees
According to a team of researchers from the University of California in San Diego, a pesticide that has been deemed safe for honey bees may actually endanger certain demographics of these bees, especially if it is used alongside other chemicals, such as fungicides. Sivanto, which was developed by the company Bayer CropScience AG, has been…
Australian Study Offers Answers for Fighting Honey Adulteration
A team of researchers from Australia have found a method for differentiating honey based on geographical origins, which could help in preventing common adulteration issues regarding honey. According to this study, honey ranks among the world’s most adulterated foods, with many common practices for this including adding corn syrup or cane sugar to it or…
Researchers Use Machine Learning for Identifying Fake Honey
Thanks to a group of researchers from University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London (ICL), there is now a new possible method for authenticating honey via microscopy and machine learning. This technique, discussed in a paper published by arXiv, can detect mislabeled or diluted honey at costs far lower than current methods. Honey, the…
Miracle Pooch Treated with Manuka Honey After Near-Death Experience
Despite four different final goodbyes by his owners, Adrian and Kyla Harris, a very lucky hound from England has proven everyone wrong and pulled through after he previously scorched himself with hot, burning fat. After the July 4 accident, where the Harris’s lemon beagle, Mylo, pulled a deep fryer from their kitchen countertop, the worried…
ApisProtect Securing Honey Bees with Better Hive Monitoring
These days, rather than inspecting beehives by hand, beekeepers and other industry insiders are leaning more toward new high-quality sensors for monitoring commercial honey bees. Basically, this shift means honey bees, which have seen declining numbers for over a decade now, can get the full attention of the keepers working hard to keep them healthy…
Texas Officials Warn Against Honey Pacifiers and Infant Botulism
According to the Department of Health Services in the state of Texas, parents of infant children as well as other adults were warned about giving certain pacifiers to babies, specifically those containing honey. This warning came as a result of four babies in that state becoming sick with botulism and then being treated for it…
Frankincense Farmer in Israel Cashing in on Rare Kind of Honey
One Israeli farmer has begun cashing in through an exotic honey he’s made from one of the rarer types of trees in Israel that can produce frankincense—a once highly-valued resin long praised in the Bible. The Balm of Gilead—the name of the farm owned by Guy Erlich—is the home of roughly 1,000 of these rare…
Gentrified Urban Rats Get Trapped by Manuka Honey
As most homeowners and renters will tell you, taking care of a rat problem is no easy feat and can take weeks to finally eradicate. To fix their rat or mouse problem, many opt for snap traps, sticky pads, poison (if there are no pets present in the house), or even live-catch traps. However, for…
Cambridge Hospital ‘Oozing’ Honey from Walls
When a hive has grown so large that it must divide its numbers to survive, one half leaves with a new queen in tow to find a new place to build a hive and call home. However, while honey bees can usually find sufficient spots out in the wild to set up shop, they sometimes…
Laura Dern Prefers Matcha Tea with Manuka Honey
Whether you know her for her early work in Blue Velvet or Wild at Heart, her starring role in Jurassic Park, or her recent, award worthy work, including a supporting role in HBO’s Big Little Lies that won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe, Laura Dern is an actress who has earned our attention…
NYPD Police Officers Turn Honey Producers
Within the past few weeks, it was reported that a swarm of roughly 30,000 honey bees had descended upon a Times Square hot dog stand, which is a very public place for a vulnerable group of bees to settle. Fortunately, this story doesn’t end tragically with someone calling the exterminator; instead, a friendly face came…
Australian Police Find Theft Ring for Manuka Honey and Baby Formula
It’s often surprising to see the type of things criminals will attempt to steal in bulk, and police in Victoria, Australia have certainly been in for a strange one in the last couple of weeks. Police uncovered an unprecedentedly huge stash of vitamins and baby formula inside of a truck that had been reported stolen—just…
Australian Citizens Fighting Potentially Harmful Honey Project
Residents in the small Western Australian town of Wadpole are pledging to fight off a scandalous proposal that has conservationists worried about its potential for damaging the area’s ecology and contaminating drinking supplies. Through a deal between ManukaLife, a honey producer, and a company simply called the Water Corporation, land in the possession of the…
Manuka Plantings in New Zealand Going to Boost Industry
Being the home of Manuka honey, it’s always good to hear about the various ways the island country of New Zealand is expanding this crucial industry. Last Friday, in Northland, New Zealand, the first Manuka trees of over a half million were planted, with the goal being for them to contribute to the government’s export…
Distinct Pollen Signatures in Honey Could Help Identify Counterfeits
With popular honey like Manuka honey being in relatively short supply, it’s not uncommon to hear about counterfeit honeys made to look like such honeys in order to capitalize on the profitable industry. A recent study on Australian honey, which contains its own pollen signature as most honeys do, determined that this type of honey—and…
Study Reveals Hawaiian Honey Contains Roundup
While the state of Hawaii has been in the news for more visibly upsetting reasons in the past few months, a study conducted recently revealed something else to be concerned with in the Aloha State. Specifically, it’s been revealed that a significant amount of honey within Hawaii’s Garden Isle has tested positively for RoundUp, the…
Maine Honey, Maple Syrup Producers Saved from Confusing Labels
In recent months, honey and maple syrup producers from the state of Maine have been fighting a US Senate proposal to add a confusing “added sugar” label to all their products, a distinction that could be false in its vague presentation. However, these businesses can rest a bit more easily for now, as an amendment…
Trader Joe’s Sued Over Possibly Impure Honey
Trader Joe’s, a grocery chain famed for selling food items from all over the world, has been accused of cutting jars of novelty Manuka honey with less expensive varieties and then selling the product as pure, an alleged act that has resulted in a lawsuit. “While the demand for Manuka honey has increased, the supply…
FDA Reconsidering ‘Added Sugar’ Label for Honey and Syrup
Soon after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its plans to implement a requirement that pure honey and maple syrup must carry the label “added sugar,” they stated they were reconsidering the plan altogether. As to the reason behind this, maple syrup producers, especially those in Vermont, rallied hard against the FDA’s plan,…