Many people wonder why certified organic honey is not produced in the United States- here is a breakdown on why.
Bee boxes are placed near orchards, fields, gardens, and open land. While the boxes can be placed in or near an organic crop, the bees choose where they fly and what plants they pollinate. Bees will fly as far as they need to get the required resources for their hive. There is no way to track where the bees gather their pollen from; therefore, there is no way to know if the honey they produced came from organic plants. Due to this reason, the USDA cannot certify any American produced honey as organic. The Organic Trade Association states “the fact that apiculture varies considerably from other livestock operations has led to a great deal of variability in the requirements of certification.”1
“Organic” honey you find in stores is imported from different countries and is certified by the origin country’s government, not the United States. Keep in mind that different countries have different regulations to be certified organic.
Next time you’re shopping for honey, instead of looking for “organic” on the label, look for words like pure, unfiltered, and raw. Royal Honey has bee yards located in beautiful rolling hills of Northeastern Washington with untouched wildflowers. Our honey is not filtered or pasteurized. It contains no additives and instead holds all the enzymes and antioxidants that nature intends for us. Source your honey locally and find the best honey that matches your values!
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