77% of US retail "Honey" . . . isn't

Excellent info, thanks.

This is what pisses me off, Americans are importing this crap and selling it to uninformed fellow Americans.

 

People buy cheap garbage and are shocked when its not real? Really? What do you expect from a $1.99 plastic honey bear.

 

Exactly. Maple syrup anyone?

 

Are you kidding? Screwing fellow Americans is a national pass time, especially if you work for Penn State.

 

Completely uncalled for.

 

Yet hilarious.

 

Anytime house branded stuff is sold it is made to a price point, damn the quality.
I'm surprised but not shocked.
I was raised on Aunt Jemima and those plastic bears of honey, it's comforting to think it was better then.

 

is this why there are less bees then years ago, did they all quit?

 

I keep my own bees so total quality control of household honey consumption.

 

I don't need to ask twice to talk about Bees! sitting in a car at the moment returning from EWR and no photos of the hives on my laptop but see the :21-26 second point of this video for a glimpse of one of my three hives in the background. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJaRwRMwg7c[/ame]

My dad kept bees for a while when I was a kid. Four years ago we did a major landscaping overhaul of the back garden. At the same time i'd been reading about 'Spontaneous Hive Collapse Syndrome,' wherein entire hives would mysteriously vanish. Some commercial operations in Europe especially were decimated. So I figured I'd add a dynamic element to the backyard, while doing my small part to preserve honeybees.

The learning curve is not bad and it's not really that much work, with the two major caveats that a) it is hard to find good sources of information about beekeeping, b) when they do require work, they need it Right Now, not when your schedule allows.

I get ~70-80 lbs of honey a year, and that is with a very generous allowance for the bees themselves so there is no risk to their overwinter needs.

People ask if I sell it, HAH! NO! Much better than that, I jar it and use for house gifts. I figure every time you visit someone for dinner or holiday party, you'll bring a nice bottle of wine (I know, not Charlotte Ford recommended) or similar nice item. You probably spent ~$45? Instead I bring a nicely wrapped jar of localvore honey. The local healthfood store would've paid me $5, so I figure I'm making $40 per jar!

 

I only buy honey at local farmer's markets and such, so no chinese goo is in this house. Much like fine jewelry, if you buy it from a scruffy guy in overalls out of the back of his pickup, it's probably legit. Thankfully here in the South local honey businesses are freaking EVERYWHERE. I swear it seems like every po-dunk town in this state has at least two honey operations.

There are a few that sell boutique varieties where they try to restrict the bees to only certain types of flowers. It's amazing the difference you can taste from one variety to another. I bought some from these guys a while back, and it was fantastic (no affiliation): https://www.savannahbee.com/category/Specialty-Honey/ART0