On the markets, during private conversations or between beekeepers, one of the most frequent comments that I have noticed are: « all honeys are organic! » or « honey can not be organic! ». Mistake ! Double mistake ! After reading this article, you will judge the efforts of organic beekeepers to produce in compliance with such a binding specification.
My point is not to collide two visions of beekeeping, one being intensive and industrial, the other being artisanal and respectful of the environment - in fact, most beekeepers are nature lovers, respectful of the life cycles of the bees and producing healthy products. On the other hand, nothing prevents the organic conversion of a bee farm raisong several thousand hives. Organic honey and organic bee products are made in bee farms that are folowing the organic agriculture charter of quality. An agriculture which adheres to an ethic, to a certain vision of life and engages itself into it.
An ethic, a vision for life, a commitment.« Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on sustainable techniques to enhance the natural fertility of a farm, including crop rotation, companion planting, biological pest control, and naturally-sourced fertilizers such as compost, manure, green manure, and bone meal. Pest-control measures such as mixed crops and fostering natural insect predators, as well as naturally-sourced pesticides such as pyrethrin, are employed, while it excludes or strictly limits the use of synthetic petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, plant growth regulators such as hormones, antibiotic use in livestock, genetically modified organisms; human sewage sludge, and nanomaterials.) The agricultural approach emphasizes sustainability, openness, independence, health, and safety. » 
The beekeeper engaged in organic farming identifies with these general principles organizing all of its production activities by following these general principles. One of the basic principles is to ensure that bees are able to find by themselves the resources they need in their milieu. If this environment is made up of wild plants or organic crops, ewerything is ok. The cultivation in the field of genetically modified plants is a serious problem to the organic beekeeper. For a small plot planted with GMOs in the middle of a wide area of organic crops, he will be forced to move his hives away to keep his label. The problem is even more serious in the case of mutagens sunflowers or rapeseed that do not fall under the GMO regulations. Sunflowers or rapeseed genetically mutated are already on very large surfaces and beekeepers have no information about the location of these plots. The European population considers these plants as GMOs and do not wish to find them on their plates. Today, these unanswered problems show how organic beekeeping can be difficult in certain agricultural areas. This constitutes an obstacle to freedom of enterprise. An obstacle to the free choice of mode of production. Faced with the freedom to produce GMOs, the beekeeper can oppose the freedom to produce organic honey. For this, the beekeeper must follow precise specifications.
In France there are several specifications referring to organic production in beekeeping : AB, Nature & Progès or Demeter. In order to legally reference to the organic label, a producer must follow the European specifications which sets the legal framework for certification. The private standards are often more stringent than the European framework. The AB logo or the European logo on products from organic agriculture is allowed only for farms controlled by different certifying bodies accredited by COFRAC. Nothing prevents to join a private label and simultaneously be certified organic (that is to say, be controlled by Ecocert and company). Private labels have the annoying tendency to criticize the European context by accusing him of being too lax. However, to market organic products across all EC countries, an harmonized set of Community rules was necessary. To be credible, a commitment must be monitored by an independent body.
Main elements of the European organic specifications
|The European specifications relating to organic beekeeping is available from various certification bodies. About organic beekeeping, there are a number of rules to follow. The most important are detailed below:|
The feeding of the bees.
The breeds of bees.
The beehive materials.
The conversion period.
Control methods against Varroa Destructor
A commitment to product quality.
All products from beehives died of poisoning or contamination by pollutants can't be organic.
For harvesting, the use of chemical repellents is prohibited. Smoking should be done with biofuels environmentally, by physical process (brushing, shaking, blowing, bee hunting). The harvesting by destructionof the bees is prohibited. The honey house equipment must be suitable for food contact (stainless steel) bare metal or galvanized or cast iron are not allowed. Honey shall at no time be heated above 40 °. The automatic liquefaction less than 40 ° is allowed with control HMF (maximum 10mg / kg for honey in bulk or drums - 15mg / kg for honey pots). The pollen must be dried at a temperature below 40 °. Storage is recommended at temperatures between 4 ° and 5 °. For the production of Royal-Jelly, priming cells before grafting should be done with organic jelly. Harvesting operations must be on the same day of the withdrawal of the bars of the hive. The larvae should be removed before the harvest is done by physical processes. The Royal jelly must be filtered at the time of harvest and be packaged in food containers (glass preferred). It must be immediately preserved in the cold between + 2 ° and + 5 °.
A better product