Example Honey Quality Standard

Reprinted with permission: Organic Honey Standards from Quality Assurance International (QAI).

6.7 HONEY STANDARDS

6.7.1 Bee-Stock Sources

While pedigree of the bees is not crucial to organic honey production, their handling in a manner that prevents contamination of future organic honey crops with residual honey or bee feed from non-compliant sources is crucial.
Acceptable sources of bees include:

Colonies in existing organic hives;
Colonies confined to brood chambers only covered by a queen excluder;
Divided colonies from conventional hives on brood combs only;
Package bee colonies;
Nucleus colony (“nucs”);
Captured wild or migratory swarms on brood comb only.
The use of colonies that have combs containing existing honey produced from nectar collected from non-complying foraging areas is prohibited.

6.7.2 Principal Feed Source Areas

Organic honey must be produced by naturally foraging colonies that are located at least 2 miles (straight-line flight) from any pollution source which could cause contamination (e.g., synthetic-chemical sprayed agriculture, industrial centres, urban centres). A detailed map of all forage areas is required from all applicants.

6.7.3 Feed Supplements

Each beekeeper is required to have a supplemental feeding plan if starvation is imminent (e.g., honey, sugar, syrup, fruit concentrate or other food source for non-flow periods).
If hives are moved to non-compliant nectar/pollen sources, any honey produced must be removed before the move; the first honey extracted after re-entry into a compliant location is treated as conventional honey. The use of non-compliant feed supplements during honey flow is prohibited.

6.7.4 Health-Care Practices

Bottom boards may be scraped routinely to remove accumulations of wax and other debris.
Colonies infected with American Foulbrood must be destroyed.
Antibiotic use (e.g., oxytetracycline) may only be made after the end of honey production, and must be terminated 30 days prior to the start of new organic honey production.
Menthol is allowed for control of Tracheal Mite (Acarapis woodi).
Folic acid, formic acid, lactic acid may be used under specified restrictions for treatment of Varroa Mite.
Prohibited practices include use of sugar syrup or oil-based extender patties for administering antibiotics for American Foulbrood, and use of synthetically compounded materials for health care.

6.7.5 Hives & Apiary Yard Locations

Apiary yards should be located near abundant forageable pollen and nectar crops; yards should be in areas of low ant activity.
Hives (if paintable) should be painted with non-toxic paint and in a suitable colour for the climatic conditions.
Comb foundations must be made of pure beeswax; frames must be wood. Plastic frames, foundations or combs are prohibited.
Each hive must have a numbered ID code relating to its components (bottom board, brood chamber, queen excluder if used, honey supers, cover(s)).
Use of wet comb from conventional hives is prohibited.

6.7.6 Harvesting

6.7.6.1 Acceptable methods for removing bees from the honey supers during harvesting include:

Bee escapes with a natural smoke agent;
Bee brush and transfer boxes;
Forced-air bee blower.
Prohibited: use of “fume boards” with non-compliant or unregistered repellents (e.g., butyric anhydride (Bee Go), benzaldehyde).

6.7.7 Extraction Facility

The facility must adhere to all regulations for organic processing facilities.
6.7.7.1 Acceptable moth controls in storage include: burning sulfur; refrigeration or freezing.
Any honey heated to over 110 °F (43.3 °C) must not be labeled “raw” because of enzyme denaturing. The labelling of organic honey grade or colour shall comply with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) honey industry standards. An organic honey labelled by floral source must be produced solely from that single floral source and not blended with other honey.

6.7.8 Record-Keeping

Yard records of all inputs must be maintained (dates and amounts of materials applied). A detailed production log with an apiary yard location system must be maintained in an auditable format.

Note: This document provides one example of quality standard criteria for organic honey production as provided by QAI. Buyers should still verify certification, origin, floral source, processing and labels before purchase.

Example Honey Quality Standard