On average, to produce a kilo of honey requires the work of about 2,500 bees. Each bee will have to fly up to 60 kilometers a day to find suitable flowers and will do so for around twenty-one days, sucking nectar from six hundred flowers.
When you understand all that goes into honey production, it becomes clear that buying a kilo of honey for a dollar is nonsense. The price of honey in Mexico and in other parts of the world has decreased due to the proliferation of adulterated honeys, as we mentioned before. It is crucial to buy honey directly from local producers and beekeepers, or buy certified honeys, understanding that the price you pay is directly proportional to its nutritional value and that it supports the beekeeper who practices fair and regenerative beekeeping.
Stricter regulations should also be promoted not only in terms of labelling, but also quality control and traceability of honey through its pollen.
It is also essential to be aware of the impact that the use of pesticides has on bees and to support campaigns to ban them, facilitating the conservation and restoration of ecosystems for bees and other pollinators.
“Honey Laundering”
Outrageously, one third of honey in international trade is adulterated or 100% false.
The Honey Authenticity Project has created three infographics revealing the alarming magnitude and consequences of the rise in adulterated honey. They explain:
“The large scale counterfeiting and adulteration of honey prompts the fall of honey prices and with it, accelerates the collapse of beekeeping, the driving force to maintain bees and their pollination alive.
“A peer reviewed article published in 2015 shows that low honey prices are the main threat for honey bees, even above pesticides and pests. Although beekeepers lose hives because of pesticides or other threats, if honey has a good price, they work hard and recover lost hives. If the price falls to a level that is no longer attractive, producers go out of business and hives cannot survive on their own.
“Many indigenous producers depend on the income that beekeeping brings them.
Low prices affect the peasant economy, which is already very precarious.
“The falsification of honey is a crime, it discourages beekeeping. Reduced pollination impacts food production.”
Adulterated honey imports from China and other countries threaten the future of bees and beekeepers. Make sure you know where your honey comes from, and even better, purchase it directlyfrom a regenerative beekeeper.
Learn More: One third of honey in international trade is adulterated or 100% false. How is this possible and what are the consequences?
Learn More: Honey fraud: One third of the international honey trade is not produced by bees from flowers, but from syrups in factories. This is a CRIME.
Learn More: Huge honey fraud leaves bees helpless. It destroys beekeeper’s livelihoods, consumers’ confidence, and harms health