Honey- How Whole a Food?

Honeybee collecting nectar and pollen from a Poppy flower

Recently I have been reading a few articles about honey that bother me in different ways.

First was an article that comes from Europe, about EEC requirements that honey must meet in order to be called honey. Namely, a honey producer, large or small must prove that their honey has such and such a percentage of pollen. If it doesn't meet that requirement, it is not salable- it is not honey. (Will this encourage honey producers to add pollen to honey that might not meet this standard? Pollen that has no relationship to the bees or locale in which the honey was produced?  If so, that would create a wholly different set of problems for honey consumers.)

Second was an article (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/) about the lack of pollen in the bulk of average, store-bought honey from major producers, and questioning whether this should be called honey at all as it is missing a major component.

 As a beekeeper who has exhibited my honey in local agricultural fairs and sold my honey privately, I realize that there are numerous standards by which honey may be judged.  Most supermarket honey has been heated to a temperature high enough to dissolve any crystals forming therein and filtered finely enough to remove pollen particles that might look like bits of dirt to the many that do not have any experience with the true nature of honey.  The average consumer believes that honey that has crystallized has gone bad.  They do not know that honey is made from nectar, processed by honeybees and that it is by nature, sugars.  Sugars will crystallize- that is their nature and that is what we depend on when using sugars to make candy such as Rock-candy.  Until recently, most beekeepers and honey producers have tried to adapt honey to the perceived desires of the public, which means heating and filtering.  The end product is still honey but perhaps not as nutritious as it is coming in its natural state directly from the hive.

Educating the public about honey- what it is and what it contains and why, can solve the problems without making laws that will in the end, confuse and not enlighten- will not increase the appreciation and understanding of the true gift that honey is both to us and to whom it is the staff of life- the honeybees themselves.  It is a pure and whole food that completely nourishes the bees!