Pure Honey

We have all been reading about the decline of the honeybee population and Colony Collapse Disorder. Starting in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives.

The decline of the honeybee population is a big problem because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by honey bees. According to the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the worth of global crops with honeybee’s pollination was estimated to be close to $200 billion in 2005. Shortages of bees in the US have increased the cost to farmers renting them for pollination services by up to 20%.

Approximately 60% of US Honeybee’s are sent to California every Spring in Tractor Trailers to pollinate the Almond Crop. Some scientists have suggested that certain pesticides such as the neonicotinoid class of pesticides may be one of the culprits. These pesticides are widely used not only on big Midwestern crops like corn and soybeans but also on cotton, sorghum, sugar beets, apples, cherries, peaches, oranges, berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, and potatoes. They’re even common in yard and landscaping products

Despite all this, the number of commercial honeybee colonies has actually risen since 2006, from 2.4 million to 2.7 million in 2014, according to data tracked by the USDA. The 2014 numbers, which came out earlier this year, show that the number of managed colonies, that is, commercial honey-producing bee colonies managed by human beekeepers, is now the highest it’s been in 20 years.

How is this possible in the face of all the stresses on Honeybees? It is a triumph of market based capitalism. Beekeepers are increasing their number of hives in response to the doubling of retail honey prices since 2006.

Commercial Honey Bees

Maxi Container is proud of our relationship with commercial bee keepers and processors. Each year we supply thousands of specially designed food grade steel drums to bee keepers throughout the midwest to ship their honey to processors. In addition the companies we work with support True Source Honey. Apparently some foreign companies have been selling large quantities of honey that was cut with high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners in the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have taken significant steps to thwart illegal trade of honey, including the seizure of more than 10 million pounds of rice syrup in 2011-2012 destined for sale as pure honey.

True Source Certified Honey, LLC has developed the True Source Certified™ voluntary system of traceability for those participants who wish to demonstrate through an independent third party that their sourcing practices are in full compliance with U.S. and international trade laws. This system permits honey to be tracked from the consumer back through the supply chain to the country of origin and the beekeeper that harvested the honey from the beehive. True Source is an industry-wide certification program with audits conducted by a third party to validate that honey is lawfully purchased, ethically sourced in a transparent and traceable manner, quality tested, handled safely and securely, and truthfully labeled. When a bottle of honey is marked with the True Source Certification label, it promises to uphold the standards consistent with the traceability requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.

Maxi Loves Honey and we are proud to part of the Supply Chain for True Sourced Honey, keep an eye out for the True Source Certification Labels on honey in your area!