What is the difference between a conventional honey and an organic honey?
It seems simple to say that a product is ORGANIC but in reality there is a very meticulous procedure with very strict controls. There are many regulations for production standards of organic honey, but today we are going to detail some of them.
The bees
In the Valencian Community the CAECV (organism of control) gives priority to the use of Iberian Apis mellifera bees because of their ability to adapt to our climate.
To consider those bees organic, all of them must have been born and raised in organic farms.
The hives
The hives where the bees will build their honeycombs must have been built with natural materials that do not pose any risk to the environment or to the bees.
Wax
The way to make life a little easier for our dear bees and so that they don’t have to do all the work themselves, a sheet of wax with hexagon silkscreen printing is placed on the frames of the hive. Well, this sheet of wax must also come from certified organic production.
Location
Now that you have everything organic, it would be imprudent to place the apiary anywhere. They should be placed in areas that ensure that within a radius of 3 kilometers all crops, fields, forests … are organic or wild vegetation. In addition, a cartographic inventory of the location of the hives must be notified to the control body.
Feeding
Bees for organic honey production must be feed by their own honey and pollen.
Declaration of responsibility
Once you have everything correct, you have to sign a declaration of responsibility in which you declare that the production material you have used is the one you have declared, a description of the activity (i.e. what you are going to do with the honey you obtain) and finally, the procedures you will follow. This declaration will be kept in a file held by the inspection body (for at least 5 years) which issues the organic certification. Periodic audits are then carried out to verify the certification criteria.
If a product is labeled BIO but does not have any official seal, find out before you buy it. The official seals of the Valencian Community are:
So, when you buy an organic product, you know why it is a little bit more expensive; think about the amount of requirements, work and procedures that have to be carried out to get a 100% organic certified product.
