A recent ruling by the European Court of Justice means that honey must be labelled to show that it contains pollen.

To say that honey contains pollen is like saying that peanuts contain nuts. Beekeepers will of course tell you that pollen is not an ‘ingredient’ as implied by the ruling and, in fact, is a natural part of the product put there incidentally by the bees as they forage for nectar getting the pollen stuck to their bodies. The recent EU ruling means beekeepers producing honey for sale will have to test it to make sure it doesn’t contain any genetically modified (GM) pollen and label their project accordingly. This is a concern for small producers as the equipment needed for testing and labelling can be expensive. This is worrying because many small producers could be forced to stop beekeeping as the local sale of their honey supports the cost of keeping their bees and there is little left over for testing equipment. This testing and labelling is seen to be ludicrous in the UK as there are a very small number of GM crops growing.

This is one more blow to our bees that have been in decline in recent years for various reasons. They have been the victims of a parasite called ‘varroa destructor,’ an external parasitic mite that attacks the honey bee. Bees are also subject to difficulties caused by modern intensive farming methods such as monoculture and the use of pesticides. For example bees are attracted to the acres of bright yellow oil seed rape which appears in our fields in the spring causing a two fold problem. The first relates to the honey that is produced from oil seed rape pollen which becomes rock hard in the hive and has to be removed by the bee keeper, the second is the lack of flowering substitute when the oil seed rape season ends leaving nothing for the bees to forage.

The decline in our bee population in recent years is of great concern. Virtually all of our crops and gardens are pollinated by this secret army and our food security will be under threat if we don’t halt their decline and start increasing their numbers again. Governments across the globe are investing huge sums to research the plight of the honey bee and bee keepers are doing their utmost to keep their bees fit for purpose. The EU directive will diminish conservation.

EU regulation is a Government concern so what can we do personally?

For a start we can find out as much about bees as we can so we have a better understanding of their nature and their needs. We can do this in several ways, read books, search the internet or sign up to a Greeniversity bee keeping class. This is what many Peterborough folk have done and some, including myself and,  as result they are now keeping bees. It’s worth remembering that in Europe it’s as common for people to keep bees in their gardens as it is the UK for people to grow spuds! There is no great mystery to beekeeping but if you don’t want to keep bees but want to help the humble honey bee get planting. Improve your garden by adding all round colour to your borders of sweet scented bee friendly flowers. 
 

Useful websites

Natural Beekeeping trust
British Beekeeping Association
Greeniversity
Beekeeping supplies

Tags: Karen Lawrence | Do your bit for the environment | Creating the UK Environment Capital | Peterborough Greeniversity