We shouldn't eat honey!

This Guardian article from 2024 suggests widespread adulteration of commercially sold honey, though the results of analysis seem to be contested.

We had a friend's hive here for a few years and he gave us some of the pure honey from the hive.

I can't say I've noticed a decline in wild bees here since we had the 'tame' ones.

The bee rescuing season has started!
Sometimes I have rescued 10 or more in a day which find their way into the conservatory when the warm weather arrives.
A very large bumblebee came in yesterday and I carefully ejected him/her. Then he came back today. The third time he arrived at the open door, I'm sure he realised, turned round and left.

Much of our honey is imported and blended.
Chinese honey may not be all honey either so we should check that the honey we buy is from a reliable source.

As long as bees are left with sufficient supplies of honey to see them through the winter, that should be fine. However, it worries me when some beekeepers replace their honey supplies with sugar which does not have the nutrients they need.

keepingquiet

I rarely buy honey because I don't like the taste- never have.

Bees (and other insects) are not competing for a scarce resource. There's no shortage of nectar and pollen even in city centres.

What next...

Point taken

Maremia

Honey has been consumed by humans for millennia.

But not at the high commercial levels of today

This may require some research unless someone knows more than me. I'd imagine a big commercial producer of honey is worse than a local beekeeper, but really I know nothing about it other than what I found on Google.

Here is a BBC podcast about honey:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct6ssn

I have known Bee keepers who are careful to only extract some of the honey leaving plenty for the bees.

I do love local honey and our community store sells honey from the hives of about a dozen local beekeepers.

It's so expensive though that there's little danger of getting through many jars in a year
I add a spoonful to my salad dressing. There's another thing that's gone up in price - olive oil.
Seemingly we should give our hosts best olive oil rather than wine for a dinner party.

I wouuld imagine our best move is to plant our gardens with the flowers and trees that provide maximum resources for all kinds of bees and other pollinators. Then we are providing raw materials for the hive-living honey bees to make the honey that we buy in jars AND for the other types of bees to live on and thrive and multiply.

Honey has been consumed by humans for millennia.

I didn’t realise this. So if we buy honey from a small-scale producer is that ok? I am a nature lover and very keen on environmental issues but I must admit I do get very confused about all the different types of bees.

I usually buy locally produced honey. DH eats it every day me only occasionally on Weetabix.

I rarely buy honey because I don't like the taste- never have.