By Jessica Domel
News Editor
American honeybees are rebounding, but new reports indicate it may be beekeepers who are on the decline.
Illegally imported honey from China, lower returns and higher input prices are taking their toll on beekeepers, according to Brazoria County beekeeper Randy Verhoek.
Honey from China, which is illegal in the U.S., is flooding the market and causing the price of American-grown honey to drop.
“A lot of times, it’s not even honey,” Verhoek said. “It’s rice syrup or a blend of rice syrup and honey.”
Beekeepers saw a spark in prices several years ago and made it to a place where they were able to make money and invest back into their business.
Beekeepers used to receive about $2.25 a pound for honey. With the influx of Chinese honey, that price has since dropped to $1.60 a pound.
“Expenses have gone up over the years and now what it costs to produce a pound of honey is so much higher,” Verhoek said.
To combat the importing of illegal honey, American Honey Producers have visited lawmakers and asked for stricter enforcement of the law.
“We just can’t afford to wait that long,” Verhoek said.
Beekeepers also face a rise in expenses to keep their bees–which require maintenance like livestock–alive and healthy.
In 2005, there were 2.66 million commercial honey producing colonies in the United States. According to The Washington Post, that’s still higher than in 2006 when colony collapse disorder was first documented.
It’s also greater than any year since the 1990s.
The Post attributes the rise in numbers to American beekeepers whose hard work to breed bees and split colonies has helped repopulate honeybees.
If you know there is illegal honey and you know where it is sold and who distributes it; how is it that the process cannot be stopped by law enforcement? From a reader and business persons perspective; this article makes little sense. There would be no need to contact lawmakers if the process is currently illegal.
How do I get Beekeepers to put their Bees on my property?
How can I put bee on our ranch in south Texas?
Those people wanting bees on their property contact you local beekeeping club for assistance.
The pollen in the Chinese honey is completely filtered out. Then it is shipped to other countries where they put in honey that has pollen from a different source. So they mask the origin of the honey. You can’t tell where the honey is from unless the pollen shows the origin – and if the Chinese pollen is removed there is no way to tell where it is from. BTW – the producers in the US also filter out most of the pollen from honey. So when analysis is done – you can’t tell the origin of most of the honey on the shelves in stores. See Vaughn Bryant – at Texas A&M – he does pollen testing – did some for the white house too – and he is one of the top in the field for pollen analysis. So even if the laws and resources were applied to test all honey that comes into the US – it is very difficult to do because the Chinese honey is being rerouted and masked as honey from other countries. We also have bee keepers that are using the cheaper honey in their own businesses.