[erockrph]

I was just in my local Target and saw that their store-brand organic wildflower honey is on sale for #3.49/12oz (works out to $4.65/lb). I pay around $7 a pound for local wildflower honey, so this is a pretty decent price. Anyone ever use this for mead? Most of their Archer Farms products are pretty good, so I'm thinking of springing for some to try it out.

[tschmidlin]

i pay ~$4 per lb for local raspberry, blackberry, and fireweed honey, the guy is less than a mile from my house.  Find a local apiary, you should be able to get honey cheaper than $7/lb.

I don't know the Archer Farms brand, but I would not buy honey from Target.

[punatic]

Organic honey?  Bees forage in up to a two mile radius from the hive.  That's over 4000 acres.  How do you certify that every nectar source within a two mile radius is organic?

I would not trust any honey labeled organic.  But that's just the beekeeper in me.

[Jimmy K]

Other than being certified organic, I doubt the Archer Farms has significant advantages over other mass-processed honey. In the mid-Atlantic here, $4/lb is reasonable if you're buying direct from the beekeeper. $7 is expensive unless you're buying it through a middleman (at a market). Actually, I'd say that's even expensive for a market. Shop around some.
 
You could try the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association
http://www.ribeekeeper.org/

[Jimmy K]

Organic honey?  Bees forage in up to a two mile radius from the hive.  That's over 2000 acres.  How do you certify that every nectar source within a two mile radius is organic?

I would not trust any honey labeled organic.  But that's just the beekeeper in me.

Also true - I'm pretty sure organic would just refer to the beekeeping practices.

[punatic]

So then as long as the hives are kept "organically" honey made from nectar from flowers sprayed with pesticides can be labeled organic. 

I don't think so.

[saintpierre]

.

i pay ~$4 per lb for local raspberry, blackberry, and fireweed honey, the guy is less than a mile from my house.  Find a local apiary, you should be able to get honey cheaper than $7/lb.

+1, At my local apairy, I'm paying $15 per 5 pounds for the speciality varieties (raspberry, blueberry, strawberry and orange blossom) when available and $12 per 5 pounds for the local wildflower honey.

[morticaixavier]

So then as long as the hives are kept "organically" honey made from nectar from flowers sprayed with pesticides can be labeled organic. 

I don't think so.

I would imagine, and this is without any official backup, that the product itself would be tested on some periodic basis. however the 'organic' label has been somewhat watered down of late to include any product in which 60% of the ingredients are organic and the producer can show how it would have been too expensive or impossible to source the remaining 40% organically. Local is often better than organic and any situation where you can talk to the producer one to one is going to be your best bet.

+1 on contacting the local bee keeper association and finding someone who you can talk to.

[dbeechum]

I wouldn't trust Archer Farms, that brand was on the list of a recent test that labeled even the organic brand as not meeting the FDA guidelines for honey. Basically according the FDA, any product labelled honey must contain pollen and something like 77% of the major brands are ultra-filtered to the point where no pollen remains.

It's suspected that some manufacturers are doing this to use Chinese honey in their products. That honey has been at the center of several contamination scares. Oh and there's the unscrupulous adding of corn syrup to extend the honey as well.

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

[phillamb168]

I know a honey producer who lives in the middle of a protected forest/plains area - 100% sure there are no pesticides around those flowers. Still, unless you're tracking every bee...

[gmac]

As far as I know, there isn't any real organic honey.  Here, varroa mites are so widespread that if you didn't treat for them, you'd have no bees but I don't know how bad they are in other areas (my dad kept bees for years and I dabbled in beekeeping for many years until work got too busy to do it properly).

I'd stay far from big box store honey.  Most of it likely has Chinese honey in it which is often a percentage honey mixed with much cheaper sugar syrup.  For me, if I was going to buy honey it would be from a local apiary.  Personally (and because I have first hand experience), I would buy local honey and forget about the organic aspect of it.  If you can find someone who has local "organic" honey and you care about that sort of thing, go for it but look local for your best quality.

[hopfenundmalz]

At the NHC Michael Fairbrother talked about only using "True Source Honey" in his meads at Moonlight Meadery. As Drew posted, there is adulterated honey out on the market. Find a local apiary, or look into what you buy.
http://www.moonlightmeadery.com/content/art-making-mead
http://www.truesourcehoney.com/

[punatic]

Honey laundering

[Jimmy K]

As far as I know, there isn't any real organic honey.  Here, varroa mites are so widespread that if you didn't treat for them, you'd have no bees but I don't know how bad they are in other areas (my dad kept bees for years and I dabbled in beekeeping for many years until work got too busy to do it properly).

Organic doesn't mean no pesticides either. There are 'organic' pesticides that are used on many organic crops.  Those are perfectly safe though, because they are derived from natural sources - just like puffer fish toxin.   

[punatic]

DDT is an organic molecule.