BBKA has been tasked with some actions relating to the authenticity of imported honey at the 2022 BBKA Annual Delegates Meeting 

Two propositions addressing the increasing problem of Adulterated Honey were passed in this year's ADM. The BBKA Executive has set up a working group to pursue the objectives of the propositions.

The Group has already written to the Prime Minister and The Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to get action to reduce the importation of ‘false honey’. 

The BBKA is also pushing for the labelling of blended honey to require a listing of the country of origin and the proportions of the blend.

On another front the BBKA has written in support of a researcher who has applied for funding within a multinational project working on the problem of Honey adulteration.

The BBKA executive takes the ADM propositions very seriously. Updates will be published if any more actions become possible. If you, as an Association or as an individual beekeeper, are requested to do something in support of the propositions please help. It is only by joint effort that governments are persuaded to do something. 

The group has undertaken several tasks and are in the process of pursuing other aspects of the Directions given at the ADM by our members.

We are working in collaboration with the Honey Authenticity Network (HAN) UK. https://www.facebook.com/HoneyAuthenticityNetwork//

The Prime Minister and The Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have received letters asking for action concerning adulterated Honey and the labelling of Honey to reflect the country of origin and the percentage of the Honey from each of these countries.

We are working with a beekeeper who has a link with a Senior Parliamentary Researcher at the House of Commons and intends to ask a sympathetic MP to ask a question in parliament. Members of the group are working to formulate suggested questions. A briefing document is also being prepared.

The group has produced a banner to display at the Spring Convention and other designs that will be available on the website. Our members will be able to download the artwork for the banner and also the posters so that they can be used at local honey shows.

We have leaflets shared by HAN that are being adapted to reflect statistics concerning the British honey market that will also be available for Area Associations to download.

The group is keen to promote LOCAL honey. We would like to suggest a British Honey Day.  The proposal is for a ‘Honey’ day to be held in October near the National Honey show.

There are more ideas concerning publicity that will be shared at a later date and we will be asking all our beekeepers to share in these.

Anne Rowberry

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Honey Petitions organised by the BBKA calling for better labelling rules so consumers can easily recognise all countries of origin of honey.

Please note these petitions are now closed.

October 2022

I am writing to ask all Associations and their members to support our new honey petition which calls on the Government to change the Honey labelling rules so consumers can easily recognise all countries of origin of the honey contained in a jar sold here in the UK.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624402/

Following our members' propositions and direction at the 2021 ADM, this is the second honey petition in our efforts to maintain pressure on the government to address this important issue. If you signed the first petition, please be sure to sign this one too.

The important underlying issue here is ‘Funny’ Honey - i.e  honey that has not necessarily involved a honeybee collecting nectar, processing and storing in the hive.   Supermarket own-label honey can be bought for as little as 69p a jar. Although supermarkets say every jar of honey is “100% pure” and can be traced back to the beekeeper, there is no requirement to identify the countries of origin of honey blended from more than one country.  We want consumers to start looking at the labels when buying honey – does it clearly state the country of origin? If it seems cheap compared to the other honeys on the shelf, ask themselves why?

We kindly ask all members to share the petition link with family and friends and on social media to help us reach our goal of 100,000 signatures which means the Government must consider the issue for debate in Parliament. The support of the general public and not just the beekeeping community is essential to achieve this result so please share as widely as possible.   Associations and individuals that use Social media can also ‘share’ the BBKA social media pages below to create awareness and to share the link.

https://www.facebook.com/TheBritishBeekeepersAssociation
https://twitter.com/britishbee
https://www.instagram.com/britishbeekeepers/

Stephen Barnes
Chair BBKA

Update:   Many thanks to all who signed and shared the previous petition.  It is now closed with 15,297 signatures.

February 2022

We need the government to overhaul and update the labelling of the honey sold in the UK. This is the first step in reducing the amount of ‘so-called’ honey sold in our supermarkets that contain very little honey produced by bees. Please consider signing this petition and ask your friends to sign it. This affects anyone who buys, sells or eats honey.

Review honey authenticity and current regulation of the honey market

Fully review the honey market and Honey Regulations, to review evidence of honey fraud within the honey market, and reform regulations and arrangements for enforcement, to prevent future fraud.

Thank you for your support.

Anne Rowberry, BBKA President