Crackdown on circumvented honey
There have been some significant developments in the honey world in the last couple of months. Imports from countries that we long have suspected were not legitimate exporters have been reduced from a flood to a trickle. Apparently US Customs now feels that it can require the anti-dumping duties that apply to Chinese honey to imports from these instant exporters. That effectively puts an end to imports from the effected countries. At least 60 million lbs of honey was imported from these countries in 2010. That is a big hole to fill from other exporters who begin 2011 with very little carryover. Hard to see prices doing anything but rising given the current situation, or is there another circumvention model out there?
Southern hemisphere crops look to be average, but early cold weather in India has already hurt some honey crops. India will likely be the largest exporter of honey to the USA for the foreseeable future.
Honey Bee concerns
Colony collapse remains a problem for beekeepers though some new ideas on causality and potential treatments give beekeepers hope. One encouraging point is that “natural” treatments are among the most effective. That is good news for the bees, the beekeepers and the honey consumer.
The approval of GMO herbicide tolerant alfalfa has to give beekeepers concern. The miscellaneous bloom in hay fields (clover, dandelion, vetch etc) are very important to the development and production of the bee hive. If a significant portion of hay acreage is sprayed with herbicide it has to hurt honey production. The tolerant alfalfa itself will yield honey if it is allowed to bloom, but this comes later in the summer and good farming practice results in the hay being cut just before it blooms. It will likely be several years before this impact can be assessed.