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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers
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- From: annallys Goodwin-Landher <annallys AT hotmail.com>
- To: <griz AT mindspring.com>, OCBA <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup
- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:13:24 -0500
Tom,
I appreciate the time, effort and dedication it takes to assess risk. However, no research exists that addresses the synergistic effect of small doses of human manufactured chemicals on humans, bees, animals, and other life on this planet. There was a long period in the history of beekeeping where the assessed risk of using human manufactured chemicals on bees was considered negligible. The bee school I attended did teach about how the human manufactured chemicals are used and every single presenter related that it might be a good idea to use them as little as possible. This might just apply to our food sources and bee food sources. Regards, Annallys Goodwin-Landher PO Box 2744 Chapel Hill, NC 27515 919 933-9109 annallys AT hotmail.com From: griz AT mindspring.com To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:13:16 -0500 Subject: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup One of the things I do in my work is risk assessment. Right or wrong, I look at the honey vs. syrup question a little differently than Ive seen expressed thus far.
1) The actual risk you take by consuming honey with trace amounts of human manufactured chemicals (from sugar) is minuscule, vanishingly small, even if you sat down to a huge portion of honey. 2) The actual risk you take by consuming honey with naturally occurring botulinum spores (often present in honey) is high enough that if you are a child (<1 year), due to differences in digestion that I dont have a clue about, you can develop a serious toxicity eating honey (botulism poisoning). 3) The actual risk you take by consuming honey that was made from naturally occurring blooming azaleas, rhododendrons, laurels, and probably many other plants is case by case, but can cause a type of intoxication and I hear even death on rare occasions. If you are a healthy person, this is probably not a concern, but if you are old and/or have health issues, it could happen. Moreover, these sorts of potential problems with toxic honey are much more likely to occur with hobby beekeepers than commercial honey. 4) If you drive or ride in a car, there is something like a 100% chance that in your lifetime you will suffer a life threatening event, and yet many of us happily motor around, texting, radio on high, steering with our pinky finger, oblivious. 5) About the riskiest thing us men can do is to be unmarried! (shaves about 10 years off your life expectancy)
People are willing to assume huge risk if they feel they are the one in control, but even a tiny risk and no control = HUGE worry. Worry first about things with actual high risk, and things way down the list (tainted sugar) are largely a waste of time and energy (and money). If you use tobacco products or alcohol (both known human carcinogens), are a rock climber or a farmer and worry about honey contamination from sugar, well, you get the picture.
My personal objective with beekeeping is the enhancement/maximization of pollination in my backyard nano-farm. If you think about how much energy goes into growing sugar cane, then processing the sugar and shipping it NC, there is a lot of embodied energy (oil) in 5 pounds, many times more than the food value contained in the sugar itself. I am new to beekeeping and am going to try to use as little sugar as possible, and if that means the bees get most of the honey, so be it. I get the fruits and vegetables.
Anyway, just sayin
Tom Grizzle Chapel Hill native _________________________________________ ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/ Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/ |
-
[ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Thomas Grizzle, 02/22/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Watson Bowes, 02/22/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
annallys Goodwin-Landher, 02/22/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Elisabeth Curtis, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Thomas Grizzle, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
chuck cunningham, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Thomas Grizzle, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Leslie DiLorenzo, 02/23/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Randall Austin, 02/23/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Thomas Grizzle, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Leslie DiLorenzo, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
Thomas Grizzle, 02/23/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, cpearce, 02/23/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Marty Hanks, 02/23/2012
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Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup,
chuck cunningham, 02/23/2012
- Re: [ocba] Re; honey vs syrup, Jeff Bollinger, 02/23/2012
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