Natural honey is popular among consumers due to its taste and health properties. Unfortunately, we can find products on the market that have little in common with good honey. In the article, we advise where to buy honey to be sure that you will receive a high-quality product.
A small apiary
It seems that a small, home apiary gives us a guarantee of purchasing valuable honey. However, the quality of the product is determined by many factors that are often ignored in small apiaries:
- Due to savings, small apiaries do not invest in devices for safe packaging of honey.
- the lack of veterinary supervision by SANEPID or WIJHARS means that we have no guarantee whether the hygiene rules are observed in the apiary, whether antibiotics are not used, and whether people in contact with the product are healthy.
Moreover, when a small apiary offers many types of honey throughout the year, this should arouse our distrust, as the practice of buying cheap imported honey and selling it as your own is quite common.
CONCLUSION: We advise against buying honey from small, unregistered apiaries.
A friendly beekeeper
Before buying honey, it is worth checking whether the owner of the apiary has two important documents:
- veterinary number, which means that the apiary is under the supervision of appropriate services,
- permission to sell and package honey, e.g. in the form of direct sales or agricultural retail trade (RHD). The document proves that the apiary meets the conditions for obtaining and packaging honey.
CONCLUSION: If both of the above-mentioned requirements are met, we strongly recommend purchasing honey from a friendly beekeeper.
Markets
Products in supermarkets often come from large packaging plants that usually import honey. Be sure to check the country of origin on the label. We may be dealing with a mixture of products from European Union countries and low-quality, cheap Chinese honey. The same may apply to honey sold at low prices under the so-called promotion.
CONCLUSION: We do not recommend honey containing products from outside the European Union or with low promotional prices.
It sometimes happens that supermarkets introduce products of e.g. members of the Culinary Heritage Network to in-out campaigns, where professional apiaries sell the same products as in healthy food stores. Due to the large quantities ordered by the network, the price of the products is attractive for both beekeepers and us.
CONCLUSION: Honey sold in supermarkets with the brand name of a chain or producer organization is worth recommending.
Specialty stores
In specialist stores we can buy high-quality honey, often with organic production certificates. Suppliers are carefully selected and selected.
CONCLUSION: answering the question "Where to buy honey?" We recommend honey from specialist stores, even though sometimes they are slightly higher in price. What we get is a healthy and high-quality product, which is what we expect from honey!
