The expert team of the European Beekeeping Association (EBA), in consultation with honey quality experts, prepared an important text for all honey consumers throughout Europe, on why it is important to choose honey from the territory of geographical Europe for consumption.

The text is not directed against anyone, we just wanted to highlight the advantages of European honey for the European consumer. Also, with this text, we call on all the countries of Europe to urgently meet the demands of the European Beekeeping Association, and to solve the problem of counterfeit honey, because beekeeping in Europe is endangered. Due to increasingly strong unfair competition and the market pressure of falsified or fake honey that flooded Europe, beekeepers are massively losing interest in raising bees. If this trend continues in the coming months, Europe will be without bees, because bees cannot survive without beekeepers. Honey can be imported, but pollination of agricultural crops cannot be imported. This would lead to a dramatic increase in food prices, further growth of inflation and the destruction of the healthy diet of our population. The text will be sent to all members of the European Parliament, to the EU leadership, and we invite the national beekeeping associations of all countries in geographical Europe to send it to the authorities in their countries as a matter of urgency. The situation is alarming, there is no more time to wait. We also invite all the remaining beekeeping associations of Europe to join the EBA by April 10 this year, and to create an even stronger front for the fight for the survival of bees and beekeeping.


European Beekeeping Association

Head office: Brdo pri Lukovici 8, 1225 Lukovica, Slovenia

eba@ebaeurope.eu

EUROPEANS CHOOSE EUROPEAN HONEY

By choosing European honey, you help beekeepers to maintain the interest in beekeeping and thus contribute to the survival of bees. Wild pollinators have been decimated by intensive agriculture, and the honey bee can survive for as long as beekeepers have a symbolic interest in raising bees. Without beekeepers there are no bees. Without beekeepers they would disappear in less than two years due to unmanaged bee parasites.

Europeans know that European beekeepers respect the rules of traditional production, take care of bees, and deliver safe honey of the highest quality to consumers.

European regulations ensure high hygienic standards of honey production. European bees are not treated with antibiotics and other agents banned in Europe, so the possibility of honey contamination is excluded.

European honey contains antioxidants, minerals and probiotic bacteria that are more adapted to our body than expected.

The territory of geographical Europe produces honey of incomparably better quality and aroma than imported honeys, due to its clean nature and waters.

By choosing European honey, you improve the quality of all domestic agricultural products that require pollination, because pollination cannot be imported like honey.

By choosing European honey, you help preserve nature and European biodiversity, because bees, in addition to cultivated bees, also pollinate a huge number of wild plants that are a crucial part of the food chain in nature.

By choosing European honey, you support the cultural heritage and centuries-old culinary experiences that contribute to our health and connect us to nature. It has been proven that adding honey to culinary dishes contributes to a better absorption of nutrients from those dishes in our body.

By choosing European honey, you reduce the environmental pollution associated with long-distance transport, as well as the use of energy sources in the honey adulteration process. In contrast, beekeeping improves the environment and uses and relies only on local natural resources.

By choosing European honey, you support local beekeepers, reduce inflation and the outflow of capital from Europe.

By choosing European honey, you are eating real bee honey. The European Commission has announced that almost 50% of imported honey is fake. You have the greatest guarantee of quality when you purchase honey directly from beekeepers in your area, and if you purchase it in a store, pay attention to the country of origin, because the safest honey is from the territory of geographical Europe. Most counterfeits contain sugar syrups with additives. Such adulterated (“fake”) honey had mostly no contact with bees and only serves to deceive consumers and profit counterfeiters.“

Counterfeit honey can contain even sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), artificial enzymes (which are also added to the so-called vegan “honey”, which does not actually exist, because there is no honey without bees), artificial flavors, artificial colors and low-grade sugars, which are added during counterfeiting and can present risks for human health. In such fake honey, there is not even the slightest biological value that bee honey provides to the human body. Authentic bee products are increasingly successfully used in apitherapy (a branch of complementary medicine based on science and rich tradition).