Certification Standards for Honey

CNGs certification standards for honey are based on the NOSB Apiculture Task Force Report. We prefer the standards outlined by this report to the National Organic Program's (NOP) livestock standards because the livestock standards do not address many specialized needs of apiculture or the local level beekeeper. Our beekeepers, like all CNG farmers, must conform to NOP'sNational List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances.

Certified Naturally Grown is neither accredited by, nor affiliated in any way with the USDA, the NOSB, or the National Organic Program. We are an independent program that has simply adopted parts of the publicly available standards and recommendations.

The chapter and paragraph numbering used by the NOSB Apiculture Task Force are retained below for ease of reference. Note that the text is not a full quotation of the Task Force recommendations, and that we have added 205.240 (h)4.

Apiculture practice standard. ( 205.240)

(a) Products from an apiculture operation that are to be sold, labeled, or represented as Certified Naturally Grown must be from hives which have been under continuous CNG management for no less than 270 days prior to the removal of the products from the hive. If a prohibited material has been used in or on the hive prior to the 270 day transition, the producer must replace the hives foundation with foundation made from organic or CNG wax and remove those products to be sold as Certified Naturally Grown, prior to the start of the transition period.

(f) The producer of a Certified Naturally Grown apiculture operation may:
(1) Allow bees from their operation to forage on non-CNG managed land when adequate forage from CNG managed land and/or land that is managed in accordance with 205.207 has been provided; and
(2) Provide supplemental feed from organic or CNG honey, organic sugar syrup, and/or pollen substitutes and supplements that are allowed under 205.603, Except, That, the producer must not provide organic sugar syrup less than 30 days prior to the harvest of honey to be sold, labeled, or represented as Certified Naturally Grown.
(h) Approved hive construction materials.
(1) Hives must be made of natural materials, including wood and metal.
(2) Outside hive surfaces may be painted with non-lead based paints.
(3) Plastic foundation may be used if dipped in organic or CNG beeswax and mounted in a wooden frame.
(4) Starter foundation from a non-organic, non-CNG source may be used in frames.
(i) The producer must establish and maintain preventive health care practices, including:
(1) Selection of bee stocks, hive densities, and colony locations appropriate to site-speci fic conditions and resistant to prevalent diseases and pests;
(2) Introduction of replacement bees which are from organic sources or from non-organic sources, Provided, That the replacement bees are managed according to CNG standards for at least 60 days prior to the removal of CNG apiculture products from the hive;
(3) Maintenance of adequate supplies of honey and pollen in the hive, including leaving hives with reserves of honey and pollen sufficient for the colony to survive the dormancy period;
(4) Use of foundation wax not contaminated with diseases or pests;
(5) Destruction of equipment and bees contaminated with disease or pests;
(6) Use of management methods or modified equipment to control pests and diseases;
(7) Use of therapeutic applications of non-synthetic materials to control pests, parasites, and diseases, Provided, That such materials are not prohibited under 205.604; and
(8) Use of therapeutic applications of synthetic materials, Provided, That such materials are allowed under 205.603.
(j) The producer must not:
(1) Accept the presence of pests, parasites, or disease without initiating efforts to restore the health of the colony;
(2) Use synthetic materials not listed as allowed under 205.603;
(3) Use non-synthetic materials prohibited under 205.604;
(4) Use lumber treated with synthetic materials not listed as allowed under 205.603 or non-synthetic materials prohibited under 205.604 for hive construction materials;
(5) Use synthetic materials or non-synthetic materials prohibited under 205.604 in bee smokers;
(6) Annually destroy bee colonies following honey flows;
(7) Rotate hives between Certified Naturally Grown and non-CNG management; or
(8) Sell apiculture products as Certified Naturally Grown if they contain a residue of a prohibited material greater than 5 percent of the Environmental Protection Agencys tolerance for the specific material, pursuant to 205.671.

Handling Certified Naturally Grown apiculture products. ( 205.273)

(c) An operation which handles Certified Naturally Grown apiculture products must implement Good Manufacturing Practices and be in compliance with all handling requirements of 205.270 through 205.272.

(d) Primary handlers of Certified Naturally Grown apiculture products must not:
(1) Add water to honey to decrease the honeys viscosity;
(2) Use fine mesh filters or diatomaceous earth to separate seed crystals from honey;
(3) Use high pressure honey filtration;
(4) Heat or handle CNG apiculture products using kerosene heaters or any heating system which introduces petroleum fumes into the room; or
(5) Control stray bees or other insects using synthetic insecticides, repellants, or fumigants, unless such materials are allowed under 205.605

Unresolved Questions About Substances and Your Input

You will see below that the NOSB Apiculture Task Force recommends that certain materials used by apiculture operations be reviewed for possible inclusion on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Until these materials are reviewed and approved, Certified Naturally Grown apiculture operations are expected to restrict their use of the synthetic substances. Please tell us what you think about whether they should be allowed or prohibited for CNG farmers, and why! We really value your input.

The more input on these new standards, the better. Give us yours by writing to standards@naturallygrown.org and put "honey standards" in the subject heading. We are not affiliated with the USDA or NOSB in any way, so although we often follow their recommendations, we do not have to!


The remainder of this page is a direct quotation from the NOSB Apiculture Task Force Report.

Amendments to the National List

The NOSB Apiculture Task Force gathered information on materials currently used by apiculture operations and materials currently allowed by certifying agents. The Task Force proposes that the following materials be reviewed for possible inclusion on the National List, 205.603.

The Task Force is not endorsing any of the materials listed below, and is not recommending the approval of any particular material listed. We recommend that the materials listed be reviewed on a high priority basis, due to the fact that many of the materials are currently being used by organic apiculture operations. Without a clear list of allowed apiculture materials, it will be impossible for the apiculture standard to be implemented.

The Task Force recommends that new subsections be created in 205.603 and 205.604 to specifically list synthetic substances allowed for use by organic apiculture operations and non-synthetic substances prohibited for use.

The current materials review process requires that a petition be submitted for each material being requested for review. The Task Force recommends that the NOSB submit the materials listed below for review, and direct the NOP to prioritize their review. The Task Force points out that a similar "blanket" list process was used when crop and handling standards were first developed. The Task Force further points out that this situation will occur when standards are written for any new sector of the organic industry. Procedures to address the review of materials for new sectors should be developed by the NOSB Materials Committee.

In the table below, the name of the material appears in the first column. The S/N code in the second column stands for synthetic/natural. The third column contains information and notes on how and why the material is used. The information in this column may be helpful to construct annotations on use of the material.


Acetic acid S For apicultural use to disinfect empty combs which have been exposed to European foulbrood, Nosema, or the protozoan-caused Amoeba Disease.
Carbon dioxide S For apicultural use to control wax moth.
Essential oils N For apicultural use to control tracheal mites including: menthol, cinnamon, eucalyptus, spearmint, wintergreen, thyme, and camphor. These materials may be used after the last honey harvest of the season and must be discontinued 30 days before the addition of honey supers.
Folic acid S For apicultural use to control Varroa mites. This material may be used after the last honey harvest of the season and must be discontinued 30 days before the addition of honey supers.
Formic acid S For apicultural use to control Varroa mites.
Lactic acid N S For apicultural use to control Varroa mites. This material may be used after the last honey harvest of the season and must be discontinued 30 days before the addition of honey supers.
Oxytetracyline (Terramycin) S For apicultural use. Only for treatment of American foulbrood (AFB) in apiaries in which the disease has been diagnosed; beekeepers may not make routine, prophylactic applications of oxytetracyline in apiaries in which there has been no confirmation of the presence of AFB.

If application is deemed necessary,hive must be placed in transition period as described in 205.240a

Vegetable shortening N For apicultural use to control tracheal mites. This material may be used after the last honey harvest of the season and must be discontinued 30 days before the addition of honey supers.

(Note: Some certifiers have allowed vegetable shortening mixed with sugar to form a patty. It is included here for review, but may not need to appear on the list, since it is a natural material, and may be used by definition. Since it ends up being eaten by the bees, it is assumed that the shortening would have to be from organic sources. If the shortening is used as an excipient, the Task Force is unclear as to whether the shortening must be organic or if it must appear on the list.)

Handling Standards for Organic Apiculture Products

The Task Force had extensive discussion on the topic of apiculture handling standards without reaching a resolution. Recognizing the complexity this topic, and our desire to move the standards forward, we recommend that, for the present time, the standards deal only with production of apiculture products.

The Task Force recommends that the NOSB Processing Committee address the issue of organic "raw" honey vs. organic processed honey as the Committee develops standards and/or criteria for allowed processing technologies.

Attached as Addendum I are "Definitions of Honey and Honey Products" approved by the National Honey Board June 15, 1996. The Task Force refers the list of definitions to the Processing Committee.

The Task Force recommends that the draft language contained below be referred to the Processing Committee for further consideration. Most of the requirements below are already covered by the handling section of the rule, and were deemed by the Task Force to be redundant. The Task Force recommends that the Processing Committee use the language below to develop a recommendation for standards which are unique to the handling of organic apiculture products.

Addendum I: Definition of Honey and Honey Products
Approved by the National Honey Board June 15, 1996

PART A: HONEY
I. Definition
Honey is the substance made when the nectar and sweet deposits from plants are gathered, modified and stored in the honeycomb by honey bees.

The definition of honey stipulates a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance. This includes, but is not limited to, water or other sweeteners.