Hi, hoping some kind souls might be able to help me. TL;DR: need references and referrals to companies who can test honey for pesticide residue (and anything else??).
My family grows citrus commercially in the Central Valley of CA. A commercial beekeeper who specializes in pollinating hives for almond orchards has used our groves for 20 years to store his bees for a few weeks to keep them healthy. In return, we get the honey from our own groves (about 20 cases). To be clear, the beekeeper does NOT make honey for sale commercially.
Beekeeper died, son recently took over, and my uncle, who ran our ranch, died a few years back. I recently learned that the beekeeper doesn't sell the honey we eat and give out commercially and now am concerned about possible pesticides in the honey. I don't trust the people who manage our ranches 100% to coordinate spraying away from the times when the bees are present, nor do I trust the beekeeper's son to have this knowledge and as I am not involved in the management of the ranch I haven't met him (maybe some of the honey we get is from other locations, or the bees I presume have a greater range than just our groves).
I proposed to my family that we should get the honey tested for pesticide residue as we are not organic farmers, and was laughed out of the room by a few of them, but am going to pursue anyway given the copious amounts we eat and give away. (He gives us the honey at the end of the year and he uses our groves to store them during springtime citrus bloom...so who knows, there could be honey from the almond bloom involved as well and I know they spray almond orchards during bloom.)
1. Can anyone help with references to labs that can do this? I have one reference to the lab AGQ Labs which has a 400+ multi residue screen for about $350. https://agqlabs.us.com/expanded-multi-residue-pesticide-screen/
2. Are there certain pesticides/toxins of more concern for humans that bees tend to collect in honey that I should watch out for and ensure the screen includes? Are heavy metals ever an issue?
3. Is this even a concern AT ALL? Or am I just paranoid? I assume even amateur bee keepers are careful about where they place their hives and test all honey for human consumption. I really don't trust anyone involved to give me a straight answer either.
Thank you, really any help would be appreciated!
My family grows citrus commercially in the Central Valley of CA. A commercial beekeeper who specializes in pollinating hives for almond orchards has used our groves for 20 years to store his bees for a few weeks to keep them healthy. In return, we get the honey from our own groves (about 20 cases). To be clear, the beekeeper does NOT make honey for sale commercially.
Beekeeper died, son recently took over, and my uncle, who ran our ranch, died a few years back. I recently learned that the beekeeper doesn't sell the honey we eat and give out commercially and now am concerned about possible pesticides in the honey. I don't trust the people who manage our ranches 100% to coordinate spraying away from the times when the bees are present, nor do I trust the beekeeper's son to have this knowledge and as I am not involved in the management of the ranch I haven't met him (maybe some of the honey we get is from other locations, or the bees I presume have a greater range than just our groves).
I proposed to my family that we should get the honey tested for pesticide residue as we are not organic farmers, and was laughed out of the room by a few of them, but am going to pursue anyway given the copious amounts we eat and give away. (He gives us the honey at the end of the year and he uses our groves to store them during springtime citrus bloom...so who knows, there could be honey from the almond bloom involved as well and I know they spray almond orchards during bloom.)
1. Can anyone help with references to labs that can do this? I have one reference to the lab AGQ Labs which has a 400+ multi residue screen for about $350. https://agqlabs.us.com/expanded-multi-residue-pesticide-screen/
2. Are there certain pesticides/toxins of more concern for humans that bees tend to collect in honey that I should watch out for and ensure the screen includes? Are heavy metals ever an issue?
3. Is this even a concern AT ALL? Or am I just paranoid? I assume even amateur bee keepers are careful about where they place their hives and test all honey for human consumption. I really don't trust anyone involved to give me a straight answer either.
Thank you, really any help would be appreciated!