Organic honey is a sweet success for Cuba as other bee populations suffer

[Judi Lynn]

Organic honey is a sweet success for Cuba as other bee populations suffer

When the Caribbean state was no longer able to afford pesticides – which have been linked with declining bee populations – it made a virtue out of a necessity

Reuters in San Antonio de los Baños
Tuesday 9 February 2016 12.00 EST

Long known for its cigars and rum, Cuba has added organic honey to its list of key agricultural exports, creating a buzz among farmers as pesticide use has been linked to declining bee populations elsewhere.

Organic honey has become Cuba’s fourth most valuable agricultural export behind fish products, tobacco and drinks, but ahead of the Caribbean island’s more famous sugar and coffee, said Theodor Friedrich, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) representative for Cuba.

“All of [Cuba’s] honey can be certified as organic,” Friedrich told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Its honey has a very specific, typical taste; in monetary value, it’s a high-ranking product.“

After the collapse in 1991 of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s main trading partner, the island was unable to afford pesticides due to a lack of foreign currency, coupled with the US trade embargo. By necessity, the government embraced organic agriculture, and the policies have largely stuck.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/09/organic-honey-is-a-sweet-success-for-cuba-as-other-bee-populations-suffer

[progressoid]

1. Someone should find out if the Varroa destructor mite is absent in Cuba.

It is has been found in 85% of the failed colonies in Canada. And when it was first found in Hawaii in 2007, over half of their colonies collapsed.

If the mite does live in Cuba, it might help rule it out as a culprit in CCD.

[cprise]

3. More likely pesticides and stress weakened the bees and allowed

natural bee pests (varroa mites) to start overpowering bee colonies.

[airplaneman]

2. I don't think a lot of people realize how bad non-organic bee keeping is here in the US

A lot of bee keepers keep more bees than the countryside can support and instead of flower nectar these bees are fed corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup. This weakens the bees and makes them more susceptible to disease and collapse syndrome. Organic is sustainable and healthy industrial farming and industrial husbandry is not sustainable and questionably healthy.
-Airplane