Hi
the beekeepers of Westfälischer und Lippischer Imker e.V. and the agricultural board of trade have developed a quality system for beekeepers.
It looks very interesting indeed. And enables the beekeeper & food producer to start seriously documenting their processes so they can stand up to scrutiny in case of questions araising about the products sold. They also supply certification of conformance - which would seem like an excellent marketing tool.
Having read the quality guidebook there is nothing that most beekeepers are not doing already (or at least should be doing already) in it.
the main controls being :
control of water content of honey
control of all materials used for suitability for use in food production, wear and tear
the control of cleanliness of all items that come into contact with honey
the correct storage of honey
the frequent control of pests
The documentation implemented ;
honey store humidity & temp record
record of weight scale accuracy
record of filling glasses (glasses clean, what honey was filled, label serial numbers, ect)
record of harvesting of honey (cleanliness of centrifuge, buckets, tools, when harvested, from which sites ect)
record of bee health
record of actions planned / taken to better adhear to the guideline.
its implyed that stock cards are used too.
If there is sufficient interest i could ask for permission to translate this to english for use of the SBA / scottish beekeepers.
here is the link http://www.landwirtschaftskammer.de/...rmblaetter.htm
bye for now
Calum
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