South Carolina beekeepers may soon see some relief toward selling their honey directly to restaurants, retailers and grocery stores.
A bill advancing in the state Senate says beekeepers producing less than 400 gallons of honey annually can receive an exemption from regulatory requirements, meaning they could sell in otherwise regulated venues.
The new effort is a step forward from a bill that passed in 2012 that allowed beekeepers to sell to consumers only at a roadside stand or farmer’s market. This fell in line with the laws in neighboring states such as Georgia.
The current bill would go a step further by permitting sales to inspected food establishments.
State Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, one of five senators who sponsored the bill, said the deregulation would help more than 3,000 beekeepers statewide compete with larger producers.
South Carolina Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, speaks during a debate on Feb. 8, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. File/Jeffrey Collins/AP
“Who doesn’t want local honey?” Senn said. “This is a natural, wonderful product. To me, this is one of the things that I don’t think that they should have overbearing regulations.”
The Senate bill, S.961, is out of conference committee after receiving a favorable report from the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources. A similar bill in the House, H.4854, is in the Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs.
Charleston honey company Apis Mercantile partners with small apiaries throughout the state to source honey that’s bottled in the company’s James Island site. As an organization, Apis strives “to connect small and mid-sized honey producers with larger regional markets that have traditionally been inaccessible to them or dominated by imported honey,” Apis co-founder John Berdux said.
Berdux views the proposed changes as a necessary step that could lead to more regional sourcing of honey. It would help further the connection between consumers and their food source, while allowing local producers to compete in the crowded honey market, he said.
“I’m a firm believer that the future of agriculture in the United States is decentralized, very regional,” Berdux said. “Instead of a beekeeper having to set up at farmers markets to unload their honey over the course of a year, they could sell it all directly to a registered food manufacturer in one sale. It opens up additional sales channels and grants greater sales opportunities to our state’s beekeepers.”
Ben Powell, Clemson University’s apiculture and pollinator program coordinator, said the beekeeping community has concerns about the bill. Allowing an exempted beekeeper to sell through a third party vendor could lead to harmful or low-grade honey, he said, and there is no legal solution for bottlers if problems do arise.
“There’s some concern that this bill was produced outside of the beekeepers,” Powell said. “It would add confusion to the beekeepers and honey sale trade and not really benefit a whole lot of beekeepers.”
Beezie Fleming, owner of bb’s bailiwicks and a Berkeley County Farm Bureau Federation board member, has beehives in Pinopolis and Bonneau. She sells her raw wildflower honey directly to local consumers, but given the current challenges facing small honey producers and the farming community as a whole, Fleming sometimes wonders if it’s worth the effort it takes to make beekeeping more than just a hobby.
She sees the potential benefits of the bill but understands why some people are concerned.
“This legislation would at least allow a beekeeper to sell in bulk to a restaurant or wholesaler, taking the cost of jarring/labeling your own honey out of the equation,” Fleming said. “If we want to produce food, including honey locally, there needs to be some support to sustain our local producers.”
Fleming has had several retail stores and restaurants reach out about carrying her honey, but she has been unable to sell to them because she does not operate an approved honey house.
Liam Becker and John Berdux, Apis’ founders, check out a hive. Apis Mercantile/Provided
According to the S.C. Department of Agriculture’s website, “honey house requirements include cleanable walls and floors, approved water sources, shatterproof lighting, clean utensils and equipment, sinks, proper drainage, (and a) SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) approved septic or sewer system.”
The crux of the matter doesn’t lie in what defines a honey house since small beekeepers with an exemption are already permitted to sell products in person, per the 2012 law. Opening up the wholesale market could lead to more regulation of honey produced by small and mid-sized beekeepers, Berdux contends. The proposed law could also help farmers who produce honey on the side add revenue.
“The amendment that is currently making its way through the S.C. Senate would make this honey available to food manufacturers that are licensed and inspected by the SCDA, offering greater regulatory oversight of this honey, and higher food safety standards, than has been the case since the exemption was enacted in 2012,” he said.
A decision on the Senate bill could come as soon as Feb. 28 following the conclusion of the two-day South Carolina Beekeeper Association’s spring conference in Spartanburg that kicks off Feb. 26.
According to Powell, the matter will be explained at length during the Feb. 25 conference.
Reach Parker Milner at 843-830-3911. Follow him on Twitter @parkermilner_.
