The Buzz Newsletter

June 2008

 

 

Page 9

 

WESTERN APICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA ANNUAL CONFERENCE Coming to the Holiday Inn, Victoria, BC August 17 - 21, 2008 ..... Agenda Highlights Sunday August 17: "Bee Buzz" Social – Meet and Greet Monday August 18: HISTORY OF BEEKEEPING Tuesday August 19: THE MEDICINAL USES OF BEE PRODUCTS (Speakers TBA) Wednesday August 20: TOURISM AND AGRICULTURE Thursday August 21: Special Guest Speaker Full details are available at the WAS website: http://groups.ucanr.org/WAS/Conference_Information/

 

NHB Launches Its First Baseball Honey Promotion

Take Me Out to the Ball Game – with Honey! This year, in a first-time promotion NHB is sharing America’s passion for baseball by sponsoring several Minor League Baseball™ teams for the 2008 season. The teams are: the Durham Bulls, Raleigh/Durham Area, N.C., (affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays); the Iowa Cubs, Des Moines, Iowa, (affiliate of the Chicago Cubs); and the Stockton Ports, Stockton, Calif., (affiliate of the Oakland A’s).

The promotion will involve a myriad of activities, including official “Honey Nights,” “Honey Sampling Nights,” survey nights, team samplings, ballpark signage and a “Sweeeet Play of the Game” at home games. When announcers call out the “Sweeeet Play of the Game,” NHB will donate $100 to the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines, Raleigh Durham or Sacramento (near Stockton). Honey also will be the official natural energy booster for the three teams and will have a position of honor on all training tables!

Turk Wendell, former Major League Baseball relief pitcher, will serve as NHB’s program spokesperson. During his baseball career, Wendell played for a number of Major League teams, including the New York Mets. Wendell was extremely well liked by Mets fans, due to his friendly personality, sense of humor, outspoken nature and baseball-related eccentricities. Wendell appeared in the playoffs twice with the Mets, in 1999 and 2000, including an appearance in the 2000 World Series. Wendell also is well renowned for his charity work, particularly working with children through various organizations. In 2000, Wendell was given the “Good Guy Award” by the New York Press Photographers Association in honor of his considerable charitable contributions.

Honey Industry Members Invited to Attend Baseball Honey Nights
The promotion “Honey Nights” will be held at all three ballparks, with a barbecue for 50 people. Area Ronald McDonald House patients will be invited as guests. Honey industry members are also invited to attend at their own expense.

The Official Honey Nights Are:
· 7/09: Iowa Cubs [ 7:05 pm ]
· 7/17: Stockton Ports
· 7/29: Durham Bulls

NHB’s honey baseball promotion also includes an NHB Minor League Micro-site at www.honey.com/milb. Check out the website each week for baseball club news, team standings, exclusive interviews with team mascots, great summertime honey recipes and more!

 

German food company executives arrested in plot to import honey illegally from China

The Associated Press
Published: May 28, 2008

Two executives of a German-based company have been arrested on federal charges of conspiring to import honey contaminated with an illegal antibiotic from China, authorities announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors issued a statement saying the honey was falsely labeled as coming from such countries as Russia and Ukraine to avoid paying antidumping duties and contained an antibiotic that was not approved for use in food-producing animals, including bees.

A search of the Chicago offices of Hamburg-based Alfred L. Wolff GmbH showed that a shipment of honey was sold to a company in Texas even though it was found to have contained the antibiotic, authorities said.
Stefanie Giesselbach, 30, the national sales manager for the Chicago office, was arrested at O'Hare International Airport on Friday night as she prepared to board a flight to Germany, prosecutors said. Magnus von Buddenbrock, 32, the general manager of the Chicago office, was arrested after dropping off Giesselbach at the airport.
"We have reviewed the complaint," defense attorney James Montana said. "Mr. von Buddenbrock is completely innocent of the charges and we intend to defend this case vigorously."

Giesselbach's attorney James Marcus said he had not yet seen the complaint and would not be able to comment on it immediately.

The conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 (€158,630) fine. A bond hearing has been scheduled for Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Ashman.

Antidumping duties are applied to offset allegedly unfair trade practices by the country where the products originated. The Commerce Department applied such duties to Chinese honey effective last July.

Prosecutors said that in February federal agents took samples from nine containers of honey with a total value of $300,000 (€190,355) that were marked as having come from Russia — to which antidumping duties do not apply.

Tests showed three of the nine containers were from China, prosecutors said.

Tests also showed 57 metric tons marked "Light Amber Polish Honey" that the company had arranged to sell may have come from China.

The two defendants also claimed that another honey shipment which came from China was produced in Ukraine, prosecutors said.

A confidential informant told prosecutors that it was well known among some company executives, including one of the defendants, that shipments of honey contaminated by the antibiotic were being imported.