# Marking/numbering organic hives



## AvatarDad (Mar 31, 2016)

I'm just quoting back what I heard at the GBA meeting a few months back (so I disavow any expertise in this). 

The speaker at the meeting said there is basically no organic honey in the US. You would have to certify that there are no chemicals used within 2 miles of your apiary, and that's impractical (unless you own a million acres of land). All the "organic honey" at the grocery is imported from countries which have lax rules about what is called organic (he mentioned Brazil). (Again, all info from the fellow at the bee meeting... but I don't see a lot of organic honey at the store, so the story holds up).

I've heard a lot of good things about "Certified Naturally Grown" and their certification is affordable for small beeks (free basically... you are encouraged to pay what you can).

http://www.cngfarming.org/requirements


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

One alternative (non-paint) marking system is to nail/screw onto the hive cattle '_ear tags_'. One thread:
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?308332-How-do-you-mark-your-hives


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## 260alex (Mar 28, 2016)

Arno said:


> Hi, I'm trying to produce organic honey and have seen in the USDA regulations that painted hives are not allowed.
> 
> Does anyone have recommendations on how best to number/mark hives without using paint which is ok for organic requirements. At the moment we are looking at branding/wood burning, however the process is quite time consuming.
> 
> ...


Get the wooden letter / numbers from Walmart in the craft section.


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## Arno (Oct 23, 2015)

Good one, thanks all. I'll see if we can implement something like the cattle tags.

Unfortunately I'm in Kigoma, Tanzania so the nearest Walmart is about 12,000km away


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## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

Arno, being you are in Tanzania why would you be concerned with USDA regulations for determining what isn't or is organic? Not being critical just curious. To mark them you could carve numbers on 1 side and stain the carving with a contrasting color. Good luck


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## 260alex (Mar 28, 2016)

Arno said:


> Good one, thanks all. I'll see if we can implement something like the cattle tags.
> 
> Unfortunately I'm in Kigoma, Tanzania so the nearest Walmart is about 12,000km away


Ha, sorry, i didn't check location!


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## whiskers (Aug 28, 2011)

You could make a branding iron with some sort of logo for identification. If you use roman numbers to number them all the numbers can be made of straight lines and thus need only an I shaped branding iron (a straight bar and a handle). Make several so you can always have a hot one. If you do a lot in a day you might want to make the letter shaped ones (V,X,L,C). And I wish you such success that you need an M.
Bill


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Be careful with the ear tags, many are insecticidal for face flies.
Your certifying agent would be the best person to ask.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

Check these tags out. Soft metal takes an impression using pen/pencil/stylus, pre-drilled holes. Cost per 1,000 is $100 for the small size, $120 for large. Also available in lots of 100 or 500:

https://www.dpind.com/ProductCart/pc/IMPRESS-O-TAGS-c48.htm


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