It’s pretty easy to find Fair Trade honey nowadays, but, to our surprise, not so easy to find honey that also takes into account the welfare of the bees.

Quite surprising we think given the extensive publicity that the decline in bee populations has received recently in the press and on social media.

As most of the ALL NATURAL SOAP Co range is vegan, you won’t find many animal or insect derived products in our ingredients.

When we do allow non-vegan ingredients into our soaps, we take care to ensure that they are of highest standards – not just in terms of quality, but also ethically.

That’s why we were so pleased to discover Tropical Forest honey! Not only is this honey Fair Trade, it is also wild-gathered and the bees aren’t subject to awful practices such as sugar-feeding or being pumped full of antibiotics.

This is the only honey we deem responsible and ethical enough to include in our soaps, and are therefore proud to shout about it! We use this honey in our Oatmeal Soother soap.

Here’s what Tropical Forest have to say about their honey

Organic Forest Honey, Soil Association certified, gathered from wild bees deep in the incredibly diverse, highland rainforests of SW Ethiopia. 

Wild swarms occupy the hives and start filling them with honeycombs. After a couple of years the beekeepers return, climb the trees and crop the honey, leaving some for the bees. 

More of these beekeepers join their Beekeepers Association every year confident that they can raise their families on this income from a Fair Trade market. 

– A Fair Trade product from village beekeepers 
– Harvested from wild bees in the Ethiopian rain forests 
– Cold pressed : high pollen content 
– No sugar feeding, antibiotics or varroacides 
– No GMO`s for hundreds of miles

More information on the plight of the bees and what this means for humans

SOS-Bees.org maintained by Greenpeace

British Beekeepers Association

Pesticides linked to Bee Decline

Do feel free to leave further useful links in the comments, and we’ll gladly add them in.