Irish bees, which produce some 200 tonnes of honey every year for consumption here, may soon get a much-needed boost in their status as food-gatherers.
Despite its big reputation as a health food, honey cannot be classified as an organic food. This is because beekeepers have little control over where the bees work.
It is not possible to certify that bees have not collected nectar from areas which have been over-fertilised, on which pesticides have been sprayed or from contaminated areas.
However, this year "organic honey", which has been produced in Argentina, has gone on sale in Ireland. This has prompting queries from local suppliers.
They want to produce a situation where they will be allowed compete with the foreign honey, which has been selling well, especially in the Munster area.
The organic organisations in Ireland are now trying to agree a set of standards which will allow the State's 2,000 beekeepers compete with the imported product.
According to the Irish Organic Farmers' and Growers' Association, plans are nearly finalised to allow organic status be given for the product.
Ms Noreen Gibney, operations manager of the organisation, said work was well advanced on a plan which would allow organic status be given to honey produced in certain areas.
"We are looking at areas where there are large tracts of organic farms and areas where all the farms are in the rural environment protection schemes," she said.
She added that the range of working bees was known and if they were working in such an area the product could then be given organic certification.
"We are also looking at national heritage areas and other areas where limits have been placed on intensive agriculture and we hope that there may soon be organic Irish honey on sale," she said.
There are 2,000 Irish beekeepers who work just over 20,000 hives in all parts of the State.
In a good year they can produce nearly 200 tonnes of honey.
This, however, can be much lower if the weather is poor, especially in the early summer when the bees make most of the honey. It has been estimated that 2,000 tonnes of honey is imported into the State annually.