Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: newbee07 on June 06, 2007, 04:09:40 pm
-
I hate to open a jar of honey for customers to taste before buying so i wanted to make a honey stick out of each batch to sell them as a snack or give as a sample for the higher stuff. Anyone have any ideas or how to's?
thanks
-
You took the question out of my mouth. I love honey sticks! I was just having a conversation about them and brainstorming about how to make them. Would love some info on this
-
Here's a machine, but you could use straws that are sealed with a high-heat wire at both ends.
http://busybeefarm.com/stickypage.htm
-
I've never tried this. But why cant you take a clear straw, fold over one end, heat w/ lighter and press that end closed w/ fingers or pliers while slightly "gooey" or soft. Fill w/ honey, leaving enought of straw to fold over , heat and seal that end, making a honey stick.
Another idea would to find a kind of stopper for straws and plug the ends of the straws, enabling the consumer to just pull it out and enjoy, w/o cutting the heat sealed ends the other way.
-
How about if you put one end of a straw in melted wax, let it harden, put honey in then put simi hard wax in the other end. This should work I guess. :-P
-
um...how would you fill the straw?
-
>um...how would you fill the straw?
There's the problem...
-
You could buy those little plastic condiment cups that have lids? Place a bit of honey in them, and offer samples?
-
this came to mind because next saturday at the farmers market i sell at theres also going to be a craft fair going on....theres a lot of people walking by with kids in tow and if i were selling these individually at $1 or 50 cents each....well you get the picture. i don't think i could handle the tedious work of filling the straws.
-
Have any of you ever made a water weenie with surgical tube and a empty pen casing? Maybe something like that could work to fill the straw-tubing because it has a narrow tip and the tubing would create pressure that fills the straw? I imagine that you heat-seal the straw in lengths that you want.
My best guess! I always thought there was an inexpensive machine out there for us beekeepers to do this :)
> To clarify:
- Get one looooong tube sealed at one end
- Fill with honey, per above suggestion
- Seal filling end
- Heat seal in desired lengths and cut
???????
-
there is, its here
http://anthonysbeehive.com/akh_honeystraw_machine_overview.html
-
now my wife is off and running on this. she's thinking of filling them with a syringe and getting one of those heat sealing machines...an impulse heat sealer.
-
A syringe is a great idea. Spending $600 to $900 for a machine isn't in my budget right now, but I would definitely do the math. Guesstimate how much you can sell, and how long it will take you to fill the straws by hand, and then compare that with the machine cost. Time really is money, and you may be able to make up for it in a short amount of time.
If doing it by hand, I'd fill up the longest straws available, or within reason, get a stack of them, then heat seal in segments of whatever desired length, and as fast as you can. That is why I'd have to agree that a heated injector or modified syringe would work very well to save time. You don't want to be filling a syringe every straw or two.
-
If you want to fill the straws. Get a condiment bottle and make sure the opening is just a little smaller then the opening of the straw.
You can also use the syringes vets sell for given your pet medication. Make sure you use a fresh one.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
-
my wife works at a vet clinic so syringes are plentiful. i use them to wax in starter strips.
the condiment bottle also sounds like an excellent idea.
-
http://honeyrunapiaries.com/blog/category/honey-sticks/
-
If you can get a needle course enough and heat the honey to about 100 F maybe the syringe would work.
-
http://www.honeystix.com/HoneyStix/Products_Bulk.html
-
I don't think we're talking honey sticks here.
People want to sample the honey.
Simple.
Fine some individgualy wrapped plastic spoons.
bottle up a couple of two lb. squeeze bottles from each batch.
Or do like I do some time, tell them if they sample it they bought it.
Do they sample capped items in the stores? No.
That is product tampering.
doak
-
http://www.restockit.com/search.aspx?Query=tasterspoons&btnSearch.x=0&btnSearch.y=0&btnSearch=Search
-
If you can get a needle course enough and heat the honey to about 100 F maybe the syringe would work.
The vet syringes don't have needles. Just openings. These are the ones used for oral meds on cats and dogs.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
-
Here is a example of an oral syringe. My cat got sick a couple months ago and we were given a syringe that we never needed to use. Now I can put it to good use.
(http://www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p_2509_12650DZ.jpg)
-
I had one without a needle to squirt food out of my empty teeth holes when I got my wisdom teeth out. It was so gross.
-
I had one without a needle to squirt food out of my empty teeth holes when I got my wisdom teeth out. It was so gross.
Empty teeth holes eh?
(http://www.geocities.com/malinko.geo/03_images/images/alg_toothache3.jpg)
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, we're trying to eat here and you stand here airing out your stinky ol' gumholes. What are ya trying to do? Make us puke?"
:lol:
re: honey sticks ~> Heating the honey and storing it in plastic (are they plastic or cello?) would not seem the best way to get across the quality in a sample. But I can see the honey stix flying off the shelves - customers wanting a small, convenient product & surely healthier than the commercial sugary snacks.
-
To taste the honey why don't you get some of those wooden popsicle sticks and a small baby bear squeeze bottle and squeeze some honey on the stick. Not much investment, sanitary and people love it.
-
I think one of the reasons you sell a lot of honey sticks is because they usually go for $0.25 a piece. A lot of kids have that kind of cash. :) And then they get more...