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Author Topic: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?  (Read 34217 times)

Offline annette

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #40 on: July 06, 2009, 11:26:19 am »
Actually what I say is "I don't use any chemicals in my hive".  This is more accurate.


Offline joker1656

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #41 on: July 06, 2009, 01:45:15 pm »
That makes sense.  I just wondered if I could say that honestly since I use commercially produced foundation.  Thanks for the advice. 
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Offline BoBn

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #42 on: July 07, 2009, 12:27:55 am »
anette,
Thank you.  Very few people realize the true value of honey.  The few beehives that I keep are producing exceptional honey. 
Most of it we use.
 I give away some 8oz glass jars and 4oz cut comb to our neighbors and friends. 

The little amount of honey that I sell is $5/lb in new 1 lb glass containers.  So far, I can sell as much as I produce. 

Over the 4th of July weekend, I had some help from a niece and nephew extracting, straining and bottling about 75lbs of honey.   The 20+ year-old farm kids from southern New England learned how much work it is for us . . . . and the bees.   

I gave them a swarm of bees in early June.   They are enthusiastic  about raising bees!

whenever I travel,  I buy honey farm stands, diners, farmers markets and locals.
We buy our meals the same way.

 I am a sucker for chunk comb honey, orange blossom,  Tupelo, etc.   My wife is always reminding me about how much honey we have at home in the pantry.

I am one of those people that will pay a higher price for quality.
"Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites."
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Offline Grandma_DOG

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #43 on: July 07, 2009, 03:57:02 pm »
Our bee club got a lecture on the status of Organic.

1. You're exempt from being certified organic if you sell less than $5000/year
2. No plastic can be in the hive
3. No fungicides, miticides or other non food grade chemicals.
4. powdered sugar is food grade.

So I can say I'm organic.

I don't think anyone distinguishes the nuance of organic beeking vs organic area beeking.  But I can say my bees are free ranging!

-mt

"Does anybody (grandmadog?) distinguish between organic honey (as in, hives in the middle of miles of organic territory) versus organic beekeeping (as in, no chemical treatments, foundation, etc.) when trying to price their honey?"

I never say my honey is organic, but I do say it is chemical free.
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Offline luvin honey

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #44 on: July 07, 2009, 05:56:59 pm »
Gotta love the term "free ranging." Especially with bees :D

I thought I had read somewhere that in order to have truly organic honey the hives had to be in an area so enormously organic that the bees couldn't forage anywhere where there was GM crops, pesticides, herbicides, etc. That would surely limit the production of organic honey, hey?

I think I will just take the lengthy route of explaining how my bees make their own wax, I use no manufactured chemical treatments, etc.
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline oldenglish

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #45 on: July 07, 2009, 06:15:01 pm »
I believe that organic certification is federal driven and not state. The rule I hear all the time is you have to be in control of all foraging within a 3 mile radius of the hive, as that is pretty much impossible I do not believe any apiary could get certified as organic.

I also do not believe that anyone can be exempt to the requirement just based on volumn

Offline utahbeekeeper

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #46 on: July 07, 2009, 06:54:14 pm »
I am of the strong opinion that anyone who wants something more that a trusted source for PURE, RAW local honey . . . that is to say someone who requires such honey to also be organic, has taken something just a bit too far.  Organic beef . . . fine.  Organic cheese . . . cool if that is what floats your boat.  Organic honey . . . . come on.  If the bees are alive, and the beek is known and trusted as far as pest control in the hive, then the honey is probably the best one can get.

1 # jar $6.95
22oz pint mason jar with cut comb inside - $12.00  (up a dollar from 08)
2 1/2 pound jar $15.00
12oz Bear  $5.50

Sell out (approx 600 pounds) by Nov 1st   Our web site stays open even tho we sell out, but to be fair, it is just one tab in our Millcreek Valley Farm web site so it is not a bad thing to have sold out on just one item found there.  BeeMaster is right about shipping - it costs plenty.  a few are willing to pay.  But most of what we ship is the personal care stuff.  Our site Googles very well for "utah local raw honey"  #3 first page last time I checked, so most sales are our shows and at our home.

Harvest this Friday . . . 7 mediums packed and waiting with good flow still goin on.  We had lotta rain this spring, and you know what they say about April showers, 'cept it was all of May too!
Pleasant words are like an honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones.  Prov 16:24

Offline alflyguy

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #47 on: July 07, 2009, 11:32:40 pm »
This year was the first time my girls had a surplus. I harvested enough honey from 1 hive in June to fill 48 pint jars. My dad and I sold them for $6.50. They were all gone in 2 days.

Offline annette

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #48 on: July 08, 2009, 12:29:19 am »
anette,
Thank you.  Very few people realize the true value of honey.  The few beehives that I keep are producing exceptional honey. 
Most of it we use.
 I give away some 8oz glass jars and 4oz cut comb to our neighbors and friends. 

The little amount of honey that I sell is $5/lb in new 1 lb glass containers.  So far, I can sell as much as I produce. 

Over the 4th of July weekend, I had some help from a niece and nephew extracting, straining and bottling about 75lbs of honey.   The 20+ year-old farm kids from southern New England learned how much work it is for us . . . . and the bees.   

I gave them a swarm of bees in early June.   They are enthusiastic  about raising bees!

whenever I travel,  I buy honey farm stands, diners, farmers markets and locals.
We buy our meals the same way.

 I am a sucker for chunk comb honey, orange blossom,  Tupelo, etc.   My wife is always reminding me about how much honey we have at home in the pantry.

I am one of those people that will pay a higher price for quality.

I also purchase honey anywhere I go and for almost any price.  That's why I know I can charge so much for my honey.

Offline luvin honey

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #49 on: July 08, 2009, 12:54:25 am »
I still fantasize about the sourwood chunk honey I bought in TN 2 summers ago. They were selling it for $10 for a quart jar. I still kick myself for not buying out their entire stock!!
The pedigree of honey
Does not concern the bee;
A clover, any time, to him
Is aristocracy.
---Emily Dickinson

Offline trapperbob

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #50 on: July 08, 2009, 08:03:17 am »
I sell mine for
 2.50 half pint
 3.00 12 oz bear
 5.00 pint
 10.00 quart
I'm probably under pricing it but it supports my bee habit so I'm satisfied and my customers keep coming back. As a matter of fact I can't keep enough on hand so I guess I'll have to get more bee's. More bees more honey more honey more bees is'nt it great.

Offline JP

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #51 on: July 08, 2009, 08:46:51 am »
Currently sell 12oz for $5.00.


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Offline beemaster

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #52 on: July 08, 2009, 09:01:35 am »
One season, about a half a dozen years ago now, I  sold honey in 1/2 pint, pint and quart containers through my website. It was a bumper year and I wanted to see how well the BEEMASTER'S OWN SELECT HONEY BLEND HONEY would sell. I spent three weeks going to the post office nearly every day with mostly purchases of 1/2 pints which I was getting a whopping $6.95 for, pint $11.95 and quart $20.95 - I even had 1 ounce sample jars for grouping a collection of different flavor assortment packs, but never used those, I only had a previous seasons late Fall and Summer flow, which are very different but still only two flavors. I know all really great prices, but I had a marketable name, with a good website following even before the forum was started.

The shipping was the killer of course, people didn't mind paying extra for the Beemaster name, but they cringed at shipping costs, which really drove up cost. It really was a great income but I ran out so fast.

I always had a dream of a Beemaster Member's Select or Premium Blend - make a business using the resources of the membership to help sell their products and offer a great choice of flavors to the customers.

Then the idea to be commercial free came to mind, being different and NOT having anyone dictate how the site is ran or how it looks really set into my mind and I never looked back.

Although honestly, with someone who is good at logistics and reliable membership able to ship quanties when needed, we could really have a very competitive supplier of honey with that local marketplace feel.

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Offline TwoBigCats

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #53 on: July 08, 2009, 10:33:56 am »
One season, about a half a dozen years ago now, I  sold honey in 1/2 pint, pint and quart containers through my website. It was a bumper year and I wanted to see how well the BEEMASTER'S OWN SELECT HONEY BLEND HONEY would sell. I spent three weeks going to the post office nearly every day with mostly purchases of 1/2 pints which I was getting a whopping $6.95 for, pint $11.95 and quart $20.95 - I even had 1 ounce sample jars for grouping a collection of different flavor assortment packs, but never used those, I only had a previous seasons late Fall and Summer flow, which are very different but still only two flavors. I know all really great prices, but I had a marketable name, with a good website following even before the forum was started.

The shipping was the killer of course, people didn't mind paying extra for the Beemaster name, but they cringed at shipping costs, which really drove up cost. It really was a great income but I ran out so fast.

I always had a dream of a Beemaster Member's Select or Premium Blend - make a business using the resources of the membership to help sell their products and offer a great choice of flavors to the customers.

Then the idea to be commercial free came to mind, being different and NOT having anyone dictate how the site is ran or how it looks really set into my mind and I never looked back.

Although honestly, with someone who is good at logistics and reliable membership able to ship quanties when needed, we could really have a very competitive supplier of honey with that local marketplace feel.
the post office now has a variety of fixed-price shipping boxes that i ship jam / jelly / honey to friends and g.i.'s overseas.  i use the med-large boxes and they run ~$11, regardless of weight. last time i sent 6 jars of goodies, the p.o. worker told me i'd saved >$10 over conventional shipping. 




Offline Foxhound

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #54 on: February 16, 2015, 10:56:01 pm »
Selling treatment free honey for about $13 a pound in Birmingham, AL.

The public likes to know that their food is coming from a good place and don't mind paying for it. If I was producing 1000+ pounds of honey, I wouldn't sell it for $13 a pound.

Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #55 on: February 17, 2015, 01:06:23 am »
It's good to see that this string is revived.  I've sold a few 1-pound jars of honey at $10 a pound this year, but mostly give it away and only took 14 pounds from my two hives this year because I thought they'd need it for the winter.  I, too, buy honey wherever I go, to see what different regions are producing -- but never iin supermarkets.  I want to know it's real honey, raw, unfiltered and natural.  And when I give honey or sell it, I stress that it is real, raw, unfiltered honey, not the garbage people get in supermarkets. I guess I should say "last year" above, because it was in the fall.  Ok, well...
"Liberty lives in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no laws, no court can save it." - Judge Learned Hand, 1944

Offline GSF

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #56 on: February 17, 2015, 06:15:23 am »
ditto on the postal rates. They got permission from Congress to lower their rates or something like that.

A friend of ours has sinus headaches from allergies. Her and her husband also run a restaurant. Good food, good service, and we always tip. For an added bonus I threw in a pint of honey from my hives. I mentioned the fake honey issues as well.

She had heard that local honey would relieve allergies so she started taking it with some cinnamon. Not long after that her headaches went away. Well she ran out and bought some at the store. It did nothing for her headaches. The last time we ate there she pleaded from some more of my honey. I felt sorry for her because of her pain and I sent two pints, one of mine and one from another local source. I'm not sure but I think the other source is heated and adulterated. I informed her of that and sent the two pints by my son. I did not want any money for them, but my son said she wouldn't have anything to do with that. On her own she gave me $10 a pint for them.

Point is, folks know good things and will gladly pay for it.
When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt, but protects the corrupt from you - then you know your nation is doomed.

Offline Chanticleer48

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #57 on: February 17, 2015, 11:50:23 am »
When yall say "a pound"' is that fluid oz or actual poundage....what I want to know is can I sell a 12 fluid oz jar of honey as a pound of honey, which it is on a scale, or do I have to sell a pound of honey as 16 fluid oz's, which is more like a pound and a quarter on scales.

Offline Maggiesdad

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #58 on: February 17, 2015, 11:53:16 am »
Sell it by weight, not volume.

Offline Dallasbeek

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Re: How much do you sell a pound of honey for in your area?
« Reply #59 on: February 17, 2015, 01:10:19 pm »
I gave a 1/2-pound jar to a chef last night and he acted like kid at Christmas.  I had given him and his boss jars last fall and somebody in the kitchen stole the chef's.  He knows and appreciates the  value of real local honey. 
"Liberty lives in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no laws, no court can save it." - Judge Learned Hand, 1944