Is it OB time???

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Squatchy

Lifetime GotMead Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Nov 3, 2014
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Denver
Hi

Obviously orange groves don't do well here in Denver. I'm wondering if anyone has a good line on some local Orange Blossom honey at a good price. I'm wanting to buy a 5 gallon pail but can't find any at a good price. Clover and wild flower goes for about $210 a fiver. What kind of prices do you guys pay when you can but OB from a local source?

Ryan
 
No OB here in Indiana either. I usually pay $30 /gallon for clover & wild flower locally unless I get it free from my brother in law who has bees :cool:
 
The cheapest I can find online (after shipping) is pretty much always Dutch Gold. I've never used their honey, though, so I don't know how the quality is. If I remember correctly, though, I think they filter it and then flash heat it (> 160 for about 5 minutes). After shipping, it's about $210 to get a 5 gallons of orange blossom honey to Denver ($3.50/lb).
 
Holy WOW! Dutch Gold has the price with shipping to my door just twenty bucks more than what I pay for wildflower locally! Now the question is the quality, I doubt very much it will compare to the sample of OB I received from Kernel Crush. I saw the one on the website that was 5 Lbs, it was darker than clover, but not orange by any means, it was also crystal clear. Looks like it was filtered & heat treated to be "consumer ready", AKA flows easy & does not crystallize. The one from Kernel Crush is so orange it glows & looks like artificial coloring was added, but I can verify that it's pure: It has comb wax, bee bits & LOTS of pollen (I looked at it under a microscope), the taste is sublime to understate it.
 
Squatchy - If you find something good, ask if they have any price breaks for volume? I'd go in on at least one or two fivers. I'm sure there are other Denver metro ppl here that might want to go in if we can get some sort of break. Otherwise the best price I've found is the same as valverij - from Dutch Gold. Has anyone tried it yet? It seems "too" cheap to be true.
 
All I know is every time my mom's in Florida I ask her to find me some OB honey and the stuff she finds in Florida is actually from Medford Farms in New Jersey. WTF...
 
I've used Dutch Gold for about 5 or 6 batches now, and I really like it. I thinks it's better than SueBee. I've got a JAOM variant with hot peppers that I made with Dutch Gold wildflower that's pretty amazing. Everyone that's tried it wants more.
 
All I know is every time my mom's in Florida I ask her to find me some OB honey and the stuff she finds in Florida is actually from Medford Farms in New Jersey. WTF...

I think maybe she bought in in a large chain store? I go to the B-Natural warehouse in homestead where they have a huge vat of local OB. They explained that all they do is heat it a little to filter all the biggest nasties out. Even still I occasionally find bee parts.

last year it was approx 2.70 per pound... let's see what happens this year.
 
I buy Alfalfa (UT), OB (CA) and Clover (SD) from a local Beekeeper that has hives in all 3 states. Price varies from 2.70 to 3.50 per pound in 5 gallon buckets.
 
My honey guy tells me that the Florida OB is just getting harvested now. I was gonna send out his contact to you guys who are looking for it, but I checked with him first and he doesn't want to sell a bunch of 5 gallon buckets cause he can make way more $ by selling it in small bottles. I have to coax him to do it for me even. Sorry folks.
 
I don't remember seeing any OB here in my area yet, but I haven't really been looking over the past couple of months for it. Winn-Dixie stores sell their WD brand OB pretty much year round, and it's okay, better than most "generic" brands, but nothing really "Wow, that's good stuff!" It made a heckuva JAOM this past Christmas though.

We usually get a fairly steady supply of wildflower and clover, and it's usually $12 per quart. $16.99 per quart will get you some tupelo or gallberry and things like that, depending on availability. Our local Walmart has been stocking Medford Farms as well, and it's pretty decent. Nothing to get all excited about though. One of the more interesting honey varietals I've had was some lime blossom honey. Very noticeable lime aroma and taste, very unique. Wish I could get some more to do some lime mead. It was like $10 for a pint though!
 
Well I visited a couple local apiaries today. The problem is I am in a small town with small producers and no one wants to ship. But I found someone with 50 gallons of OB at $240 5 gallons. The way I will do it is if your serious just send me a pm, I will send you his contact, you pay him, I will pick it up and you can send a call tag UPS to my office using your UPS account (all you have to do is put a credit card with UPS online and you have an instant account). You assume all shipping risks. I will tape the lid. You decide on the UPS insurance. I am not making a penny on the deal so I even hesitate to get involved cause I don't want to end up the goat in the deal but there seems to be some interest. I am picking up 5 gal on Thursday for me at the same cost. I have paid from 150-225 in the past depending on the quality. I cant vouch for the quality and its likely not going to be as EJM3 described, that was a good find, but I see this guy is real and not a repackager. .
 
One local producer just got their first OB in last week. I have found 2 locals here in FL with some really good raw honey. Happy Bee honey is not cheap at $10/lb and their largest size is 2lb but they do have some discounts for return customers and the OB honey is absolutely steller! The other is Winter park honey. They have a large variety and sell their most popular in 5lb containers for $40. In person they will give you the same deal on their smaller sizes. Still not cheap, but this is some of the best honey I've tasted. Both are unfiltered so it has bits of "stuff" floating in it. The winter park also has the elusive tupelo honey that has been out of stock at most local producers I have tried. One good thing is that when working with small local businesses you can always try to get special deals with them for return business or reserved product. So talk to the business owners in your area and try to network with them.
 
I'm lucky in that tupelo is fairly easy to find, as well as OB and gallberry. Even see alfalfa quite a bit. They seem to be the easiest to find, besides wildflower anyway.
 
Sorry, I didn't see your question till now... Will have to remember to check next time I come across some. Honey got scarce around here the last few months, but is now well stocked again. Haven't see tupelo lately, will check in Tallahassee monday though, that's where I usually see tupelo.