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Bulk honey prices

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Dahole

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Jul 30, 2006
44
1
8
A friend of my mom's is wanting to buy some bulk honey from me for mead. I get $3 per pound when I sell it by the quart ($12)

How much per pound are you folks selling your honey for? If nobody is selling any, what are you guys having to pay per pound?

For the record he said he last paid $1.50 per pound when he bought it by the pail. I thought that was a hell of a deal and he should buy all he can at that price.
 

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
My LHBS sells orange blossom and clover for $2.50/lb and I consider that a really good deal (esp since it's for any amount). If I'm lazy I buy it at the supermarket (albeit a super-crunchy-market) for $3.50-$4/lb in "bulk" ~1.5 lb containers--they sell wildflower, sage, buckwheat, and occasionally some others.
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
8
0
34
The OC
I generally pay about $1.50/pound here in California, sometimes a bit more. Speciality honeys can be more expensive, but they better be damned special if they're $3/lb.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 

Recluse

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 24, 2006
128
0
0
68
All the local Apiaries/farm markets around here (New Jersey) seem to get around $3/lb in bulk (5 lb). Mostly non-varietal wildflower honey, and usually $14-15/5lb and more per lb for the smaller sizes.

Still, looking forward to making a local wildflower batch after I cut my teeth on some of the Tried and True newbie recipes using Clover.

I know it has been cited ad nauseum around here, but the best deal around is Costco Dutch Gold Pure Clover Honey at ~$1.40/lb in a 5 lb lot (~$6.85). I assume Dutch Gold is a 'good' brand.

That's cheaper than Dutch Gold has on their Website!

The only non-mail order source of Buckwheat Honey I found locally was Whole Foods at a whopping $4.69/lb

Mailorder isn't much better for Buckwheat even when shipping doesn't get factored in. (Dutch Gold Buckwheat Honey is 21.60/5 lb BEFORE shipping).
 

DeltOgre

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 10, 2006
167
0
0
47
www.incorporatedwriting.com
I got some buckwheat out here for $2.50/lb, in 12 lb. lots. Of course, that was with no shipping. Deer Creek Honey. I think they have better prices at larger amounts, though, so maybe give them a call. The guy's name is Lee Dunham. If you approach it like you are a fellow beekeeper, he may even tell you where he got the buckwheat, as I know for a fact that he doesn't "grow it" (I have no idea what you guys call it!) on his own...

At any rate, it's pretty darned good.
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
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The OC
Seems to me like you guys are getting boned on pricing.

I'm not paying much more than $1.50 on average per pound of Orange Blossom, Sage, Macadamia Nut, Buckwheat, Mesquite, etc. I have purchased some speciality honeys that were more expensive but even at that rate the most I've paid is $2.50/lb and we're talking impossible to get Meadowfoam honey.

I'd really look around, or band together and start calling the same honey vendor as a group to see if you can get better pricing if you can get a block of people all to buy from the same vendor. I get a break on pricing because of the referrals I send to certain places, as well as the fact that I buy a lot of honey from these folks.

It pays to shop around almost daily if you can. That's what I do and I find some pretty awesome deals. My last bucket of Western Buckwheat cost me $66 for a five gallon bucket. That's like $1.10/lb for honey that I consider to be excellent quality honey.

Hope that helps,

Oskaar
 
T

The Honey Farmer

Guest
Guest
I sell mine for $4.00 lb. Folks around here want local wild flower honey and they know that I strain and not filter it and I never heat it. Great for their allergies! I say it all depends on your market.
Hey Dahole, welcome to gotmead. Now were do you live that you can pull that much honey with just six colonies? I think I wanna move there! lol
Oskaar, Cal. has alot of Honey Brokers that buy bulk at their price and man o man do they keep the price down. I know one guy in Palo Cedro that pulls a million plus pounds a year, and sells for what the broker offers. That way he dosn't have to try and peddle it or haul it himself.
Bee cool, Dennis
 

Angus

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Aug 19, 2005
908
0
0
55
Milwaukee, WI
In Wisconsin, anything from $1.20 up $2.00 per lb. bulk.

Depending on vendor, type, whether I bring my own container etc.

Angus
 

kace069

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2004
470
0
0
46
The honey broker here in Michigan is only paying $0.98/lb which I guess is pretty good last year was only $0.83/lb. I wouldn't consider 5# a bulk sale though. I would think to not even bother calling it bulk until people start buying 2 gallons at a time and then start coming down on the price. I say for all the stings you get over the course of the season sell it at what ever the local market price is. Bottling is a chore and if someone is going to come get it in bulk then give them a deal. Especially if they come with their own containers. One of the local beekeepers near me sells it for $2/lb no matter how much you buy. Needless to say I had only bought honey from him once.
 

insanity

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 20, 2006
104
0
0
Welcome to Gotmead.

My local honey people want a heavy premium for their honey. And their level of work and lack of volume may indeed justify their asking price. Plus – as long as the tourists pay for the fancy label = they have a market. I try to remember that they get to buy all those little containers, fill them, clean-up, label them, travel into town, stand at tents, advertise, etc.

So was the proposal for bulk quantity honey (usually, say at least 5 gal) at little bottle prices? Or for little bottles of honey at bulk prices? I would think if you have already bottled the honey in little bottles, your market price would be higher and you’d let that consumer find a cheaper source.

Good Luck!

Edit: I was just looking at a website that offered honey sales. They were selling honey in 2 oz, 4 oz, 1 lb, 5lb, etc containers. From the prices, the only conclusion I can make is that as the container gets smaller, they are no longer selling the honey but rather just reselling jars.
 

Little Mick

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 22, 2006
22
0
0
Honey Heads,
In Tacoma, WA I buy my fireweed and wildberry honey at $1.95/lb. No fancy label just white buckets poured while I watch. But then I get mine from my local home brew shop and have never tried to price from anywhere else.

I tend to agree with others that $3.00 seems akin to gouging but that is from the viewpoint of a consumer not a vendor. I am sure it is all relative to where you are looking from.

The Mick
 

Johnnybladers

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 13, 2006
301
0
0
48
The local apiary (Keeney and Ziegler in Bethel Pa)gets between 1.58-2.05 per lb in 60# pails and 2.25-2.75 per 1 lb jars according to my last list. I wonder if Oskaar might share some of his suppliers names and contact info, especially for the meadowfoam? Is meadowfoam really that special? Unfortunately I've never been able to try any. They carry wildflower, clover, OB, blueberry blossom, gallberry blossom, alfalfa and buckwheat at the aforementioned apiary which is just across the interstate from me.
Jon
 

JayH

Worker Bee
Registered Member
May 9, 2006
355
3
18
Corrales, NM
Luckly about once a month I have to drive right by Millers Honey. www.MillersHoney.com note, there is also a www.MillerHoney.com that is a different website.

Their prices are $1.00 / lb for Wildflower, $1.20 / lb for Sage, Buckwheat or Clover and $1.40 for organic Orange Blossom. The Orange Blossom went up this year due to an exceptionally bad crop. These are all on 5 gallon buckets.


Cheers
Jay
 

DeltOgre

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 10, 2006
167
0
0
47
www.incorporatedwriting.com
From another thread... NOT MY WORDS:

"To purchase the three and a half gallons of moderate to average quality honey that it would take for me to make a 12 gallon batch of JAO would cost about $350, including shipping."

Sounds like $8/lb. or so should be right in there...

The sarcasm's so thick, I could cut it with a knife... I know I've been paying too much, but COME ON.
 

Dahole

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Jul 30, 2006
44
1
8
The Honey Farmer said:
I sell mine for $4.00 lb. Folks around here want local wild flower honey and they know that I strain and not filter it and I never heat it. Great for their allergies! I say it all depends on your market.
Hey Dahole, welcome to gotmead. Now were do you live that you can pull that much honey with just six colonies? I think I wanna move there! lol
Oskaar, Cal. has alot of Honey Brokers that buy bulk at their price and man o man do they keep the price down.

I do the same with mine and that helps me get the $4.00lb. I am in WI and this is a bumper crop. I am expecting to pull off another 200-300 in early sept for a total of about 600 - 700 lbs. Never had a year like this, but this is the first year I didn't have a hive swarm on me.

I would caution that a fair amount of the bulk honey can come from China or Brazil. The China honey has been found to contain things other then pure honey like corn syrup. Not all of it, but some mind you.

After reading the feedback from everyone I have decided that I am going to stick with my current price and not sell it for less. (I need to have some way of paying for new bees when I lose them all to the damn mites. I refuse to use anything other then natural methods to control them.)

Little Mick While you might think my price is gouging keep in mind that all farming is hard work and bees are no exception. While I am making a profit it is not huge since I do seem to use more then the average person. :cheers:
 

kace069

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2004
470
0
0
46
Dahole,
From my understanding China got caught with "dirty honey" I took this as honey with medication in it, or like you said honey cut with corn syrup. Either way I guess that, at the time pushed the bulk prices up to about 1.50/lb. Because they were prevented from exporting honey here. After their probationary period and they started exporting honey here it pushed down the honey prices domesticaly.

I will have to say farming in any sense of the word is a role of the dice every year. I am glad that I do not have to make my living keeping bees. I think I would pull what little hair left in my head out. Plus like any farmer I think local economy dictates prices. If people are paying $4/lb for bottled honey let them pay. After all the things that cut into the price of a 1lb jar. At $4/lb you may be making what $.50? $1 if your lucky. Unless of course you ar producing a 100,000#/year, then sheer volume comes into play.

I may say that I get my honey for free, but after you take into account the price of just getting into this and then the work and time and a couple of hundred beestings. It is going to be a few years before I personally see a return on my investment.
And I still want to expand. Guess I am a glutton for punishment. But I love my girls!



BTW, shouldn't a quart at $3/lb= $9?
 

mminuet

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 16, 2006
18
0
0
DeltOgre said:
From another thread... NOT MY WORDS:

"To purchase the three and a half gallons of moderate to average quality honey that it would take for me to make a 12 gallon batch of JAO would cost about $350, including shipping."

Sounds like $8/lb. or so should be right in there...

The sarcasm's so thick, I could cut it with a knife... I know I've been paying too much, but COME ON.

There you go - trying to pee on my parade again. I really wish you'd stop, dude. :pottytrain2:

The $8 per lb affords me the ability to have a UPS truck make a stop at my favorite apiaries on the other side of the nation and bring to me honey of a known and reliable quality. Shipping is expensive, but paying it means that I get to choose my honey from people with their noses in hives instead of those with their noses in ledger books. It is a luxury that I hope you are also someday afforded, despite the fact that 90% of your posts leave me upset.
 

Dahole

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Jul 30, 2006
44
1
8
kace069 said:
I may say that I get my honey for free, but after you take into account the price of just getting into this and then the work and time and a couple of hundred beestings. It is going to be a few years before I personally see a return on my investment.
And I still want to expand. Guess I am a glutton for punishment. But I love my girls!

BTW, shouldn't a quart at $3/lb= $9?

I do love my girls to...and as they say nothing is free :icon_salut:

Yes if you get $3lb a quart should cost $9. I sell mine for $12 per quart. 3lbs per quart and $4 X 3 lbs is $12. Did I mess my math up somewhere?
 

insanity

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 20, 2006
104
0
0
In the past, I've spent more than $8/lb. Geographical differences increase my shipping costs as well. I'll admit that I'm jealous that others can find really good honeys consistently at prices well under $2.50/lb as well. I think that will happen as I move from buying 1 gallon containers and buy more in 5 gallon containers.

I think we all want to make good meads and if we can achieve that without going broke - I'm all for it.

And props to the beekeepers - you're efforts are appreciated.
If I can make life easier on the beekeeper or honey co-op by bringing my own container in for filling, etc - I'm willing! :cheers:
 
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