Finding a good price on wildflower honey...

After making my first batch of melomel (ok, it's actually in a teriary.. ) I was put off with how much the honey cost from my LHBS. ($4/lb) As much as I like supporting them, I figured I could get a better deal in some capacity of bulk. I did some searching and found Stiles Apiaries in Fords, NJ. I got a call back from Grant Stiles and he was more than happy to get me the honey that I needed. He had 5 gallon buckets (60lbs) for $115 ($1.91/lb). He said he could have it ready for me for Sunday morning, so I'm going to stop by and see him then.

I'm not really sorry for not supporting my LHBS in this case... $88 vs $42 for cost of the honey for the referenced melomel... I can make twice as much now.

janzik said:

I'm not really sorry for not supporting my LHBS in this case... $88 vs $42 for cost of the honey for the referenced melomel... I can make twice as much now.

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Now thats the spirit!!

Anytime you want to make a lot of something, buying in bulk is the only way to go.

And there's nothing wrong with supporting your local bee-keeper.

Grant is a great guy and is very helpful. My club buys a lot of honey from him (600 lbs in the last few months). We've been getting basswood honey from him. It's a fairly light honey with a nice flavor.

Yet another good reason to join the WHALES. We've been paying $95 for 60lbs. That's already half of the annual dues right there.

I don't have a local bee keeper, nor a local bulk supply in site, but I'd not take another pound of Wildflower honey if you gave it to me. Well...maybe to put on toast.
I have a mead and a Braggot that I have 0% hope for due to the funky flavor of wild flower honey.

BigKahuna said:

I don't have a local bee keeper, nor a local bulk supply in site, but I'd not take another pound of Wildflower honey if you gave it to me. Well...maybe to put on toast.
I have a mead and a Braggot that I have 0% hope for due to the funky flavor of wild flower honey.

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Is that based on the unpredictability of wild flower honey, since it's (from what I understand), basically a "mutt" honey. Meaning, the bee keepers do not know where the promiscuous bees were doing their thing?

yes.
If you got a nice light wildflower...It could be good. The Madhiva brand I got was very dark and kinda tastes like the first running's out of the calf pen when it rains.

Grant always has a good estimate of the makeup of his wildflower variety. I know the last batch of wildflower was something like 80% blueberry and 20% "other" so he couldn't label it anything other than wildflower. Not all wildflower honey is created equal.

Around here (MT) it's either clover @ $3+/lb, or wildflower, which is mostly knapweed @$1.79/lb. My only other honey options are to buy mailorder & pay through the nose for shipping, or drive 500 miles. From my perspective you're getting a pretty good deal on your honey. Regards, GF.

my local guy is selling at about 2.08/lb. while not the best price he is still much cheaper than others i have found. i got lucky when a local farmer referred him to me, turns out he lives less than a mile away. no shipping charges and he delivers!