Cheapest you get honey?

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digdan

digdan

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Whats the rate you get your honey equivalent to clover honey? While meeting with a bunch of beekeepers I'm able to get great raw honey on the cheap. I'm in fact thinking of reselling selling honey online.

Let me know what you are paying so I can figure out if it would be worth the business venture.

Thanks,
Dig Dan
 
I paid $1.79/lb for "wildflower" honey in bulk, but I'm not happy with it. Just like anything else, you get what you pay for. So now I'll either pay about $3.00/lb or pay through the nose for shipping. Regards, GF.
 
I've heard a lot of people exclaim that wildflower honey is unfavorable. Why is this?

And what classifies something as "wildflower"?
 
I get mine from a distributor of honey. $105-120 for a 60# bucket...

...which is usually MORE than 60# - I think claphamsa weighed one of his in at 72#.
 
i get mine from the crockett's honey factory down the street.

they sell 60# buckets of orange blossom honey for 105

Out of clover, orange blossom, and mesquite, I like orange blossom the best for regular mead or spiced meads.

Clover honey is the best if you are gonna use some fruit too.

Mesquite is good honey, don't get me wrong. I just prefer clover for fruit, and orange blossom for everything else.
 
Northern Brewer has good prices on honey with great flat rate shipping. All are claimed to be unpateurized and unfiltered.
12# jugs
$25.99 Clover
$29.99 Wildflower
$34.99 for Basswood, Sage, and Orange Blossom

The clover I just bought was a little darker and had a bolder taste than expected. I think that maybe why its cheaper. Last year it was $34.99.

The only thing I have found local at that price was a gallon of "extracting tank" honey from a local apiarist. It was mixed honey with specks of wax in it. Tasted great and made god mead but looked pretty bad.

Craig
 
I'm picking up a gallon of clover honey tomorrow from a friend for $30- she knows an apiarist, so has an in. Not sure if it's the greatest price, or the quality, but oh well. If it's 12#, then it's $2.50/# which isn't terrible.
 
jamesnw said:
I'm picking up a gallon of clover honey tomorrow from a friend for $30- she knows an apiarist, so has an in. Not sure if it's the greatest price, or the quality, but oh well. If it's 12#, then it's $2.50/# which isn't terrible.
Click to expand...

Thats the price I was expecting people to pay, and clover honey is great for mead. Hope it works out for you.
 
In the 2 meads that I have working right now I paid $3/pound for Orange Blossom, from specialty store, and about $2/pound for clover from a large grocery chain.

Depending on any other costs you may run into (re-packaging), and your cost to bulk purchase, I'd say $2.50 to $3.00 per pound for quality honey, in small quantities, is a bargain.
 
Saturday/ farmer's markets people! I think they're pretty prevalent nation wide.

Around here, I've paid around 2.50/# for local, raw unprocessed honey. Storebought doesn't come close. If you find an apiary who's prices/ honey are great - hang on to the # and look em up when ya need more. Generally a great excuse for a country drive....
 
digdan said:
I've heard a lot of people exclaim that wildflower honey is unfavorable. Why is this?

And what classifies something as "wildflower"?
Click to expand...

Everything I've made with the lcl "wildflower" honey has had a "rubber stopper-like" flavour to it. Nothing I've made without it does. It eventually ages out, but it takes quite a while. Clover honey doesn't have the "rubber stopper" taste & doesn't take as long to be ready to drink.

I've been told that this off flavour comes from knapweed, but I don't know if that's true or not. I just know I'm not using lcl wildflower honey for fermentations anymore. Wildflower honey from another region may be much better, but if I'm paying the shipping on 60lbs, I'm going to get something that I know is going to be good, like orange blossom, mesquite, or acacia honey. I've been looking for a good, reasonably priced, non-asian source for acacia honey, but I have yet to find one that meets all 3 requirements. Regards, GF.
 
I can get honey from a local orchard here for $1.59/lb. Most of its clover honey.

Eric
 
I cheat.

I bribe my local Health Food store manager to procure specialty honey for me.
I get cheaper honey, she gets mead.

I blend specialty honey with Clover Honey I get at a wholesale house for a majority of my meads.
 
I hate all of you paying less than $2.50/lb. :)

Haven't checked the price recently, but think I'm paying about 2.75/# for clover or wildflower, and $3/lb for mesquite (at times, esp for small batches, the mesquite is easier, esp as that's walking distance from office, the clover and wildflower require a bit of a drive)
 
etp777 said:
I hate all of you paying less than $2.50/lb. :)

Haven't checked the price recently, but think I'm paying about 2.75/# for clover or wildflower, and $3/lb for mesquite (at times, esp for small batches, the mesquite is easier, esp as that's walking distance from office, the clover and wildflower require a bit of a drive)
Click to expand...

I agree! I was thinking were paying a lot more... as per this neat-o graph :

National Honey Board Industry Statistics:Average Retail Price Per Pound
 
Keepounding said:
I live in Boyertown Pennsylvania. About an hour northeast of Philly. Is anyone getting any deals on honey in this area?
Click to expand...

[ame=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=67e&q=philadelphia+apiaries&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=]philadelphia apiaries - Google Search[/ame]

Call up an apiary, that is hands down where you find the rawest, and cheapest honey
 
curtis97322 said:
Saturday/ farmer's markets people! I think they're pretty prevalent nation wide.

Around here, I've paid around 2.50/# for local, raw unprocessed honey. Storebought doesn't come close. If you find an apiary who's prices/ honey are great - hang on to the # and look em up when ya need more. Generally a great excuse for a country drive....
Click to expand...

Great idea except my very local farmers market has no deals on honey. There are 2 to 3 vendors selling honey. All of it in quart size or smaller quantities for about $5+/#.

Craig
 
I was scouting out some places from Honey Locator - The National Honey Board and found this one

Quality Honey and Honey Products - Miller's Honey

$104 for 5 gallons (60 lbs)

I asked them about how they process their honey. This is the reply I got.

Is your honey heated? Is it Cooked? Is it Raw? Is it Filtered?
Miller’s honey is not cooked. It is still considered raw, but has been heated. We heat our honey to about 130 degrees in order to melt the crystals and strain out foreign matter. Most honey packers heat their product to about 160 degrees or higher and run it through filter presses. They use filtering agents, such as diatomaceous earth, which removes virtually all particulate matter, including the good stuff like pollen. Our honey by contrast is strained and will usually not appear as crystal clear as filtered product. We have left more of what nature intended in our product.
The downside to unfiltered honey is the fact it will crystallize sooner than filtered honey. That and a crystal clear product are why filtering is done in the first place.
Click to expand...

I think I'll order a lb and see what I think. I'm hoping for good luck. Anybody ever deal with them before?
 
talenos said:
I was scouting out some places from Honey Locator - The National Honey Board and found this one

Quality Honey and Honey Products - Miller's Honey

$104 for 5 gallons (60 lbs)

I asked them about how they process their honey. This is the reply I got.



I think I'll order a lb and see what I think. I'm hoping for good luck. Anybody ever deal with them before?
Click to expand...

Looks very impressive. They are located in a great region for apiaries. I would not be surprised if they came out on top. The way I see it, you can make a mead out of a gallon. $104 for 5 x 5 gallon meads? Score!

btw, does the word "meadow" come from the word mead? No need to answer, just dorking around with that thought.
 
Well, I just happened to find a bottle of the Millers at the Smart & Final with my girlfriend. We compared it with our farmer's market jar of orange blossom honey.

The Miller's was good, but it had a very light scent to it, where the farmer's market was much more pungent. Tasting wise, the one from the market was much stronger in the orange department and darker in color as well. Overall seemed more pungent in smell and taste. I'm guessing the filtering and heating caused the Miller's to lose some of its aroma and taste.

Maybe I'll do a comparison 1 gallon batch of each.
 
I have used the Millers 3 lb Wild Honey in a couple 1 gallon batches. The honey tastes pretty good. Trying another CA apiary atm for my next batch of cherry mead. (Whenever cherries are on sale again)
 

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