Buying Bulk Honey

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bubbachunk

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Who has everyone dealt with?
I was looking to purchase from here as it was the best price I could find. Anyone with any experience with them?

My local guy only sells some sort of wildflower blend he wont specify and I can only buy 1 gallon at a time for 2.5$ a lb. He also said he wont be selling even in the gallon bulk til the spring when he has a new harvest so I will be s.o.l.
 
I have no experience with mead, or buying honey, but I have been watching prices. I am quite confident you'll be hard pressed to beat those prices. The best I have seen is like 35 bucks for 12 gallons.

Best of luck to you!
 
IIRC, Dutch Gold is processed clover honey, pretty much what's used in millions of commercial honey bear types. One LHBS here sells it.

Try to find an apiary using honeylocator, you might find one a little closer to you. Last I bought honey (summer time) it was about $2/lb when buying in 5g buckets. I'm sure based on the honey crop report that prices will go up until it's back in season again next year.
 
I have no experience with mead, or buying honey, but I have been watching prices. I am quite confident you'll be hard pressed to beat those prices. The best I have seen is like 35 bucks for 12 gallons.

Best of luck to you!

I think you mean $35 for 12 pounds...12 gallons would be something like 144 pounds, which for $35 would be a STEAL.
 
IIRC, Dutch Gold is processed clover honey, pretty much what's used in millions of commercial honey bear types. One LHBS here sells it.

Try to find an apiary using honeylocator, you might find one a little closer to you. Last I bought honey (summer time) it was about $2/lb when buying in 5g buckets. I'm sure based on the honey crop report that prices will go up until it's back in season again next year.

Most are 3-4 hours away and only finding 2.5-3$ a pound.
 
Best I have is Madhava's In Lyons, CO. Wholesale prices for a 42 pound bucket for $81.50+$4 for bucket deposit. You need to convince them that you wont be reselling it to get the prices or have a resale liscence. Simple thing to do Just a small bottle of your mead will do. They are very freindly. That is if you are in the Denver/Boulder area in Colorado. You may find local bee keepers too.
 
Lovett Vinyard helped me find something for you :

There is a homebrew shop in Athens, Called the Athens Do-it Yourself shop that sells raw honey. You bring the container and get what you need. (740)594.2349

Fred Burdell sells honey by the quart off St Rt 325 around Vinton, OH. Last year he sold it for $7/quart.
 
Lovett Vinyard helped me find something for you :

There is a homebrew shop in Athens, Called the Athens Do-it Yourself shop that sells raw honey. You bring the container and get what you need. (740)594.2349

Fred Burdell sells honey by the quart off St Rt 325 around Vinton, OH. Last year he sold it for $7/quart.

He does occasionally but not always. Also i think it was 2.5-3$/lb and I didn't find it to be the best tasting honey.

I truly appreciate your help though!
 
Awhile back I seriously looked into a bulk honey buy. You don't really hit much in the way of cost savings until you buy a 55 Gallon drum. At that level I was quoted $1.25/lb. But that's a serious amount of honey.
 
I get really nice golden wildflower honey locally for around thirty bucks Canadian a gallon (12 pounds).

There are loads of beekeepers around. When I can aford to, I'm going to make varietals of their different honeys, and give them each a few bottles.
 
I find good deals for honey on Ebay..otherwise I buy all my honey from EBEE honey out of Ohio. THey have decent prices on bulk raw honey.

Dan
 
I use Miller's Honey out of California. Their prices are about the same but......since I live in CA, I get stuck with the taxes. If they're not in CA, I may start using the supplier that you listed in this thread!!
 
Awhile back I seriously looked into a bulk honey buy. You don't really hit much in the way of cost savings until you buy a 55 Gallon drum. At that level I was quoted $1.25/lb. But that's a serious amount of honey.

This won't help you much unless you don't mind paying shipping cost, but my local supplier gives me a break at 5 gallons to $1.75/lb. Great for me since I make batches big enough for that. :rockin:

Shipping would bring the cost for you back up to $2.50-3.00/lb. I, too, have considered beekeeping for the honey, but my wife is allergic so not happening.
 
This is one of the reasons i love this site. I looked for a good while for places to buy honey. I found a few and was not impressed. I see this topic and all I can say is (you guys rock):rockin:
It is great that everyone contributes a little something to make this such a great site.
May everyone's endeavors be worth while and your glasses never empty.
 
there's been talk about the "dutch gold" branded honey over at gotmead.

It would seem that it's "very" processed, and while often cheap, that really makes it unsuitable for "traditional" meads. Though it also means that it should be fine for metheglins, melomels, cysers, pyments, etc etc in other words, mead types where the honey isn't the main flavouring element.

if you want good traditionals, then you're either looking for varietal honey than has only been filtered (rather than pasteurised or other heat treated) or even better, raw unprocessed honey that's only been de-combed and nothing else.....
 
yep, that's why I buy my bulk honey from EBee Honey. All they do is take it off the comb. There are still chunks of wax, propolis, bee parts, and such that you can see in the honey. It is great stuff and I highly reccommend their honey's to anyone.
 
I got a price of $1.55 a lb. at the local bakery. I have no idea what the quality is. I have not used it yet. It comes in the 5 G bucket and says Wildflower Honey on it, which I think just means they have no idea and no control. I think it's worth trying at least.

I might just try 2.5 gallons to start though. I would hate to waste all that honey on a mistake. I've never done any kind of wine before (save for Ed's Apfelwein), so we'll see how it goes.
 
One other note - "baker's honey" is also often not in the "usual" range of sugar concentration - often it is lower in sugar and higher in water content. This will have two effects on your mead. First, it can skew your recipe amounts a bit. Second, it can more readily "go off" since diluted honey doesn't have the same antimicrobial properties as does full concentration honey.

Baker's honey is a crap shoot, and for me, with as much work as I put into a batch of mead, it isn't worth the risk. Still, if your budget is very tight, making mead out of honey that you can afford is far better than making no mead at all! ;) Just keep in mind that it may not turn out as an award winner -- it may not even turn out consistently from batch to batch.
 
I'm new to the forums (and to mead making) and just wanted to echo what was said in some earlier post here - this is a great site with tons of information. I've already learned a lot just reading for a few minutes.

One question about using bulk honey - If I were to buy a 5 gallon bucket of honey, what is the best way to work with it? I mean, how would I accurately measure, say 18 lbs for a recipe (or whatever amount). With a gallon jug, if I want 12 lbs, I dump the whole thing in. Can't very well do that with a 60 lb bucket.

Thanks again for the awesome site!
 
I'm new to the forums (and to mead making) and just wanted to echo what was said in some earlier post here - this is a great site with tons of information. I've already learned a lot just reading for a few minutes.

One question about using bulk honey - If I were to buy a 5 gallon bucket of honey, what is the best way to work with it? I mean, how would I accurately measure, say 18 lbs for a recipe (or whatever amount). With a gallon jug, if I want 12 lbs, I dump the whole thing in. Can't very well do that with a 60 lb bucket.

Thanks again for the awesome site!

Well I have a scale around my kitchen that i throw a bowl or pot on then zero, and put however much in I need. I think I got mine off amazon for like 20-30$ and it has been well worth it as it is helpful not only for wine and beer making (hops spices etc) but also for serving sizes for meals.
 
One other note - "baker's honey" is also often not in the "usual" range of sugar concentration - often it is lower in sugar and higher in water content. This will have two effects on your mead. First, it can skew your recipe amounts a bit. Second, it can more readily "go off" since diluted honey doesn't have the same antimicrobial properties as does full concentration honey.

Baker's honey is a crap shoot, and for me, with as much work as I put into a batch of mead, it isn't worth the risk. Still, if your budget is very tight, making mead out of honey that you can afford is far better than making no mead at all! ;) Just keep in mind that it may not turn out as an award winner -- it may not even turn out consistently from batch to batch.

Well, I'm not exactly tight for money, per se, but I would like to give it a go and not spend much trying. I know very little about honey and mead. I have tried a couple and enjoyed them. Not as much as beer, but better than wine.

I don't aspire to make great mead at this time, and very likely wouldn't know the difference anyway.
 
honey is 12 pounds to a gal , 12 ounce to a cup , 1 1/2 cup to a pound ,, 60 pounds to 5 gals ,, for mead most do 15 pounds mixed with water to make 5 gals ,,
for buying honey , google your state beekeeping clubs ,, they will have a member that will have honey ,,

"baker's honey" is also often not in the "usual" range of sugar concentration - often it is lower in sugar and higher in water content.

all honey has about the same sweetness ,, but if honey has a water content higher then 17% it forments ,,and even the bees don't take it .. bakers honey may be from china or some other place , and or mixed with corn syurp .. honey is shipped from one countryto another to get around treifs , this is why some countrys ex port more honey then is produced in that country .. the US is working on a bill , some states have it as law now , called the honey bill ,, if you want to read what it is about google it and you will find it . it says honey that is sold as honey, has to be pure honey ,, and any thing that has honey in its name has to have honey in it ,, as now some products have honey in the name , but no honey in the product ..
I don't want to sound like a smart a## the first time I post , but I'm a beekeeper ,,this is why I am so up on honey ..
I'll get off the soap box now ..
 
honey is 12 pounds to a gal , 12 ounce to a cup , 1 1/2 cup to a pound ,, 60 pounds to 5 gals ,, for mead most do 15 pounds mixed with water to make 5 gals

Numbers to live by

"baker's honey" is also often not in the "usual" range of sugar concentration - often it is lower in sugar and higher in water content.

And also commonly filtered into submission all to increase solubility and ease of use.

the US is working on a bill , some states have it as law now , called the honey bill.


Many states have no definition of what honey is, so anyone can put anything in a jar and call it honey, It looks like honey, but in fact it’s high fructose corn syrup. Under the new bill, only pure honey could be labeled as such. Honey imported from China and elsewhere is often cut with corn syrup, undercutting the price of pure honey and increased pesticide use on farms has beekeepers losing large percentages of their colonies. Unfortunately bill
HB 159, cross filed with SB 193, which will help with all of this, was heard in the House of Delegates last year, but went back to the drawing board for technical errors.


I don't want to sound like a smart a## the first time I post , but I'm a beekeeper ,,this is why I am so up on honey ..
I'll get off the soap box now ..

It's easy to share information and on this forum very much welcomed without sounding like a smart%$$, welcome to HBT, look forward to hearing more about your bees.
 
Who has everyone dealt with?
I was looking to purchase from here as it was the best price I could find. Anyone with any experience with them?

My local guy only sells some sort of wildflower blend he wont specify and I can only buy 1 gallon at a time for 2.5$ a lb. He also said he wont be selling even in the gallon bulk til the spring when he has a new harvest so I will be s.o.l.

$148.00 / 60lbs = $2.46 / lb. You'll save anywhere from 60 cents to $2.00, depending on local prices & availability. They don't mention shipping prices, but I doubt they have free shipping, you'll have to include that in your total cost. Odds are that the shipping will eat up any savings you get on the actual price of the honey & then some.

If you can find the variety of honey you want locally for under $3 / lb, I'd go with that. Otherwise you're sort of forced to either drive to get it or have it shipped to you. At least having it shipped (most likely) gives you a much better selection of varietals to choose from. Face it, unless you have your own bee hive, honey ain't cheap.

I can get local wildflower honey in bulk (33lbs or more), for about $1.79 / lb, but I only use that for melomels as it has a rather generic honey flavour. So for me, it's cheap & generic vs more expensive & varietal. Both have their pros & cons. But no matter what, one way or another, you have to pay to play.
Regards, GF.
 
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