Local Bulk Honey Pricing

[McLovin1]

Hello All! I currently brew any where from 1-2 gallons of mead each month and am looking to start buying honey more in bulk. Is $180.00 a good price for a bucket of local honey? Also, how many lbs of honey are typically in a five gallon bucket?

 

[McLovin1]

Just realized I posted this in the Mead Recipes and not the Mead Forum... Whoops! Mods feel free to move over to the correct forum. Thank you!

 

[Golddiggie]

That comes out to $3/# for the honey. Best I ever paid was about $2.75/# with a 5 gallon bucket (60#) of honey. That was back in 2011.

I'm going to be looking to get some local wildflower honey soon. I only need one gallon currently, or for the next several months.

 

[Dan O]

Hello All! I currently brew any where from 1-2 gallons of mead each month and am looking to start buying honey more in bulk. Is $180.00 a good price for a bucket of local honey? Also, how many lbs of honey are typically in a five gallon bucket?

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$180 is pretty good for 5 gallons/60 lbs. I paid $186 for 60 lbs of Orange Blossom

 

[McLovin1]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to reach out to the seller and get a smaller container of the palmetto honey first to ensure I like the flavor. At $3/lb I am happy with that price. I'm currently buying local orange blossom honey from a different seller in 12 lb containers at $4.50/lb

 

[Medic151]

I have a local place that I get raw honey from. 16.00 for 5 pounds. I need to find out how much for a 5 gallon once I get a recipe to try.

 

[oakbarn]

12 fl oz of honey = 1 US pound

5 gals = 53.33 pounds

$180/53.33 = $3.25 per pound. That is very inexpensive. Local Honey here in One Pound jars goes for $12-$25 per jar. I know one person who sells 32 oz jars for $40.

I have bees but do not sell mine for the most part.

 

[Medic151]

12 fl oz of honey = 1 US pound

5 gals = 53.33 pounds

$180/53.33 = $3.25 per pound. That is very inexpensive. Local Honey here in One Pound jars goes for $12-$25 per jar. I know one person who sells 32 oz jars for $40.

I have bees but do not sell mine for the most part.

Yeah, honey is expensive in most stores. Having the honey farm right up the road is nice for me. I buy all the honey for our fire station and several others, lol. They are addicts. The owners said i could by a 330# container if i wanted.

 

[oakbarn]

I only have a couple of hives that produced honey. I made 80 pounds. If there is a real bee farm, the can get a lot of honey.

 

[BBBF]

That comes out to $3/# for the honey. Best I ever paid was about $2.75/# with a 5 gallon bucket (60#) of honey. That was back in 2011.

I'm going to be looking to get some local wildflower honey soon. I only need one gallon currently, or for the next several months.

Came here to say the same thing & see what others were saying. I haven't bought bulk in almost a decade and that price is what I was paying back then.

 

[N3Bruce]

The local farmers markets tend to sell it at about $10/lb. Its a little pricey but you know where it is coming from. If I get it from the likes of Walmart or Aldi I can get it in the $4.00 a pound range, but it is labeled from the USA or Argentina. Nothing against our Southern brothers, but there is no way of knowing if it had been cut along the way with Corn Syrup or Chinese honey.

 

[Deadalus]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to reach out to the seller and get a smaller container of the palmetto honey first to ensure I like the flavor. At $3/lb I am happy with that price. I'm currently buying local orange blossom honey from a different seller in 12 lb containers at $4.50/lb

I know this response is a bit late. I have only made a few meads but my last two batches happened to be from "local" honey I got in Florida. I had a gallon of each, saw palmetto and orange blossom, from Walker Farms. I treated them exactly the same in process and kept it simple. I just wanted to see how the two base honeys would taste. I'm more partial to the OB. It's lighter with more floral character. The saw palmetto had a little more bite. Still good but a bit like the difference between a sweeter white wine and a drier white. I think I paid $64 a gallon. It was almost three years ago. I didn't make it right away and the mead is about 2 years old. I'd make the saw palmetto again though for that price!

 

[McLovin1]

I know this response is a bit late. I have only made a few meads but my last two batches happened to be from "local" honey I got in Florida. I had a gallon of each, saw palmetto and orange blossom, from Walker Farms. I treated them exactly the same in process and kept it simple. I just wanted to see how the two base honeys would taste. I'm more partial to the OB. It's lighter with more floral character. The saw palmetto had a little more bite. Still good but a bit like the difference between a sweeter white wine and a drier white. I think I paid $64 a gallon. It was almost three years ago. I didn't make it right away and the mead is about 2 years old. I'd make the saw palmetto again though for that price!

Deadalus, I ended up buying the bucket above. Honey has great flavor. I have only made a 1 gallon test batch of traditional, but I have a feeling I am going to enjoy this honey.

 

[Deadalus]

It'll keep tones of that darker color. I was down right in that area near Ft. Meyers, there were a few places to buy from. This was the color I had at bottling time. It as was as dark as in the bucket pic, I think even darker.

I'm going camping this weekend so I'll bring some and pour a glass, but I don't have a recent pic.

 

[videojunkie1208]

I've been getting honey from a local apiary for $60 / gallon. I've been looking at a place in AZ I think they want $250/ 5 gallon bucket.

 

[Squiggl3s]

1 gallon usually comes to 12lbs.

In Wisconsin I just got a gallon and a half of clover honey for $100, however he said he had a buddy from which I could buy a 5 gallon bucket for $180. That 5 gallons would be basswood honey, less sweet more "minty," tough to describe. Not sure how this compares to the rest of the country but I cant complain. Super excited to see how this batch of spiced peach mead turns out.

 

[Medic151]

I just put mine into secondary for neutralizing the yeast. I tasted it and it is super dry and about 15% according to the calculator. Going to back sweeten tomorrow and bottle for aging. It's pretty stout.

 

[McLovin1]

I just put mine into secondary for neutralizing the yeast. I tasted it and it is super dry and about 15% according to the calculator. Going to back sweeten tomorrow and bottle for aging. It's pretty stout.

Make sure you stabilize before you backsweeten. It may not appear like it, but there is most likely still active yeast in your mead. If you backsweeten then bottle, you make end up with a carbonated mead or bottle bombs. Just a friendly FYI.