Fellow beekeepers, or not.....

What do you sell one pound bottles of honey for? Or what do you pay for honey?

Thanks.

Last bottle of Papa's Honey from Opelika I bought was $25/5lb bottle.

I dont care if it goes to a dollar a sop. I'm still buying it.

Sell our honey for $5.00 per one pound bottle, couple of folks are asking more. Friend in Columbus, GA. get $9.00 per pound for his local honey! And mentor in Abbeville, AL sells his for 4 bucks to several local places that resell it for six dollar a bottle.

Bet most beekeepers know the answer to this one. How do you make a small fortune in beekeeping?

Start with a LARGE fortune!

My 1 pound glass bottles i sell for $12.00. The glass bottles cost about $2.00 by the time they reach me. My 2 pound plastic bottles sells for $15.00.

Goodness! It appears I need to increase my prices and not loose so much each year. Good thing beekeeping for me is just a hobby.

I usually am right around $7 per pound. I sale about all of mine to people at church so I absorb the cost of the squeeze bottles. I do hope to try and sale some through other routes this year. I'm hoping to have enough to be able to do a little local marketing.

Not to hijack a thread but what do you have to have on the bottle for it to be a legal sale in Alabama?

My prices were based off 3 other beekeepers in the area. i sold out quick the past couple years.

In Alabama, as with most locations, you have to have amount in pounds and/or ounces, a location, and listed first and largest the product.

Mine reads as follows: Local Honey - this is first and largest writing on the label *
Thomas & Son - My Dad started me raising bees and at 90 still supervises
Proverbs 16:24 - because I like it on there, though most folks never notice it
Ozark, AL *
Phone number - others share and then I get calls
Net Wt. 1 Lb *

The three items with * are all that is required.

As you do most of my customers are from church and neighbors and I give away about 10% of what our bees make.

Honey Bee Good.

The pollinators give me 5 or so cases every year, I give it away to friends.

Wade if you got some to sell this year, I need some more

Thanks Groundhawg. My labels should be good to go. Got that info on there. I was not sure if I needed the nutritional label on there or not. Probably need to read some regulations but Aldeer is always better for info.

Lefthorn: Just PM me in the middle of June. Should have plenty this year. Been downstairs getting supers ready. Should have had them on already but trying to wait out the end of this cold weather.

I have been told that I must state a name, address, phone number and/or email address, but once I checked with the Dept. of Ag. folks in Montgomery about this very topic a few weeks back they confirmed everything posted here.

Alabama has a couple of statutes about honey labels. They all deal with differences between pure honey and honey mixtures. For instance, you cannot use the word "honey" on your label if you have mixed anything into the raw honey. I have found absolutely NOTHING in Alabama law that mandates that I place any identifying information on my label whatsoever.

Foods produced for sale in Alabama that are considered "cottage foods" must have the operator's name and address on the label. See ...
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.../SB159-enr.pdf

... however, that regulation applies to ...
23 a. Produces a baked good, a canned jam or jelly, or a dried herb or herb mix or a candy for sale at the person's home.

http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.../SB159-enr.pdf
Honey - that is not mixed with other substances - is not mentioned in that 'cottage foods' regulation, and it appears that name and address for Alabama produced and sold honey is not required. Some people may be assuming that honey is included in the cottage foods 'jams and jellies' rule, but that does not appear to be the case from what I have found.

Thanks. Will do Wade

This area of the state is different than most. Honey here doesn't sell by the pound. It sells either by the pint or by the quart. Pints go for $5-$8 and quarts go for $15-$17. Too cheap.

Local beekeeper honey that isn't contaminated with antibiotics like the store bought stuff should sell for $20 per quart, IMO.

Do any of y'all know of a local beekeeper in central AL that sells honey with the comb in the jar?