# Honey prices retail........



## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Will be taking honey to our friends pastured poultry pickup this month and wondering what honey prices are doing. Sell mostly2/3/5# amts there. People want it for being unheated and unfiltered. Think DH is selling too cheap! He also sells comb honey. Health food store wanted to sell his honey but only in glass and way to expensive to do that. Not like we have any problem selling out but need to be making some expense money! DEE


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## keltink (Nov 30, 2005)

I think it would depend on your market - if you have a local bee club, ask other members what they charge. We charge $8 a pint and $14 a quart, no difference between our chunk and strained (though really, we should charge more for chunk because we can't reuse the comb. But, our market - mountains of NC - expects chunk at the same price as strained).
I would say that in my opinion most beekeepers don't charge enough. Factor in labor, cost of jars, and the quality of the product and you find way too many folks devaluing local honey by underselling. We opted last year _not_ to sell at lower prices, and as a result carried sourwood into this spring. It has paid off because we are now the only folks in our immediate area with honey to sell, which we've been doing at spring festivals, and at our prices.
We don't use synthetic chemicals in our hives, which also is a big selling point.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

We sell our honey at $4.00 a pound in plastic or glass jars. We have 12oz christal jars we sell for $4.00 also as the jars cost more, We sell a lot of them at Christmas time to folks who give honey as gifts.. We charge $5.00 a pound for honey in the upside down jar as they cost more.
We have 2 pound plastic and glass jars for $8.00
12 oz bears are $4.00 and the 24oz bears are $6.00.
Pints are $6.00 quarts are $12.00.
2 gallon 24 pound pails are $50.00 plus a $5.00 deposit on the pail.
5 gallon 60 pound pails are $120.00 plus a $5.00 deposit on the pail.

 Al


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## Elizabeth (Jun 4, 2002)

We ONLY pack our honey in glass and don't find it more expensive at all. We use pint and quart glass canning jars because they are cheap (we bought around 9000 of the pints for around .31 each with the two-piece lids), reusable, and because we do not like food in plastic.

What kind of jars are you pricing?

We are currently selling our not-very-premium basswood/clover honey for $5/pint and $9/quart. I agree that a GOOD table honey should sell for a premium price, unfortunately, ours is not that good. It is, however, raw, unfiltered, and unheated. We will be planting clover this year and maybe that will improve the flavor of the honey- if so, we will raise the price.


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

We were selling for $5/lb for the last 3 years (and selling all we produce). this year we have raised our prices to $6/lb and I have a waiting list of people wanting to buy our honey.

We package a variety of ways. Various glass jars (mason and queenline) with some premium hand blown glass jars with corks for holiday sales.

We also package in plastic jars (bears, queenline and deli tubs). 

We will not ship honey orders in glass jars. Over the years it was just too much of a hassle with breakage no matter how well we packed it.

I think most beekeepers are underpricing themselves but that is their choice.

This year I am doing one super of cut comb more as a favor for a few friends and relatives. I may do a second super later to get some of the dark honey, not sure.

Mike


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## KS wife (Jan 1, 2008)

Guess I got a pretty good deal then on the honey I bought last month. $29/gal. Had to get some to last me until my girls start producing.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

We bottle in plastic for a resturant where glass is a no no. For shipping thru the mail flat rate, and the green house where people take their rowdy kids and let them run wild. We used to put glass queen line jars there till a rack with about $800.00 worth of honey and trinkets was knocked over by some of the rowdys 2 years ago.

 Al


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