another how many hives question:)

[sahtlinurk]

I was thinking here how many hives a person needs to keep a farm shop happy and to keep some jars next to the road all year around? I got six at the moment
and was going to get up to 10 - 12 but is there a need? Next year will take four to the OSR and leave two for quality honey.

Cheesr,
Lauri

 

[hedgerow pete]

thats one hell of a question to ask, we would normaly say that a hive produces 25kg per year some people can easily double that some cant but its a starting point this will supply you 50 jars of honey per hive so ten hives is 500 jars, that would mean your shop supplier would have to sell ten a week to shift them, thats very hard to do at the begining untill people know whats there and then you will have regulars that will buy a steady amount each year, which helps alot, i would suggest osr is best and this is hedgerow the heretic speaking here is best creamed or crystilized because of its very nature

ho by the way 500 jars selling at £4.50 is £2259 income split say 50/50 with the seller is still £1125 tax free if not declaring it, which of course is naughty so we all declare dont we!!!!

 

[Poly Hive]

I would pretty much agree with hege here and say even lower is the classic take of 40lb a hive per year.

If you are really going to supply a shop year round then creamed is the way to go.

A good label helps of course.

See the thing is I can feel you read this and think crikey but I need umm... 15 hives at 40 lb. and yes you do. Some years you may get close to nothing and the surplus you NEED to keep aside from the good years comes into play. Because the shop will want it on their shelf all year. They probably won't understand dearth and surplus...

PH

 

[VEG]

Dont forget if you are going to supply shops you have to register as a food producer and get your labels checked by trading standards and premises checked by environmental health. I am going through this process at the moment.

 

[oliver90owner]

Someone may jump on me, but....

Labels are easy. Thorne's, for instance, would advise if you buy from them. Requirements are clear and you simply need to check every point, carefully. Very carefully! Certainly should be able to be legal without getting Trading Standards involved, other than following their codes and conditions.

Your extraction and bottling set-up: A basic food hygiene qualification should suffice to start with. That should mean you are capable of doing it right. Therefore when the Environmental Health check you out, everything should be complied with quite satisfactorily. On a larger scale, does anything change? No, not really. You should not need to take greater care with a larger operation than if you were bottling a few jars for friends and local sale, should you!?!

Of course it pays to be up-front with them and get checked out before starting, rather than them finding you by tracking back from a complaint....

BTW can't sell 'creamed' honey now, I think. No cream in it! Not sure if the term 'cremed' can be used but 'soft set' dscription fits for the EU PC bods.

OK to sell wax as 'beeswax' as long as it contains 25% beeswax though? What rubbish!

Regards, RAB

 

[sahtlinurk]

Thanks guys, i got the marketing sorted out ( labels, prices etc.. ) , all i need is to produce the honey. Time to start making more boxes for the spring..

 

[Finno]

Bearing in mind the weather we have had for the past few years, I am reminded of the Horticultural Instructor who, when asked this question would reply: "Keep as many as you can aford to keep!"