Honey price

[Markthebuilder]

I might also add that, labour aside, once a beekeeper has got the equipment (suit, hives, extractor etc.), the only cost is varroa treatments, foundation and a few other sundries. Once a beekeeper has all this, it's just money for old rope really.
[/QUOTE]

on that basis Nissan must have covers the cost of their factory by now so should start knocking out qashqis for 5k each

I don’t expect to make any money from beekeeping if I can cover my costs over 5 years I will consider it a massive saveing on say golf but…..
perhaps if beekeepers made a few quid from selling honey then more of them might be inclined to spend some of it on buying vhs bread queens rather than relying on home bread mongrels

 

[Curly green finger's]

only because people really do think their honey is worth more but are to scared to ask a proper price …people happily pay £2.50 for a mr wippey cornet.

I think once you explain the increase in price folk are more than happy to pay it.
Price list
Pure, Heather honey £ 15- £20 per 8 oz
Shropshire spring, summer, etc etc.... £7.50 per 8oz. ( not local)
Heather????......
Shropshire 8 oz £5
Tch 12 oz £7..... I'm heading in the direction of £10 per 12oz increase will be 50p - £1 over the next few years. ( local)
I've put my prices up the last two seasons by 50p, Our honey is still selling the same.
@Markthebuilder ...brilliant that little write up of yours.....

 

[Curly green finger's]

I might also add that, labour aside, once a beekeeper has got the equipment (suit, hives, extractor etc.), the only cost is varroa treatments, foundation and a few other sundries. Once a beekeeper has all this, it's just money for old rope really.

on that basis Nissan must have covers the cost of their factory by now so should start knocking out qashqis for 5k each

I don’t expect to make any money from beekeeping if I can cover my costs over 5 years I will consider it a massive saveing on say golf but…..
perhaps if beekeepers made a few quid from selling honey then more of them might be inclined to spend some of it on buying vhs bread queens rather than relying on home bread mongrels
[/QUOTE]
Nowt wrong with mongrels, if you keep injecting better stock in, they are then called locals and go up the list!

 

[elainemary]

On the flip side some beekeepers are stuck in their ways and won’t budge their price. One of our committee members insists on selling at £5 for 454g and has told me his predecessor sells to some of theirs at £2 as the price hasn’t risen for years!!!! I keep putting up my price and sell out. Our local show sells at £5.50. It’s on the agenda at our next committee meeting to debate it. Will be putting a strong case forward. Local shops sell at the equiv of £8 per 454g. Customers are happy to pay a fair price for a quality product, however in some areas it’s the beekeeper that limits it’s potential

 

[GuyNir]

Yep, biggest issue with honey prices are… other beekeepers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Nowt wrong with mongrels, if you keep injecting better stock in, they are then called locals and go up the list!

Now that I will have to remember

 

[enrico]

The main reason I ask £5 is that I have a money slot when I sell at the gate. The £5 note goes in easily. Other than that it would have to be a £10 note and I am not prepared to put the price up 100% . It is a pity we don't have a £7.50 note

 

[Murox]

Nowt wrong with mongrels, if you keep injecting better stock in, they are then called locals and go up the list!

Thats brilliant - one to remember !!

 

[ericbeaumont]

Yep, biggest issue with honey prices are… other beekeepers.

Customers are happy to pay a fair price for a quality product, however in some areas it’s the beekeeper that limits it’s potential

Spot on.

 

[Dodge]

The main reason I ask £5 is that I have a money slot when I sell at the gate. The £5 note goes in easily. Other than that it would have to be a £10 note and I am not prepared to put the price up 100% . It is a pity we don't have a £7.50 note

Card readers offer a facility to set a charge on the contact less so you can use it as an honesty box. Place it with you honey and charge up when necessary. No right size slots etc.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thats brilliant - one to remember !!

Yes local bees are best

 

[ShinySideUp]

If I tried to sell honey for £8 a jar down here I'd still be selling it alongside next years honey.

The truth is is that I'm not in it for the money anyway, it's just nice to get something for it. I like an easy life and if I charge £6 a lb and get rid of it quickly that's good enough for me. I don't want a job or to have loads of jars of honey hanging about and traipsing around shops selling a few here and a few there is just too much trouble. I probably do a favour for people who really do it for the money as come January mine has all gone and they can then screw the market for all it's worth. This year I got 90 jars from two hives so I'm not exactly flooding the market.

There is a farm shop a few miles away that sells 12oz jars for £10.50, it comes with a ribbon and little honey dipper, very quaint and for me and my honey, far too much like hard work.

I keep bees for the pollination really, just to keep the wildlife going. My bees can be little bastards sometimes but I wouldn't want the world to be without them.

 

[madasafish]

I'm a hobby beekeeper: 5-6 production hives.
BUT I run beekeeping to make a profit.
And selling honey is a pia.
I sell approx 1/3rd to someone who sells it on to a specialist market I could never sell to (race/religion) and the rest to the public - all £6 per 1lb jar.
So in Spring I sold out in a week and in summer, 6 weeks. Then I can shut up shop till next year. If customers want my honey in winter, I have educated them to buy a year's stock at once.#

Local competitors at £6.50/1lb

Next year I will raise prices to reflect inflation.

My nett margin is c50% which is with free labour. If I paid myself the Minimum Wage, it would be c 5%. But it is a hobby.

Edit:
# Gold and black label - looks attractive , often bought as gifts.

 

[Chris Nother]

I sell my 1lb jars of honey for £6, what would be a reasonable ask if I sold, say, 24 jars to the local shop, assuming they also sold it for about six pounds?

We sell 8oz/227g in Dublin to local specialty butcher and a high end restaurant for €8 and the butcher sells it for €12 - it sells out within hours. We try to avoid direct selling as people really mess you around about the time they say they'll drop by so we only see to those who we know and like and we do that at €10. We are in this as a hobby and most honey is for our own use and given to family and friends but the 40% we do sell means that al of our costs for the season are way more than covered.

 

[jeff33]

I sell my 1lb jars of honey for £6, what would be a reasonable ask if I sold, say, 24 jars to the local shop, assuming they also sold it for about six pounds?

Crickey, I sell my 12oz for £5.80 and most people will leave me £6. I go down to £5.50 for shops if they get more than 15. That's my bottom price.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Card readers offer a facility to set a charge on the contact less so you can use it as an honesty box. Place it with you honey and charge up when necessary. No right size slots etc.

Any details of this? I have a £5.50 honesty system via my letter box but I'm often asked if I can take card payments.

 

[E&MBees]

Any details of this? I have a £5.50 honesty system via my letter box but I'm often asked if I can take card payments.

I recently saw portable card readers in Screwfix for sale. They were about £30.00. Here is a screenshot of the online catalogue.

 

[Tony Slater]

only because people really do think their honey is worth more but are to scared to ask a proper price …people happily pay £2.50 for a mr wippey cornet.

Good point. A mr W hippy cornet must cost a few pence to make.

 

[Tony Slater]

There no morally “correct” price for honey. The only logical basis is to sell it for what the market will bear, and you don’t know what that is until you try.

 

[Jules59]

Im new to this honey selling lark, so learning all the time.
A local commercial beekeeper sells on-line Runny Honey at £9/16oz and more for soft set and special honey (eg "tumeric infused" - sounds horrid to me).
I'm selling (ad-hoc) at £4.75 for 12oz(340g) from my door (£6.33 /lb).
I also sold 50 jars to a local shop at £4.50/12oz.