I guess this question is for most on the forums who are not commercial honey producers. for the little guys who does not sell his honey what do all of you do with all this extra honey? I have four hives and so far this year I have only pulled honey off of one hive. the other three are just starting to fill out their first supers. on my strong hive I have already removed over 60 lbs of honey and I have two completely capped full supers still on the with another super partially filled and soon to be capped that is probably another 90 lbs of honey. of the 60lbs I have removed I am eating honey on stuff that most normal people just don't eat honey on it is crazy. I have given honey to all my coworkers family and friends short of selling honey at the local farmers market( which I don't think I have enough to do yet) what do you do with all of your excess honey? I have noticed most of the people have 20 30 or even more hives. where does the honey go?
Keith
Bring some to work and put a sign up that says fresh, raw honey and name your price, you will run out shortly.
...JP
your question is kind of personal :-D
i sell my honey at the farmers market where i sell veggies and eggs too.
I smear the honey all over ..... Oh :shock: Perhaps I better not say :-D
The only year I had surplus.... Last year.... I sold it. People will pay top dollar for your unprocessed honey. This year I might not have any. No rain. Got some yesterday, perhaps today and tomorrow. Or might have to wait for the cotton to bloom.
we put ours in a cabnet on the back porch. Friends and family and neighbors stop in and get free honey all year long. We seem to run out just before harvest time. Everyone is treated equally if I have honey , you have honey.
some people even give us money, I just put it in a jar. later I tithe it then buy bee stuff with it.
Jim
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 10:44:36 AM
I guess this question is for most on the forums who are not commercial honey producers. for the little guys who does not sell his honey what do all of you do with all this extra honey? I have four hives and so far this year I have only pulled honey off of one hive. the other three are just starting to fill out their first supers. on my strong hive I have already removed over 60 lbs of honey and I have two completely capped full supers still on the with another super partially filled and soon to be capped that is probably another 90 lbs of honey. of the 60lbs I have removed I am eating honey on stuff that most normal people just don't eat honey on it is crazy. I have given honey to all my coworkers family and friends short of selling honey at the local farmers market( which I don't think I have enough to do yet) what do you do with all of your excess honey? I have noticed most of the people have 20 30 or even more hives. where does the honey go?
Keith
Just telling people you have local honey for sale usually does it for me, no matter how much or little I have. Makes good holiday gifts.
Otherwise: make beer and mead! Use in cooking and canning.
Keith13,
I sell mine. I package it with little hang tags I make on the computer. I also make spun honey and sell it. I can hardly keep up with orders. LOCAL-RAW-PURE-NATURAL are the key words.
Corinne
Most of it I give to friends and relatives, and I usually sell the rest. The trouble is I end up with more friends and relatives that way.
A certain small stash I have though goes to cooking. I mix in spices I would normally just put on the meat in some honey and glaze the meat out on the grill. It caramelizes and tastes great.
I guess I will start selling it. when I was going around my office giving one pound bottles away I gave one to a lady and she asked how much do I owe ya? I told her nothing. but, it definitely got me thinking maybe I will give it a try and start to try to recoup some of the money I have put out. who knows?
anyway thanks for all the responses all were helpful.
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
Keith
The firehall I belong to has a breakfast fundraiser the 1st Sunday of every month. I sell mine there and have done very well to this point. I compete with a guy that sells horse radish. :evil:
Next year, provided I outgrow the breakfast, I want to start selling at the farmer's market. Probably just a weekend thing if I do that.
I give mine away and use a lot of it myself. My family loves it and I keep them supplied!
It's a little tricky to sell it in Georgia, although there may be different laws in other states. In Georgia, you can sell it out of your back door, or in your own front yard, but not at a Farmer's Market or other commercial setting unless you have gotten your kitchen or wherever you harvest and bottle the honey cleared by the Dept of Ag.... and that's not easy.
Linda T in Atlanta
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
He probably smears his all over his.... Well it's personal.
Make wine! Berry mead (wine made with honey) is my favorite wine.
For those that are lucky enough to have abundant wild blackberries, or u-pick strawberries nearby (even plums?) you can make amazing mead. Strawberry mead - too good!
Basic recipe: 4 lb berries to 2 pounds of honey and one gallon of water, plus wine yeast.
(so, 30 gallons of wine would require 120 pounds of berries and 60 lb of honey!)
Crush fruit until the juice runs, combine with honey which has been dissolved in the water. If warm water is used, let it cool to room temp- below80*. The sugar reading with your hydrometer should be about 19-23%. Sprinkle mixture with 1/2 packet of fine wine yeast. Ferment this concoction in a covered (i use saran wrap) wide mouth container (5 gallon bucket, or food grade fermenter) for 5-7 days, you must remove cover and punch down the cap daily. Fermentation is done when your hydrometer reading is at or below 5%... Strain well, and transfer wine into 5 gallon carboys with a fermentation lock. There should be little to no air space on it. Your wine will settle and finish its work. If levels fall, top them up with a decent red wine. After 3-4 months your wine is ready to be siphoned off the sediment and bottled and enjoyed. Fruit wines (like whites) are enjoyed young.
Remember, wine making is mostly about quality ingredients, and keeping your equipment clean. I only use sulfur to rinse my gear and will not add sulfur to my wines. The result is a supreme, dry and heady wine. PLUS no headache!
Something to sip on as I contemplate the mysteries of the hive...
I also give to friends, neighbors (I'm in town), and family. If I have enough left over, I have a pretty large family, I donate it to a local NPO, church, American Legion Post, scouts, ect... for their fund raisers. So far not enough left over. My wife and kids go through a LOT of honey in a year.
Oh yeah any one I get a cutout from and the bees survive I give them some also.
Give it to family, friends & neighbors. We also use it for processing our smoked salmon & halibut ~ it's the best!
I'd like to try to make mead or berry wine. FG
Quote from: Jerrymac on July 09, 2008, 04:04:27 PM
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
He probably smears his all over his.... Well it's personal.
when i first read 'your honey' i think of my wife...well you get the point.
its like when i read or hear 'queen rearing' i don't think of bees if you get my drift.
i'm a 58 year old adolescent.
at least Jerrymac understands.
Quote from: randydrivesabus on July 09, 2008, 05:33:33 PM
Quote from: Jerrymac on July 09, 2008, 04:04:27 PM
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
He probably smears his all over his.... Well it's personal.
when i first read 'your honey' i think of my wife...well you get the point.
its like when i read or hear 'queen rearing' i don't think of bees if you get my drift.
i'm a 58 year old adolescent.
at least Jerrymac understands.
OK ok ok now i'm tracking LOL. just when I first read you response I went back and reread my post a few times trying to find out what offended, or was to personal. I guess it shot right over my head
Feeling Dumb, :-P
Keith
Well, if I ever get any - Ha!Ha! I will just give it away to friends and relatives.
OH wish I had extra honey to smear around!!!!
I eat mine, share with family, and just look at it. It surprises me how fast 50 lbs of honey disappears!
your friend,
john
Quote from: Jerrymac on July 09, 2008, 04:04:27 PM
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
He probably smears his all over his.... Well it's personal.
Doesn't everyone? :-D
...JP
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 10:44:36 AM
....short of selling honey at the local farmers market( which I don't think I have enough to do yet)
Farmer's markets vary widely; from those with rigid requirements and signficant fees in order to get booth space; to those that are simply some folks putting up some card tables on a Saturday or selling out of the back of a pickup. If you have one of the latter types near you, you have more than enough honey. For example, 90lbs of honey can be 45 1lb bottles and 90 8oz bottles.
Quote from: JP on July 09, 2008, 11:59:07 PM
Quote from: Jerrymac on July 09, 2008, 04:04:27 PM
Quote from: keith13 on July 09, 2008, 02:29:13 PM
randydrivesabus didn't mean to get to personal :?
He probably smears his all over his.... Well it's personal.
Doesn't everyone? :-D
...JP
Well atleast they shoud JP... :-D That was my first response when I read it..
Actually I was thinking that I take my honey and to dinner, then maybe a movie. Well then the mearing of the other honey is pretty persona.. :-D