On another topic: "Comb honey. A journey of learning" NagleP posted;
NigelP
I sell a lot of comb honey but have given up on trying to get the rounds. My bees simply don't fill them well. I use thin foundation (or strips) and either sell whole combs packeted with a stand or use a cut comb honey cutter (or a knife) to cut sections out to fill the cut comb containers. I'd love to sell nothing else as it's much easier to do than extracting honey which is a real chore.
(https://i.ibb.co/GdCXvR3/comb.jpg)
BF
Nigel that is a good looking batch of comb honey. I would like to ask, what is the size of your comb & containers?
Thanks,
Phillip
Hi, 8.5 x6.5cm. I use a commercial cutter from Thornes (a UK beekeeping supply company).
(https://www.thorne.co.uk/uploads/media/ProductImage/0001/15/thumb_14881_ProductImage_zoomed.jpeg)
On the frames I use (British National) I can get up to 5 sections per frame, depending on how well the bees have filled and capped the cells. I gave up doing round sections years ago as bees (the ones I use) rarely filled them evenly and you don't get much more money for them. So in my opinion waste of time trying when people will happily buy rectangular cut comb that is well packaged. The packaging comes from same company.
(https://www.thorne.co.uk/uploads/media/ProductImage/0001/17/thumb_16007_ProductImage_zoomed.jpeg)
QuoteNigelP
I'd love to sell nothing else as it's much easier to do than extracting honey which is a real chore.
Nigel, I like it.. the honey comb cutter looks to make cutting comb less complicated and messy than simply using a knife. What percent extracted honey do you sell in comparison to comb honey? In other words could you move most your honey in the comb honey phase? Is the market for comb honey strong in your area?
Runny honey is biggest seller, followed by soft set and then comb. Comb I sell at ?7/tub, runny at ?6 for 120z. What I do have are customers who cannot get comb honey anywhere else so make repeat buys.
Hi NigelP,
Looks like you get quite a reasonable return for your comb and honey. (My brain hurts from converting pounds to dollars and then Oz. to kg.. Lol.) I looked up Thornes website and had a look at the price of your cut comb containers. Wow, the price very good. After doing all the conversions, each unit comes out at about 21 cents. Here in Australia, containers of that size cost anywhere from 95 cents to almost 200 cents depending on the supplier. They are however a rigid container. That in my opinion is a huge expense to be passed onto a customer for something that will be used once and then thrown away or recycled. Do the containers that you are using seal well? (I was just thinking about honey leaks) I?m trying to look at a range of options for packaging either it comb or comb sections.
They are a hard plastic and seal really well. Being clear they really "show off" the comb plus they are recyclable.
Not sure whether Thornes will ship to OZ, but always worth asking them as very helpful company.
Hi NigelP
You are on a winner there. Very impressive indeed. Looks like you have developed an good market for an excellent product. Unfortunately I still have to establish that market and educate the public in the comb honey area. That is why I have to make the extra effort in relation to presentation in order to stimulate interest. I am selling my product for a similar price to you. Hopefully the extra effort will pay off long term. That comb cutter looks the part. Are you heating it before you make the cuts or does it cut well without preheating?
Hi Lesgold, the edges of the cutter are sharpened so it cuts without heating. Needs a bit of cleaning on a long session. I would have liked to do rounds or those nice squares you are producing but never had much luck with the rounds and not tried the squares, but might give it a try.
With cutting the comb out there is a degree of wastage of about an inch strip that doesn't get cut. I collect all of these together and use a hyrdropress to extract the honey from them. I'm usually making cut comb from heather honey which has to pressed out anyway.
Good to know. Thanks. That?s a smart move. Pressing honey is not a lot of fun. It?s a bit of a chore. At least you are value adding this way.