How to market your honey

Honey - Photo: Pixabay

Marketing honey in today's market is going to pose a bit of a challenge since you have so many commercial level sellers doing this with the resources to promote and market the product since not all places will purchase and carry your product. This is why many small businesses who do this sell to lower end stores and mom and pop places because when they get people buying that's how many of them end up in large-scale stores like Whole Foods Market and other stores that carry name brand organic food. Part of the marketing strategy is to be able to utilize the internet as well since people can open up online stores to sell their products, but you also have to have an effective system in place to pack and ship items all over the world because you will have customers who will be buying your product as far away as England or even Japan.

Your business should reflect handling online orders or you can sub-contract a company to pack and ship your items and take the guesswork out of your hands so you're not stuck having to deal with lost or misdirected packages.

Starting at the bottom of marketing helps you to learn little things that will make your business successful and can thrive in years to come when you know what it takes to make it work. Promotion isn't a skill placed on auto-pilot you have to spend time working it every single day because a business doesn't run itself it takes a good deal of persistence and effort to make it work and to make it where you want it to be. It's easier for people who have prior experience in running a business to be able to effectively carry out a sure-fire way to market a single product and still gain revenue. It's just that when you market products you have to know what is actually the demand for that particular product in question.

---

---

Selling honey is always a product that people will buy and is in demand, but it's the companies that make it are the ones who are having to deal with a lot of competition since many small end businesses are extending themselves to the outside world and relying on larger companies to do the larger scale selling. Websites are effective because this is how many co-ops are formed because many food production companies try to find cost-effective ways to produce a product through sub-contracting farms and contractors to handle the mass production of honey making and making products out of beeswax.

This is why so many small businesses are reaching out to bigger companies, but it's helpful to give small businesses the tools needed to increase their exposure for the business and even clients with farmers and suppliers. Beekeeping is more than just a hobby it's a full-time job and business. It may look difficult because it requires you to be in all kinds of weather wearing a puncture and sting proof body suit with a face net just to put that sweetener you use for your biscuits and toast in the morning or that cup of hot chamomile tea, remember the beekeepers who endured that to make it possible to have that sticky sweet indulgence you put in your food and drinks.

Harvesting the Honey

Beekeeping - Photo: Pixabay

Obviously, the whole reason to set up, maintain, and stock a beehive is to harvest honey. You will know that it is time to harvest the honey when you look in one of your hives supers and find that the frames are full of honeycombs that your bees have covered with wax caps. 

Now all you have to do is remove the honeycombs.

Harvesting your honey won't be a problem as long as you put on all your beekeeping gear, wear light colored clothes (beekeepers swear that lighter colored clothes have a soothing effect on bees) and stay calm. 

When the super is full of capped honey combs you are going to have to remove the bees from that super. There are chemicals available on the market that will make this easier. One popular chemical that beekeepers use to remove bees from the super is Bee-Go. All beekeepers have to do is apply Bee-Go to a fume board. When the bees smell the Bee-Go they head to the bottom of the hive, leaving the super full of capped honeycombs empty for you to harvest. Another product beekeepers use to clear out supers is one called Fishers Bee Quick. Neither of these products harms the bees, the bees simply find the scent offensive and move away from it.

---

---

Now that you are in possession of the honeycomb you need to prepare it to be extracted. The first step in this preparation is to remove the wax caps the bees have used to seal the honey into the honeycomb. Many beekeepers prefer to use nine frames instead of ten in their supers. By using nine frames they give the bees enough room to draw the comb out, placing the cap right on the very edge of the comb. This makes it easier to remove the wax caps. Beekeepers use a metal knife to remove the caps, the knife works best if the knife blade is warmed after all its easier to cut warm wax then it is to cut cold wax. You can keep the knife blade warm with frequent dunking in a basin that is full of hot water. Many beekeepers like to use their bread knife to remove the wax caps from the honeycomb while others prefer an electrical knife that is designed just for beekeepers. What do you think bee's wax candles are made out of. Removing the caps from the dripping honey is easy, just use a piece of cheesecloth to empty the contents into a second pot, the honey will drain through the cheesecloth and the bee's wax caps will collect on the top.

Once the caps are removed from the honeycomb the honey is ready to be extracted.

As you remove the caps, let them fall into a pot, do not just threw them away. You will notice that there is a surprising amount of honey attached to these caps, honey that can be processed and used. Also, there is a market for the wax caps. Once the caps have been removed from the honeycombs the honeycombs are ready to have the honey extracted.