Hello Grant & All,

Still saving souls? ( Grant is a preacher) If you run out of souls to save
in your area I could point you in the direction of a few of my beekeeping
friends!

> Most around here use HFCS.

In Honey bread using honey on the label?

 >What has been your marketing angle?

My bakery sells some products made from local honey and advertises local
honey as an ingredient. The bakery likes the fact I have never been able not
to supply * local* honey.


And how have you competed on the price?

Lower price than other local beekeepers. If I buy local honey for the bakery
I add a reasonable mark up for obtaining , processing and delivery. I prefer
to sell honey (late fall) from my own hives but like last fall the supply
was short. The fall honey I did get last fall I am selling as *wildflower*
in a special pack. My *wildflower* sales are a small part of sales. My white
Clover honey is what sells. Both to the public and to packers. The last two
drought years have been below average honey  production. I need a good
production year to replace the surplus drums I usually keep around.

I always tried to keep a surplus of honey around in case of a drought year
but around three years ago when honey  climbed to a buck fifty a pound I
sold my inventory.

I turn away buyers looking for large lots of drums on a regular basis but I
doubt they would want to pay a buck fifty a pound so I guess I made the
right move back then.

I have got friends sitting on hundreds of barrels of honey waiting for the
price to return to a buck fifty. Several packers told me they would NEVER
get caught in a position they had to pay such a high price for bulk honey
again.

Its all supply and demand. To keep contracts packers will pay the going rate
regardless.

As an example of supply and demand today a honey customer  said he bought
fescue grass square bales for almost six dollars a bale last winter. Those
go for fifty to seventy cents a bale at the sale barn when plentiful! To add
insult to injury I told the customer my 2007 honey prices which were higher
than last time he bought.


Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
 Missouri






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