Hello all,
We have got a beekeeper in Missouri selling the honey syrup made in about
the same way as Allen talks about.  Her operation sells a plain honey syrup
and three flavored syrups.  The syrups have been on the market for about six
years.  They were in Wal mart stores for a short time.  She also tried
flavored creamed honey.  Both are still made but have never really taken
off. Both lost their self space at Wal mart due to low sales.

Missouri has a "Agri-Missouri" matching funds program.  Perfect for new
products.  "Agri-Missouri" was used to pay half on the custom labels and
start up costs. Maybe your state or country has a similar program.

The lady beekeeper said she lacked the money needed to really promote the
honey syrup product through advertising.  The Honey Board might could help.
The last time i was in our local Wal mart super center all creamed honey had
lost its shelf space.  Even Barkmans creamed honey.  Barkmans is the largest
supplier of honey to Wal mart stores.  If you are still reading and have not
deleted this post yet i am about to make my point.

Other than "pure honey" the market has to be built for creamed honey and
syrups.  Large packers put the product on the shelves but also have to pull
the product if sales drop below a certain level as required by large chains.
I on the other hand believe Allen is correct in his belief we need to find
new products.
A small beekeeper wanting to market a new product the public is not familiar
with needs to go to the store and spend time creating a market by giving
away samples and promoting the product.  Repeat business is what keeps those
products on the shelves. A important thing to remember about selling honey
is that what ever you are giving samples of is what sells. I can take any
one of our products-creamed honey,comb honey,wildflower honey,etc. and start
handing out samples and improve sales on the product. Most customers buy
from the product they have sampled. A niche could be carved from the above
but not by large packers without national promotion.
This post is not meant to discourage beekeepers wanting to market honey
syrup only add to your information by telling of a beekeepers experiances
trying to market honey syrup.  Her product does taste wonderful but is three
times higher in price than cheap sugar syrup with maple flavoring.  My
friends at wal mart tell me the cheap imitation maple syrup (made from syrup
like we feed to bees ,brown food coloring and imitation maple flavoring)
outsells our "pure honey "by huge amounts.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa,Missouri