>originally in conference WN-BEENET on WILDBEES (WILD BEE'S BBS) > >search: HONEY ADDED VALUE Mail Order > > As a producer of a speciality crop like honey the opportunity to >add value to ones' production is limited, but today the future is >cloudy with the winds of change, and one of these changes has been >an increased competition for bulk market share from off shore producers. > > The small to mid-size beekeeper can look to other work to increase >the value of his production. This is not a new idea but one that merits >more study. A few years ago I attended a meeting of world wide honey >producers and was fascinated by the reports from Germany that at the >time honey was considered by many as essential in the diet for a normal >healthy life, and the the main retail outlets for honey was the drug >store, and/or mail order. > > Well honey reached our chain drug stores maybe 20-25 years ago, but >it is sold mostly as a lost leader to attract people (older) to the >store, and the quality has not always been good at any price. But still >it has become an important market for packers on the west coast who >fight to see who can wholesale honey the cheapest. Hardly the added >value market we as producer maybe looking for. > > The mail order business is another story, I don't know off hand >if its been that good for any honey producers in it, and know of at >least one who lost a lot of money after several years trying to >capitalize on a well known name. But I would like to report on one >approach that at least looks interesting and attractive in the way it >is presented in a up scale catalog for personal and business gifts. > > The company is called RENT MOTHER NATURE and if you want to send >for their 53 page catalog the address is: > > 52 New Street, P.O. Box 380193 > Cambridge, MA 02238-0193 > (800) 296-9445 Customer Service > > According to what Bob MacArthur writes in the very excellent >quality catalog they "lease" you MAPLE TREES, BEE HIVES, APPLE, CITRUS, >COFFEE, and LOBSTER POTS, plus a few more. > > You receive "beautifully calligraphed and personalized Lease >Document (suitable for framing), a series of Progress Reports advising >of actual growing conditions, and much more..."putting culture back >into agriculture" MacArthur writes. In the end you get at least 20 ounces >of fresh honey per lease, and a promise for "more if your bees are >extra-industrious!". > > The catalog if full of different options and items of honey, beeswax >candles, soaps and the like along with the fruit, nuts and so on. The >added value is in the mail advertising, PROMOTION of the abstract idea >of leasing a bee hive or fruit tree, and in the attractive packaging, >ease of ordering via 800 numbers, credit cards and the fact that this >catalog is more then likely sent only to areas and people who can afford >to shop for the quality offered and are not so concerned with price >like you and I. > > After getting passed the sticker shock, the prices are not that >bad if you get passed the sticker shock.<G> Some examples: > > Single Flavor Honey Lease with 3 reports $15.95 > Two-Flavor with 5 reports $29.95 > Four Flavor with 9 reports $57.95 > >By the Way the flavors are Raspberry, Blueberry, Thyme, and Cranberry >Bog. Price for Honey alone shipped in a "hand-crafted wooden box" and >the Lease for additional flavor, all the above is: > > $35.95, $49.95, and $77.95.. all has a "Guarantee of a share of the >entire output of the hive--at least 20 ounces", no additives, pure, and >natural, plus the standard litany of the back to nature crowd. You can >also by Honey by the pound, any 3 flavors at $14.95, and any four at >$17.95. They also sell Honey-Buckwheat Pancake Mix, 24 oz for $4.50. > > I, too, recently saw this catalog and was initially enthusiastic. To my reading, however, they seem to imply that you get the full production of a bee colony, apple tree, or whatever, and the quantities are ridiculous. (20 oz. of honey from a hive is a good example.) I would think anyone wanting to try this would want to be completely straight-forward about what was being paid for. Duane W. Bailey Amherst College