On the subject of marketing our own honey;if we all sell honey to the
general public for $2.00 per pound this would severely undercut the
supermarket prices of $3-5.00 lb.which would in turn cause the
supermarket chains to demand an even lower price from honey packers to
compete with beekeepers.The packers would be forced to offer less on the
international market in order to mantain their phenominal prifit
margins.Importers may quit selling to U.S. honey packers due to the low
prices offered.which would send packers begging the feds to prohibit
beekeepers from selling their own honey to the public.This would
undoubtedly fail due to "first handler"regulations afforded to producers
of agricultural products.packers may come to beekeepers with hat in hand
offering a decent price of possibly $1.00 per lb.if not I won't sell to
them.
  The larger beekeepers I've talked to bypass the middleman (read as
packers) and sell directly to comercial consumers.I called a local
packer today and he said $0.45lb but was not really interested in buying
at this time to call back in august.This attitude really rubbed me the
wrong way,but considering the honey market with all the local beekeepers
extracting their honey and looking to sell it's a buyers market.when
current local supplies are exhausted he will either increase the price
offered or look to foreign markets to fill his orders.I'm in competition
with the packers to supply local stores with honey.It's fun to beat the
other guy out but it takes a lot of salesmanship.
I produce about 2000 lbs a year from 40 hives and will feed it back to
the bees in february rather than sell it for a cheap price.I manage to
pay for expenses and turn a small profit.the point is capture the market
in your area and do what is necessary to keep your market share but we
can't be cutting each others throats just beat the packers.your thoughts
are encouraged.
                                             Curtis Spacek
                                        Texas pure coastal area honey