Have you ever thought about selling your Flow honey? Or already do?
We once had a commercial beekeeper visit from Canada and he said that even though he sold his conventionally harvest honey, he tended to keep his Flow-harvested honey for himself and his family. Now that I’ve developed my ‘Flow honey pallet’, I can understand why.
I may be a bit biased, but to me, Flow honey tastes better than other honeys. Maybe because it’s closer to the source and allows for a very distinct separation of nectar sources to influence the flavour of the honey. There was actually a University study where they compared the sensory properties of yellow pea and macadamia honeys from conventional and Flow Hive extraction methods and found the honey from Flow frames to be superior in clarity, taste and consistency.
This feature of Flow honey makes it arguably higher in value which is great news for Flow beekeepers.
If you’re a Flow beekeeper and sell your honey, are you selling it for a premium price because it’s Flow-harvested? And how or where are you selling it? (Farmers markets? Friends and associates? Shops?)
Have you created a niche Flow-honey market in your area since introducing your customers to the unique Flow-harvested honey? I’d love to know.
Wow Bianca, thanks for the link - I can’t wait to read it, but am already a believer in my what my own tastebuds tell me! Flow honey is definitely superior, a reason I decided to increase the price of what I sold of my harvest last year. I have a neighborhood association where I posted word of it, and several folks came back for another jar. I was careful to keep what seems like enough for my family back, to last until the next harvest - fingers crossed for another good year!!
UK honey awards have started to judge Flow Hive honey as a separate category.
I sell mine locally and at work. Eventually when the hive(s) at work start producing Flow honey itll be offered for sale to our customers through our onsite experience venue.
I’m not greedy and sell it locally at £6 for an 8oz jar and funds from sales at work go directly back into the project to eventually allow it to be self sufficient and sustainable.
I also enjoy the fact each frame is harvested separately and not mixed so the taste from each is very unique and distinctive.
I give alot of my honey away for free as nothing better than the gift of giving and it’s a nice thank you to my neighbours for not using chemical pesticides in their gardens and the bees saying thank you for letting them steal from their flowers
I haven’t sold it specifically as Flow hive honey, but if people ask, I tell them. I sell it at the same price level as local boutique gift shops sell honey from Colorado and other states (not much from California that I have seen). That is $15 for a 12 oz (340g) jar. I do have some marketing points though, and those always go into any advertising:
I call it “ultra local” honey. That is important to some people in my neighborhood who consume it for allergies (even if it doesn’t work for that) or who just want to know what really local honey tastes like
I label it as raw and unfiltered. That seems to matter to a lot of people
I mention that each jar came from a single frame in the hive. The jar of honey is not blended between frames, so they truly are getting honey that most beekeepers can’t provide by spinning or moderate scale crush and strain
I also tell customers that all profits are put back into caring for the bees (absolutely true). As we only get about 20-40lb per hive, a lot does go into replacing queens, mite treatments and package purchases of bees when mites have destroyed a colony.
I can’t really create a market with my climate, because our nectar flow is so unreliable. Last year, we didn’t get a harvest at all, and fed the bees for much of the summer.
Thanks Dawn. I love your unique and experienced perspective for promoting Flow honey. Those points would leave plenty of talking-point opportunities with your customers too, I imagine.
They do indeed. Most of them don’t realize how much effort goes into raising bees and extracting the honey. Many have never had a chance to talk with a beekeeper, so it can be quite an eye-opener for them. I get a chance to tell them about pesticides too, although my area is already pretty touchy-feely organic oriented.
I just finished reading the article @Bianca posted, which describes the taste-testing process and results for Flow honey compared with semi-commercial and extractor-harvested backyard honeys. It’s a fascinating read, but if you’re pressed for time and still curious, skim through for a look at the spider graphs that plot the flavor results. Thanks again, Bianca!
i put one post up on Nextdoor and havent had to again. i got inundated and now have about 40 people who often contact me to see if there been a harvest, or i send out an email.
usually sold out with in a few days.
cheers
ron
I sold out in about 24 hours last time I used it.