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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] HOney and pollinators

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  • From: Richard Stewart <rstewart AT zoomtown.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] HOney and pollinators
  • Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:54:01 -0400

Nothing new about the Chinese honey Mike.  They produce a whole lot and do so in ways we do not approve of.  Consumer demand wants cheap honey as we only produce 1/3 of what we consume.  Simple supply and demand.  This is in part due to cheap honey prices and due to changes in how we keep bees.  Its become more difficult AND pollination beats out honey production mostly as a result of almonds which are mono-cropped in such a scale that no pollinator can live in the groves after bloom because there simply is not enough forage the other 10 months of the year.

Know your beekeeper.  If you are buying honey from any of the larger honey companies in the US you are buying Chinese Honey.  Period.

I've doubled the number of hives I run and hope to do so one more time because local honey is gold right now if you can keep your bees healthy.  People want healthy local raw honey and are willing to pay a premium for it.  Most large scale beekeepers sell to packers and sell it cheap 1.50 to 1.75 a pound.  My wholesale price is 5.00 and I retail, on average right around 8.27 a pound.  Larger scale beekeepers could make a killing if they changed their business models but they are not.

Richard Stewart
Carriage House Farm
North Bend, Ohio

An Ohio Century Farm Est. 1855

(513) 967-1106




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