How Beekeepers Package Their Honey for Sale

Most beekeepers can make money from their honey, sometimes by supplying their local community, sometimes by selling at country fairs and other outdoor events, alternatively by setting up their own website aimed specifically at selling their honey product.

But one thing is certain before the beekeeper can ever expect to make money from his bees, and their honey, that one thing being that how the beekeeper packages his honey is vital to his or her chances of making a sale. That's because honey must be clean before selling on to consumers, so any signs of dirt of bee debris showing through the glass jar containing the honey is a definite put off for potential customers.

The beekeeper should also make sure his honey is packed in jars that are tightly sealed and free from contamination by dirt and grime.

Most important of all, honey and its packaging must meet specific national and international standards before it can be offered for sale. The beekeeper needs to know that standards vary between countries, even between specific regions in some cases, and what standards please, say, American authorities, may fall short of UK standards. And vice versa of course. And that makes it a very good idea to check rules and regulations about selling honey before the beekeeper even thinks of starting a beekeeping business. Find the information you need by contacting local beekeeping associations in your area. Find them by keying something like 'beekeeping association' into the search box at Google.com, then consider joining a local branch to learn the current rules and to stay updated on whatever rules are newly created or adapted in future.

Now back to presenting your honey for sale, which you can do in containers available from local beekeeping associations or directly from websites such as eBay or other beekeeping equipment suppliers.

The amount of honey offered can be as small as half a pound or as large as five pounds, or even more because honey does not go stale or become grow too old for consumption. Those containers can be very plain, looking much like the average common-a-garden jam jar, or you can choose from a large range of novelty containers to set your honey way above other beekeepers and even make your produce look more like a gift item than basic foodstuff.

The beekeeper needs to create descriptive labels for his containers which must also be in line with national, international as well as local rules concerning describing and advertising foodstuffs for sale. Check out the details with your local beekeepers' association. The best labels tend to include neat graphics and eyecatching wording, making them loom attractive and eyecatching compared to sticking a plain label with scribbled handwriting onto the container. Appearance is vitally importantant to the beekeeper's chance of selling his produce, mainly because an attractive label looks more professional than one that's been written in a hurry, and more or less indicates to the potential buyer that the contents, that is the honey, is also of superior quality. Even if it isn't!

Your label must indicate the net weight of the honey and it must be accurate or the beekeeper could find himself - or herself - in trouble with local and national, even international consumer protection authorities.

Once you're done, put your jars - with or without honey - somewhere cool and dry, also free from dust and grime, so they're just perfect when the time comes to harvest and package your honey.