Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
This topic doesn't pretend to be a marketing manual, and methods of marketing vary
widely in different countries and very much according to your circumstances. I would
say, however, to be bold and imaginative. Tell people of the benefits of local honey.
When selling honey in Spain, I packaged it in small hexagonal jars and placed these
in small, open, wooden crates. With an attractive label telling the customer that it was
cold-filtered honey straight from the hive and showing a local scene, and going further
to name the honey after the local village, I outsold all the competition. I was selling 250
g (8 fl oz) jars of honey for more than the competition was selling 1 kg (2 lb) pots! My
honey was especially attractive to the local hippy community (one even asked me if I
had any marijuana honey; I didn't even know if the plant gave nectar - I still don't!). It
was also attractive to the Moors in Gibraltar for use in their coffee and tea, and the pots
were small enough for tourists to take home in a hand luggage as souvenirs.
Go boutique if you are a small producer and you can make money but, before you sell
anything, make sure you know the labelling rules and all the other compliance-related
laws. These often change, especially in the EU.
This chapter has assumed you have had few, if any problems, with your colonies - and,
if that's the case, this would be a fine achievement, but what if something does go
wrong? In the next chapter we have a look at some of the problems you may encounter
and what to do about them.
January/March-June/July: Assemble all the required equipment and
hives. Prepare an apiary site in either an urban or rural location. Decide
on your source of bees.
April/May-September/October: Receive your package/nucleus of bees
and install them. After installation, carry out a full hive inspection.
Remember what was discussed in Chapter 6.
