# General beekeeping > Scaling up and marketing >  Honey pricing beat that.

## Greengage

organic honey 2.69
Blossom Honey 1.99
https://www.aldi.ie/search?text=organic honey

----------


## prakel

My philosophy is that I don't, ever, need to beat someone else's price. In fact my honey is already dearer than the other local offerings -even when it's in the same shops.

edit: and it sells just as well as the other jars from locals but for the record, I've never suggested that a shop charges more, they work that one out for themselves!

----------


## busybeephilip

Hmm... Lidl are doing realy cheap stuff too at £2 per lbs, and its not the usual watery runny stuf what i was lookin at was goodin thick.   Product of EC

----------


## fatshark

Like prakel ... I'm not in this to out-compete on price. 
Loads of repeat sales via shops and at the door. People like to know it's local.
The only people who seem to baulk at the price are email enquiries. Only about 50% of these follow through and purchase. I've never had anyone actually say _Oh, that's expensive ... you can get organic honey from Aldi for two quid_, but I suspect a few of them might think that.

I note that there's a *non-EU agriculture* sticker on their Organic honey, but packed in Ireland.

So that's almost local, isn't it ;-)

----------


## Calum

> organic honey €2.69
> Blossom Honey €1.99
> https://www.aldi.ie/search?text=organic honey


Look on the back of the label to see where its from. 
That's all you need to look at. People at my door don't compare prices with Aldi, they do compare with EDIKA - that's like marks and sparks, so I stick to about the price of their best honey. 
Mine is from here, and I can name the predominant nectar sources and where exactly the bees flew to get it. 
I sell at 14€ a kilo, just across the border in Austria the rrp per kilo is 18€ and in Switzerland about 40min away it is a whack more. I prefer to sell to shops, they buy a dozen, door sales always want a chat, and that takes up time. But I guess people are lonely so I'll not stop the door sales. Just send the wife if I have a fair excuse  :Wink:

----------


## Greengage

> Look on the back of the label to see where its from. 
> That's all you need to look at. People at my door don't compare prices with Aldi, they do compare with EDIKA - that's like marks and sparks, so I stick to about the price of their best honey. 
> Mine is from here, and I can name the predominant nectar sources and where exactly the bees flew to get it. 
> I sell at 14€ a kilo, just across the border in Austria the rrp per kilo is 18€ and in Switzerland about 40min away it is a whack more. I prefer to sell to shops, they buy a dozen, door sales always want a chat, and that takes up time. But I guess people are lonely so I'll not stop the door sales. Just send the wife if I have a fair excuse


Is it true that in Germany they only check honey for heavy metals and if none are traced then it can be sold as organic?

----------


## Feckless Drone

> Is it true that in Germany they only check honey for heavy metals and if none are traced then it can be sold as organic?


I doubt that very much. I think the word "organic" is used in the sense that no artificial fertilizers or pesticides, no GM crops, no antibiotics etc are applied. Its not used in the organic (based on carbon) chemistry sense. Even then the only agents used, that deliberately include heavy metals are things like wood preservative paints and anti fouling agents. 

Not sure what the legislation is re assigning a foodstuff as organic and with bees then I imagine it can be complicated. 

Plants have mechanisms to cope with the presence of heavy metals, to mop up and store - so vegetables grown in heavy metal contaminated soils could be problematic. I cannot see how heavy metals could get into nectar, given my rudimentary understanding of how nectar is made and secreted - but would be interested to hear from someone who knows more about this.

Contaminated water is a possible source of metals getting into the hive - or honey stored in a lead container!
Propolis as a source of heavy metals? Don't know.

My main worry is the lead in the brace of grouse I was gifted by a gamekeeper in return for honey.

----------


## Calum

Hi Greengage, 
thats not correct. 
A quick google dug up to be a certified bio beekeeper in Germany we have to follow COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 889/2008
of 5 September 2008
specifically elements of Articles 8,9,13,18,19,25,38,41,44 and 78 - I recommend converting the pdf to word and google translating it. 
plus local additions.... the agricultural ministry of bavaria recommends you have at least 30 colonies before you even consider it. .

----------


## Greengage

Interesting I was only quoting what a German beekeeper told me, that was a long document, thanks for the link.
In section 1 (5) it refers to Non-organic Queen bees what are they, special queens fertilised by organic drones imagine having to monitor that I assume artificial insemination would not be allowed.
In frames bees wax should only come from organic production units.
No clipping of queens 2(3) Article 44B under catastrophic circumstances in case of high mortality apiaries can be restocked with non organic bees, there is also a reference further down to feeding only organic food to the bees but again in exceptionally circumstances non organic food can be fed. All seems a bit complicated and if it could ever be managed, you would be relying on the honesty of the beekeeper, then they are a very honourable bunch of people anyway so no problems there. It idint say anything about who checks the honey so that there are no containments in it. I think it would be impossible to produce organic honey anywhere, but then it depends on your definition of organic.

----------


## Feckless Drone

https://badbeekeepingblog.com/2017/0...chinese-honey/

here is a link to an interesting blog on foreign honey and this one  - https://badbeekeepingblog.com/2018/0...rs-guns-honey/
concerns something just out on Netflix about the "honey" business that I must try to see. I got there via the Apiarists blog/site, both are great distractions.

----------

