Cut Comb Prices?
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I don't make cut comb for sale but around here I've seen it from $4.50-$8.00 for a 12 oz. piece. ABJ honey market report for your area is $3.00-$5.00 for a 12 oz retail.
It is wise to freeze the comb honey after it is packaged(let the excess honey drain off of it first before packaging) to prevent the hatching of wax moths and having them destroy the section. Place the boxed sections inside a plastic bag(sealed). When you take the sections out of the freezer allow them to come to room temp before removing from the plastic bag. This will prevent condensation getting on the comb honey and darkening the wax.
It is wise to freeze the comb honey after it is packaged(let the excess honey drain off of it first before packaging) to prevent the hatching of wax moths and having them destroy the section. Place the boxed sections inside a plastic bag(sealed). When you take the sections out of the freezer allow them to come to room temp before removing from the plastic bag. This will prevent condensation getting on the comb honey and darkening the wax.
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The best way is to freeze the comb then unplug the freezer and allow it to come to ambient slowly
Thanks
A 5lb bottle of Sue Bee in the store is $15. So I guess cut comb at about $4/12oz is a pretty good profit over extracted.
I didn't know about the condesation problem. Interesting.
You can use normal foundation or do you need the thin? Someone said you need them to draw the honey fast so they don't "reenforce" the wax? I have not heard of such a thing.
I am interested because have ot have a license to sell extracted but not cut comb. I don't see a way to do the license this year. (I asked about extracting it here and bottling it at a licensed kitchen - answer was still need a license).
Thanks for all the information.
Mike
A 5lb bottle of Sue Bee in the store is $15. So I guess cut comb at about $4/12oz is a pretty good profit over extracted.
I didn't know about the condesation problem. Interesting.
You can use normal foundation or do you need the thin? Someone said you need them to draw the honey fast so they don't "reenforce" the wax? I have not heard of such a thing.
I am interested because have ot have a license to sell extracted but not cut comb. I don't see a way to do the license this year. (I asked about extracting it here and bottling it at a licensed kitchen - answer was still need a license).
Thanks for all the information.
Mike
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I only sell cut comb to other producers who can't make quality comb honey. I sell 4 1/8" square in plastic, 12oz, unlabeled, for $5/cut cash only. Sold 12-1500 last year. Poor honey year. Will have about 300 supers on when we're done supering. Already a better year than last.
Don't believe about the not supporting the thin wax. And I think you need to use thin wax if you don't want the cut comb to be chewy. The first time I did it I put the thin foundation in. I didn't support it thinking that the bees would quickly attach it at the top bar. On the first day it got to the high 70's I looked in and found that all of the foundation had fallen and blocked bees from entering the super.
Now I use support pins or run a bead of wax from my presto pot along the top bar after I put the foundation in. I think that the weight of the bees, along with the thin foundation and heat from all of the bees in the hive cause the problem.
Now I use support pins or run a bead of wax from my presto pot along the top bar after I put the foundation in. I think that the weight of the bees, along with the thin foundation and heat from all of the bees in the hive cause the problem.
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Yes drawing fast makes the comb more delicate, less chewy. I use starter strips from the thin foundation - more economical for one, a better product because the comb is very tender - less wax per bite! Half inch starter strip is all I use. good luck!
I used starter strips for the first time this year (hobby, not commercial) and, because I
can't get thin foundation here, used normal thickness instead. This was probably a
good thing, as I'm not sure that thin would have withstood the heat and would probably
have buckled and fallen out before the bees got a chance to work it.
Starter-strip preparation
I used a teaspoon dipped in boiling water to "spot weld" the strip into the frame slot. As
you can see from the photo, my initial strips were a bit too deep, but the bees didn't seem
to mind and we ended up with some very nice, tender cut comb (before the flow dried up
and the bees started filling the frames with drone brood).
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I wholesale by the super for $100 a super. I produce 60-100 supers a year.:thumbsup:
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I cut mine up in 12 pieces per medium frame and sell it in a pint jar wholesale at $6 (chunk comb with liquid honey). I have estimated that the comb takes up about 40% of the space in the jar (so it sells for about $2.8 per slice - Gross). The math works out to be around $280 per super (Gross Sales not Net).
I don't have quicken up right now, but I think we have sold around 10 to 12 supers. Bad thing is that I ran out already... probably could have sold 30 supers.
For the last few years, I "toyed" with the idea of selling an entire frame directly to the consumer at $100. My wife thought I was crazy so we didn't do it. This year we had a few people ask for them.
Yep, I sold them for a $100 per each frame. We sold a couple of them like that right before I ran out :ws
Next year, I am going to produce some supers of cut comb in the little half frames which are used in queen production for $55 or $60 each. (I will give a hint, women want them for parties to display and have guests eat on a platter with blue cheese, crackers, etc.). The amount of money to this crowd is irrelevant.
I don't have quicken up right now, but I think we have sold around 10 to 12 supers. Bad thing is that I ran out already... probably could have sold 30 supers.
For the last few years, I "toyed" with the idea of selling an entire frame directly to the consumer at $100. My wife thought I was crazy so we didn't do it. This year we had a few people ask for them.
Yep, I sold them for a $100 per each frame. We sold a couple of them like that right before I ran out :ws
Next year, I am going to produce some supers of cut comb in the little half frames which are used in queen production for $55 or $60 each. (I will give a hint, women want them for parties to display and have guests eat on a platter with blue cheese, crackers, etc.). The amount of money to this crowd is irrelevant.
99% of all my cut comb is sold as a slab of comb in a jar with extracted honey poured around it.
I sell plain jelly jars (unquilted, half pint jars) for $3.50 and wide mouth pints for $6.50
I've tried the Ross Rounds, Kelley square basswood boxes, Bee-o-pac and my customers want the old fashioned cut comb in a jar of honey.
Go figure.
Grant
Jackson, MO
http://maxhoney.homestead.com
I sell plain jelly jars (unquilted, half pint jars) for $3.50 and wide mouth pints for $6.50
I've tried the Ross Rounds, Kelley square basswood boxes, Bee-o-pac and my customers want the old fashioned cut comb in a jar of honey.
Go figure.
Grant
Jackson, MO
http://maxhoney.homestead.com
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Likewise Grant....likewise!
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What the many optomists will not tell you is the labor involved in getting perfect comb honey. Putting in the foundation, using clean frames to avoid wax streaks, pulling the supers before the bees stain them too much, putting them back on hives to clean burr drips, cutting, draining, cleaning, power to run freezer and last but not least the 20-25 percent that the little buggers dont get capped or fill full of pollen (not always the end of the world but not grade A) I've been producing between 1000 and 2000 12oz per year. Went this year to $8 whole sale and 14 retail. I usually sell out by February.
Don't sell yourself short fella's. You could make twice the honey if they didn't have to build the comb.
www.grampashoney.com
Don't sell yourself short fella's. You could make twice the honey if they didn't have to build the comb.
www.grampashoney.com
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I believe ABJ prices are way too cheap! Wholesale price to packer in super was 2/lb two months ago...again too cheap. You cut your production in half by drawing comb. Takes more time to put in new foundation than extract. I produce comb honey in a med super....like the depth size as it fits a 1lb and pint jar perfect. at retail 1 lb jars sell for 8.00 pints for 10.00 quarts for 15 or at hgh end shows for 20.00(booth rent is 500). 4x4 boxes are 7.50 Box is almost a dollar). Wholesale is pt 7.50, 1 lb is 4.50, qt is 10.00 and 4x4 box is 6.00.
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Maybe I should just buy from you, I sell my extracted honey for $11 LB and as of lunchtime today I only have one bottle left of my first harvest done at the end of july that makes my supers worth $330 - $500. I sell my bee o pacs for $5 each even if they only draw out 50% thats $320.
Now I dont sell wholesale and until I produce in volumes that I cannot sell in a year I dont plan to.
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Not hard to sell a few hives worth at that but hard to sell 100k pounds of honey at 11$/lb.
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While I agree about all the extra expense and the sometimes disappointing results, I think it's still worth producing some cut comb honey. Rather than look at all the combs that didn't get completed, I like to look at the combs that did.
For example, this year I put on just under 300 cut comb supers. Most got filled, but many weren't saleable. A little drone, a crack, pollen, uncapped...whatever. If you do the math, you'll see that only about 1/2 of the comb was saleable. But, I did manage 5,800 beautiful white cuts. At $5/cut, a sizable income from my cut comb supers...not to mention that I melted and sold the honey from the usaleable combs for $2/lb.
Why do you not market the uncapped cut comb sections???
I used to sell on the capped ones & found out some years back that the uncapped ones sold just as good.
Way to much waste to melt them up after you have gone thru all that work to raise the stuff & not get paid for it!
I used to sell on the capped ones & found out some years back that the uncapped ones sold just as good.
Way to much waste to melt them up after you have gone thru all that work to raise the stuff & not get paid for it!
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