Per my inspections we will have a roughly 500-600 pound harvest this Spring. I've been building up for a few years having started my apiary from just local feral swarms. We've got 4 boomers this year. I'm so proud of these hives. Last couple years we harvested around 100 -150 or so pounds total for the year. We did manage to build a few good relationships with local stores who we sold our honey too. But this year I hunted down all the SC laws relating to selling honey.
I updated our label. I sent in for the small-time beekeeper exemption to legally sell person to person. And then I realized we have to have a DHEC inspected & approved kitchen to legally sell to the re-sellers we have relationships with. We asked around and eventually scored with some friends of the family who own a restaurant. If we give them some honey we can harvest in their kitchen. Score!
But now I'm looking at transporting about 15 honey supers about 20 miles away. I'm planning on clearing out my SUV and putting down a table cloth. On top of which I will load up the honey supers (after the bees are cleared). I've got a team assembled that will assist with the turn-key crush & strain & bottle & label operation. We're using a stainless wine press we bought this year. Any harvest advice for me? I'm all ears. I feel like we've got our work cut out for us and then some.
I updated our label. I sent in for the small-time beekeeper exemption to legally sell person to person. And then I realized we have to have a DHEC inspected & approved kitchen to legally sell to the re-sellers we have relationships with. We asked around and eventually scored with some friends of the family who own a restaurant. If we give them some honey we can harvest in their kitchen. Score!
But now I'm looking at transporting about 15 honey supers about 20 miles away. I'm planning on clearing out my SUV and putting down a table cloth. On top of which I will load up the honey supers (after the bees are cleared). I've got a team assembled that will assist with the turn-key crush & strain & bottle & label operation. We're using a stainless wine press we bought this year. Any harvest advice for me? I'm all ears. I feel like we've got our work cut out for us and then some.
