Selling Honey at School

Published on October 28, 2019

Beepods stores honey comb from each hive and keeps track of each bar. A Beepods Beekeeper reinserts the bar of honey in the hive in late fall when prepping the hive for winter.

Honeycomb from a Beepods hive.

Once your Beepods hive is active and established, it’s time to think about selling honey. While you probably won’t harvest much honey the first year, you can expect 60-100 pounds a year after that. Here’s what you need to know to get started selling honey at school.

Forage for customers. Whether hand-drawn or computer-designed, have your students create posters promoting the fact that your school will be selling honey in the spring. Make brochures to leave with scout troops who use your school. When it gets closer to spring, send press releases to your local newspaper and media outlets and place signs around the school property. Beepods will share your story on our web site. You can even put on beekeeping workshops at your school and give brochures to those who attend.

Stick a label on it. Purchase bottles and labels directly from Beepods. Consider buying multiple sizes of bottles so you can offer a range of price points. Have students fill the bottles with honey and then design the labels. They should make sure to include the words “American honey”, “Made in the USA,” or “Pure Honey.” You may want to also give your honey business a name that plays off the name of your mascot and include that as well as your street address, phone, and web address. Include information about the program that benefits from the proceeds.

Set up shop. Most schools don’t have gift shops but you can add an online order form to your school’s web site. The form should include the name of the family placing the order, the classroom for delivery, quantities and totals, and form of payment. Talk to your school’s business office about how to set up PayPal or other payment options.

Once your hive is productive make sure you have a plan for the honey. Your administrators will be amazed that you have created a self-sustaining educational tool. Be sure to keep track of your income and expenses and host a tea party to celebrate your first season of sales.

Resources:

https://www.honeybeesonline.com/selling-honey/