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  • Honey supplies and cost

    Where do you guys get your honey from?
    How much does your mead cost to make?
    Thanks,

    Aid.

  • #2
    Originally posted by Aid View Post
    Where do you guys get your honey from?
    How much does your mead cost to make?
    Thanks,

    Aid.
    I tend to use about 3lb (1.36kg) per gallon for a traditional mead.

    As for prices? Well it depends on where you get the honey from......

    I tend to get mine from this place. If you go through the price list you'll see some rather dramatic variations and no, I won't be making any mead with Manuka +15 anytime soon........

    The saying goes, the better the honey, the better the mead.

    There's also the issue of what actually "better" means. The out of print "Making Mead" book (by Ashton and Duncan - Oh and it's an "amateur winemaker book - same as "first steps") they say that their "best" is heather honey - though it must be honey from "bell" heather, rather than "ling".

    I've also heard it said that Buckwheat honey makes good mead, but as Paynes don't stock it (apparently it's not considered that good by honey connoisseurs). I understand that it has two of the good qualities for traditional meads i.e. it's strong tasting and dark coloured.

    The bloke from Paynes said that he could order it in for me, but only in 25kg buckets. I'm thinking about getting a price for some.

    I did make a gallon of heather honey (english, rather than scottish) last year and that was about £4.50 a lb. It's under the stairs ageing in bulk.

    There are lots of other honeys available, but in most cases you'd have to get the honey shipped in and the shipping charges make it prohibitive - but take a look at this site for some idea of the more exotic honeys that can be had !

    For hard core mead nutters, then GotMead is the place (that link is for the forums). Unfortunately, it's best to be a "patron", but that costs 25$US per annum (yes I'm a patron). You just have to remember that they don't usually define the different meads in the same way we do i.e. they'll just say "apple mead", rather than cyser (the correct name for it).

    Whether you have a local wholesaler/distributor is anyones guess, but it's probably worth a look - as the "speciality" honey's in supermarkets work out expensive and they'll have been "processed to death"....... I prefer just pure, filtered honey.

    And no, I don't heat it, other than just to get it out the pot/jar/bucket.

    Hope that helps

    regards

    JtFB
    Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

    Some blog ramblings

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    • #3
      I've just got some honey with 'the aroma of forest blossom' from Aldi. £1.69/500g.

      I've used it before for a Cyser. Not bad

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      • #4
        I was lucky, and acquired about 60 jars of Orange blossom honey for not-very-much.

        Haven't decided what to do with it yet.
        Pete the Instructor

        It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba

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        • #5
          Pete.....

          your signature line....

          is that Finnish for:
          Clarinets are kindling for Bassoon fires?
          N.G.W.B.J.
          Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
          Wine, mead and beer maker

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          • #6
            Close.
            Pete the Instructor

            It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba

            Comment


            • #7
              The clarinet my brother is on fire, and sitting in the fridge?

              Comment


              • #8
                "The clarinetist is burning with passion for all thing Jacobean" of course
                Let's party


                AKA Brunehilda - Last of the Valkaries

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                • #9
                  forget the foreign languages

                  I struggle with english if there's more than 2 syllables in a word
                  I wish I was a glow worm
                  Cos a glow worm's never glum
                  It's hard to be unhappy
                  When the sun shines out your bum

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by billybuntus View Post
                    The clarinet my brother is on fire, and sitting in the fridge?
                    Close enough.

                    The original English was 'the clarinet of my brother is on fire and sitting on the fridge', converted via Google.
                    Pete the Instructor

                    It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Aid View Post
                      Where do you guys get your honey from?
                      How much does your mead cost to make?
                      Thanks,

                      Aid.
                      The EU brought in new PITA rules(and fines) about honey needing to meet certain standards, even for hobbyists.

                      Most hobby beekeepers in the UK run Langstroth hives, which means they easily get tons of honey, and a number of people I know have entire barrels sitting at the bottom of the garden, because jarring, labeling and marketing is hard work, and after the extraction which is quite sticky and labour intensive, often the other stages get neglected by hobbyists, especially with the new hostile crazy EU rules that no-one at that level can guarantee to achieve... So, you may be able to pick up great honey in bulk quite cheaply.

                      If you offer to make the mead and share, I would think a split of 1/4 you and 3/4 beekeeper is reasonable given the outlay and effort involved in the project .

                      You can of course often rent a hive from the local beekeeper association that is parked in the club apiary it's a great way of learning the hobby since you have expert company at every step of the way.

                      Another alternative is this: http://www2.gsu.edu/~biojdsx/main.htm -- this is what I do. Not as much yield as a Langstroth, but other than paying for the 2x2's to be cut to a specific size, the rest of the hive is almost free, so if you need more honey, just add another one. And yes, you can keep bees on a balcony too, the nest themselves are actually not that big, they can be kept quite small. The more people look after bees the more likely it is that they develop resistance against Varroa mites and other problems(we need numbers!), so if you thought of keeping bees for a while... this May is a great time to start

                      Nepenthes
                      Last edited by Nepenthes; 18-03-2010, 03:01 AM. Reason: Missing s, can't have typos on the internet! ;-)

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                      • #12
                        Interesting link....thanks for sharing

                        could you givre an indication of how much it would cost say for 2olbs honey?

                        or is there and association website or similar where mead/wine makers could visit and find a local supplier?

                        cheers in advance
                        Bob
                        N.G.W.B.J.
                        Member of 5 Towns Wine and Beer Makers Society (Yorkshire's newest)
                        Wine, mead and beer maker

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by lockwood1956 View Post
                          Interesting link....thanks for sharing

                          could you givre an indication of how much it would cost say for 2olbs honey?

                          or is there and association website or similar where mead/wine makers could visit and find a local supplier?

                          cheers in advance
                          Bob
                          I've no idea what the going price is(I took a looong hiatus and I'm building hives in April ready for May, yay!), but in bulk it should be much less because no glasses (£1 a shot) need to be bought and labeled and a bucket is easier to fill too.

                          Tip: local honey is a great weapon against hayfever, it takes some time to work, but the honey will innoculate you somewhat.

                          Because you're dealing with hobbyists rather than pros, ymmv, but there are some pros or semi pros, and a number of people who are just bee addicts, they'll have as many hives as you have demijohn -- or more

                          Some beekeepers also have lesser quality of honey for sale, and typing this just has reminded me of 17kg of 'cooking honey' I've stashed since a few years when I moved *blush*, looks like I own a nice guy some mead, oops. When I get the time and feel brave enough to open the bucket, I'll post on here for some handholding on how to handle this =) Nothing wrong with the honey, but it probably just needs filtering and fishing out the odd dead bee and comb piece and so on, it's totally OK, just not pretty enough to go straight onto your toast.

                          The local beekeeper association is your first port of call, have a look here to find the nearest one: http://www.britishbee.org.uk/local_a...s_about_us.php

                          They also have courses and most beekeepers are very happy to infect others with 'the bug for bugs', so be careful, because chances are, you'll be roped in.



                          Nepenthes

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                          • #14
                            thanks for the beekeeper's link, i followed it up, found my local "tribe" and found they are having an introduction to mead-making meeting in April! you never know, i might just go!

                            Never tried making mead; cost and something about how good honey is to eat so i don't want to do anything else with it! the last reason is a bit of a sad barrier, the former reason may be solved through co-operation with these very folks.
                            To most people solutions mean answers. To chemists solutions are things that are mixed up.
                            A fine wine is a fine wine, 1st time may be by accident, 2nd time is by design - that's why you keep notes.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by ms67 View Post
                              thanks for the beekeeper's link, i followed it up, found my local "tribe" and found they are having an introduction to mead-making meeting in April! you never know, i might just go!

                              Never tried making mead; cost and something about how good honey is to eat so i don't want to do anything else with it! the last reason is a bit of a sad barrier, the former reason may be solved through co-operation with these very folks.
                              making a basic mead is a doddle. Whether it'll taste Ok is a different matter.....

                              regards

                              jtfb
                              Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

                              Some blog ramblings

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