Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild

The Guild sells Hobbyist and Professional member’s honey on a consignment basis at our annual Honey Fest and other events throughout the year.

Requirements for Guild Consignment:

• You are a current member at the Hobbyist or Professional levels.
• You are selling honey that your bees have made. No reselling.
• Your honey was extracted and bottled in a certified honey kitchen or other approved facility. We do require documentation. Our honey kitchen at Awbury is an approved facility. More on state regulations here.
• Your honey is packaged in one of the containers sizes indicated in the form below. We can’t accept other sizes.
• Your label conforms to state labeling guidelines.
• We encourage you to indicate the zip code or location of your apiary, if possible. We find that specific location information sells honey.
• You are able to drop off and pick up your honey at Guild designated locations. No shipping
• You commit to volunteer for at least one selling events as well as Honey Fest. We find that honey sells better when customers can talk to the beekeeper in person. If we have fewer events than we have volunteers, we will waive this requirement on a year-by-year basis.

If you and your honey meet these criteria we will sell it on a consignment basis at Guild events and in our Awbury Apiary.

Pricing

All sizes are BY WEIGHT. Honey is always sold by weight. Because honey is much denser than water, this means that the volume of the jar is less than the weight. Honey jars are usually sold by the weight they will hold. We include pint and quart jars because they are common and often used by our members. Let us know if you have questions about a specific jar that you want to use.

Please fill out the form below and optionally indicate how much honey of each size you can supply in your initial delivery. We can only accept the sizes below.
When we get your form we get in touch and let you know where and when to deliver or arrange pickup. We will give you a receipt for the honey you deliver. Once we’ve finished selling we will return any unsold honey and send a check for your sales minus our commission.

Guidelines and Suggestions:

• State Regulations: We are retailing your honey, so it must be packed according to PA State regulations. If you use our honey kitchen you will be in compliance. We really want you to use the honey kitchen if you can!
• If you don’t want to use our honey kitchen you can register your facility (kitchen, garage, basement, etc.) There are a number of publications that cover processing and labeling of honey.
  • ‘Selling Honey in PA‘ is a document from Karen Roccasecca, our State Apiarist. Follow the directions under the heading 2. If honey producer sells off-site of his or her farm. The document also contains labeling guidelines.
  • GUIDELINES FOR HONEY PROCESSORS IN PA is a publication from the PA Dept. of Agriculture. It covers a lot of the same ground as the document above, with more detail on handling and the criteria that the inspector will use to evaluate your honey kitchen.
  • Limited Food Establishments is a PA Dept. of Agriculture page that explains why a honey kitchen is considered ‘limited’ and has a link to the (rather long) form that you need to apply for this type of license.
• Suggestions: We have found certain things to be helpful when selling honey at our events.
  • Location: You have to provide an address and your name on your label. We find that honey that is labeled with the specific location of the apiary, at least at the zip code level, sells better. Part of the appeal of what we’re doing is that the honey is LOCAL, so letting people know where the bees lived helps.
  • Crystallization: crystallized honey, unless it’s creamed honey, does not sell as well as liquid honey. We all know there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a natural process, etc. We explain that to customers but it doesn’t help much. If your honey is crystallized it probably won’t sell well.
  • Being there: The single most powerful sales tool is to attend the event and talk to customers. If you can make it out to any event to talk to people directly you will sell more honey.
  • Your Story: If you can’t be there the more information you can give us about your honey and your history in beekeeping the better. Our sellers – you guys – do learn each other’s stories and it really helps when we can talk to the customer about what differentiates your product.
  • Jars or Containers: We accept the sizes (by weight) above. Many different jars are available in these sizes and you can use any jar you like as long as it is one of the sizes we list. We haven’t really noticed any advantage or disadvantage to different jars. Remember that honey is 50% heavier than water for the same volume so a pint of honey (volume) will weigh a pound and a half.