WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:06.660 in a world brimming with complexity few creatures 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:12.839 embody harmony like the honeybee with tireless 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:17.699 precision she dances from bloom to bloom each 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:22.420 motion guided by millennia upon millennia of 00:00:22.420 --> 00:00:28.800 instinct each act in service to the whole and 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:34.560 then There are the beekeepers, watchful stewards 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:40.500 of this ancient symbiosis. Part agriscientist, 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.460 part poet, they move along their hives with the 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.539 efficiency of mow, levy and curly, tending to 00:00:50.539 --> 00:00:54.219 the bees' needs as best they can comprehend, 00:00:54.859 --> 00:00:59.670 and with the infrequency of a waterfall in the 00:00:59.670 --> 00:01:05.590 Sahara, sometimes running off flapping and flailing 00:01:05.590 --> 00:01:12.150 like a penguin on a hot sidewalk. This is their 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:23.629 journey. Welcome, welcome to Be Love Beekeeping 00:01:23.629 --> 00:01:26.609 presented by our great friends and partners in 00:01:26.609 --> 00:01:30.269 beekeeping, Man Lake. Most hobby and sideline 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:32.930 beekeepers would like to make some money on products 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:35.670 from their hives. Whether for you it's a side 00:01:35.670 --> 00:01:38.930 hustle, a whole new full -time business, or maybe 00:01:38.930 --> 00:01:41.209 you're one of us stuck with a little too much 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:44.049 honey and wax, learning how to make money on 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:46.870 those products is important, but it's not always 00:01:46.870 --> 00:01:50.920 easy. So today's guest, she just happens to be 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:54.019 a pro at making money selling honey. We will 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:57.459 discuss everything from logos and branding to 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:01.500 pricing, selling, distribution. So if you're 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:03.659 looking to make a profit on your small honey 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:07.319 business, this is absolutely the episode for 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:11.099 you. But first, let's take a minute to go inside 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:14.280 the hive, this feature presented by Primal Bee. 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:17.590 If you've kept bees for any amount of time, you've 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:21.050 opened a hive and found comb where it absolutely 00:02:21.050 --> 00:02:23.830 just doesn't seem to belong. Between frames, 00:02:24.229 --> 00:02:27.550 on the inner cover, gluing boxes together, beekeepers 00:02:27.550 --> 00:02:31.129 call it burr comb and it can drive us crazy. 00:02:31.710 --> 00:02:34.550 But the bees, they're not being difficult, they're 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:38.430 problem solving. Bees have a very specific sense 00:02:38.430 --> 00:02:42.270 of space, roughly 3 eighths of an inch. Any gap 00:02:42.270 --> 00:02:45.000 smaller than that? gets sealed with propolis. 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.879 Any get bigger gets filled with comb. They can't 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:52.539 help it. It's hardwired into their DNA. So when 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:55.620 your frames sit a little too far apart or your 00:02:55.620 --> 00:02:58.740 boxes don't stack perfectly flush, your bees 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:02.180 see a construction project. But here's the interesting 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:06.120 part. If you notice heavy propolis and burr comb 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:09.280 concentrated near the top of the hive, around 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.800 the lid, along the upper edges of frames, your 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:15.580 bees may be doing something more than just filling 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:18.979 gaps. They might be trying to seal up drafts 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:22.300 and manage heat loss. They're insulating from 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:24.580 the inside because the outside isn't cutting 00:03:24.580 --> 00:03:27.379 it. Pay attention to where your bees are building. 00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:29.840 They're often telling you something about the 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.979 hive that you haven't even noticed yet. Next 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:36.139 time on Inside the Hive, we'll talk about Varroa 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:39.300 mites and why some colonies handle them so much 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:46.659 better than others. I'd like to welcome our very 00:03:46.659 --> 00:03:49.080 special guest today, Danielle Brooks, coming 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:52.819 to us from Florida in the United States. Good 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.699 morning, Danielle. Good morning, Eric. Thank 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:57.939 you so much for having me on and hello to anybody 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:00.699 who is watching or listening. It's a great day 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.240 to be here. And you were asking a few minutes 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.479 ago before we got started what it's like here. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.099 And I can tell you our beekeeping season hasn't 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:13.020 started yet. We're mid -March of 2026 now, in 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:16.579 case people are listening later. But yours doesn't 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:21.220 really ever end. So what is winter like? for 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:24.259 you there. Is it full on beekeeping or is it 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:27.300 scaled back a ways? It's definitely scaled back 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:29.560 a lot. I mean, I don't think it ever really stops 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.699 in Florida. A lot of the beekeepers that I work 00:04:32.699 --> 00:04:35.459 with actually getting their bees back from almonds 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:37.639 in California right now. And so they're kind 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:39.899 of doing hive maintenance checks and whatnot. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:42.459 But yeah, it's definitely a slower season. The 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:45.939 queen does slow her production down a lot. However, 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.819 it's warm year round here. So bees are constantly 00:04:48.819 --> 00:04:52.410 out foraging and gathering things and we're just 00:04:52.410 --> 00:04:55.149 on the cusp of that spring honey flow so we're 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:56.750 getting really excited to see what's going to 00:04:56.750 --> 00:04:59.490 happen this year. We don't really ever get a 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:01.910 traditional winter here in Florida. A lot of 00:05:01.910 --> 00:05:04.310 the beekeepers that I am presently working with 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:06.350 are just now getting their bees back from almond 00:05:06.350 --> 00:05:08.769 pollination. So they're going through those hives, 00:05:08.829 --> 00:05:10.910 doing those routine maintenance checks. But right 00:05:10.910 --> 00:05:13.470 now, we're kind of on the cusp of that spring 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:16.310 honey flow. Nothing has like popped off yet. 00:05:16.829 --> 00:05:19.189 We're, you know, we're antsy, getting excited 00:05:19.189 --> 00:05:21.129 to see what the season is going to bring. But 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:23.269 yeah, we don't really get traditional winters 00:05:23.269 --> 00:05:25.750 here in Florida, which is kind of nice. Super 00:05:25.750 --> 00:05:28.529 nice. you don't know how easy you have it, but 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:31.209 that brings some other pests too. So some of 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:33.870 it balances out. We're going to be talking all 00:05:33.870 --> 00:05:36.990 about your business here shortly. I want to hear 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:39.310 a little bit about your beekeeping first. You've 00:05:39.310 --> 00:05:42.910 been at this for what about 10 years and how 00:05:42.910 --> 00:05:45.560 many hives do you have? It kind of fluctuates 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.819 like most beekeepers. I generally do not keep 00:05:48.819 --> 00:05:51.540 more, like I keep about six to ten hives, so 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.620 I'm still very much backyard beekeeper. I don't 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:56.860 personally want to scale more than that. It's 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:00.240 a lot and I enjoy beekeeping. I love it, but 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:02.839 I don't want that to be what I am doing every 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:06.680 single day. So for all of the honey that you 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.480 sell, do your bees create all of it or are you 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.660 buying some from other people as well? No, so 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:17.199 my industry term would be honey packer. I am 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.300 not a big fish in that pond by any means, but 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:24.120 when I first started the honey truck, I was backyard 00:06:24.120 --> 00:06:27.079 beekeeping. I would do a host to hive program 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:30.360 where I put bees in people's backyards and would 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:32.300 start selling the honey based on the community 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:35.600 that I harvested it from. it just kind of exploded. 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:39.100 And anybody who is in business will tell you, 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:41.360 you're either making bees or you're making honey. 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:44.379 And as one person trying to do all of it, it 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:48.100 became very unmanageable very quickly. And also 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:51.980 during that time, I started having kids and was 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:54.779 a part time stay at home mom. And that is not 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:57.620 super conducive to, I've got a swarm of bees 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:00.779 in my backyard. And I'm like, I'm... trying to 00:07:00.779 --> 00:07:03.620 get my child down for a nap. I can't just leave 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:06.740 and come and do those things. And so I pivoted 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:10.279 and have partnered with a few beekeepers who 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:13.000 are commercial beekeepers here in Florida. And 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.220 so at Honey Truck, we've always been very transparent 00:07:15.220 --> 00:07:17.579 about where our honey comes from. If I'm not 00:07:17.579 --> 00:07:19.959 the beekeeper who's producing it, I know who 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:22.079 is. I know what beekeeping practices they're 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.250 using. And so I do generally talk about that 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:27.750 when I talk about our honey. HoneyTruck supports 00:07:27.750 --> 00:07:31.850 the greater ag community. And I have really enjoyed 00:07:31.850 --> 00:07:34.670 watching those relationships grow over the years. 00:07:34.990 --> 00:07:37.250 Well, I think this is going to be great to give 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:40.149 some hope, especially for people that are just 00:07:40.149 --> 00:07:42.790 kind of hobbyist beekeepers, but also want to 00:07:42.790 --> 00:07:45.779 make some money at it. because that is not an 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:49.139 easy thing to do. But there also are so many 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:52.420 different ways to make money on beekeeping. You've 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:56.060 already mentioned a few. Selling bees, selling 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:59.160 honey, we've had people on the show talk about 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:03.879 making mead and wax products. But let's talk 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:06.459 about your business and people are going to learn 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:10.089 something from this. I'm sure, because you sound 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:12.910 like, I didn't even ask about your education, 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:15.290 but when we were talking the other day, you sound 00:08:15.290 --> 00:08:17.410 like you have an MBA in marketing or something, 00:08:17.529 --> 00:08:20.569 whether you do or not. I would give you one because 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:23.850 you know it, it seems like. Well, thank you. 00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:26.329 Actually, for those who are watching and listening, 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:29.509 I have taken zero classes in marketing. I did 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:33.409 go to school for a communications degree. I had 00:08:33.409 --> 00:08:36.830 great aspirations of being a broadcast journalist. 00:08:36.850 --> 00:08:40.309 I was very into news. I loved that world. And 00:08:40.309 --> 00:08:43.009 I started doing it and realized very quickly 00:08:43.009 --> 00:08:46.610 that I didn't enjoy it. So from my timeline, 00:08:46.610 --> 00:08:49.909 that was a soul crushing reality to come to that 00:08:49.909 --> 00:08:52.169 a goal that I had been working for most of my 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:54.870 life was not something that I wanted to do so 00:08:54.870 --> 00:08:57.990 I did pivot I became a full -time family photographer 00:08:57.990 --> 00:09:01.429 and had grown a fairly successful business doing 00:09:01.429 --> 00:09:05.460 that and I I just one day was like, you know 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:07.580 what? I'm going to get a beehive. That seems 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:11.519 very exciting to me. And my husband said, hey, 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:14.480 maybe you should find somebody who has bees that 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:16.740 would let you go into their hives so that you 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:20.399 don't freak out when you bring home 40 ,000 stinging 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.860 insects to our yard. So I did that. And I said, 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:26.980 you know what? This is a fear that I can overcome. 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:29.429 I'm going to do this thing. And it was really 00:09:29.429 --> 00:09:32.269 fun. And I had people asking, hey, can we buy 00:09:32.269 --> 00:09:35.730 honey from you? And I just had a moment where 00:09:35.730 --> 00:09:39.190 I was like, this is my golden ticket. This is 00:09:39.190 --> 00:09:41.840 what I want to do. I'm far more passionate about 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.659 this than I am about bees. And I had a friend 00:09:45.659 --> 00:09:48.600 that I went to church with, and I knew that she 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.200 did design work. And I said, hey, I'll trade 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.340 you. I'll do several family sessions for you 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:55.559 over the course of a year if you could create 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.159 a brand identity for me. And that is important. 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:00.860 I do understand. I have very basic knowledge 00:10:00.860 --> 00:10:03.779 of that. But I knew that I didn't need a logo. 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:07.580 I needed a brand identity. And she was very pivotal 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:11.159 in helping to create that. time. I only had a 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:12.879 limited amount of honey that I could sell and 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.220 I didn't want a brick and mortar. I wanted something 00:10:15.220 --> 00:10:17.720 cool. And I thought, what about getting an antique 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:21.679 vehicle? And I didn't want just any antique truck. 00:10:22.100 --> 00:10:24.220 I wanted something that was weird. You know, 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.059 like, let's be honest, being a beekeeper is weird. 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.440 You're probably a little bit odd in your personality. 00:10:31.139 --> 00:10:33.779 I mean, I'm just saying every beekeeper I've 00:10:33.779 --> 00:10:37.320 met is a little weird and lovable because I identify 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:40.220 as weird and lovable. So I say that with love 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:43.840 and care but like I needed something quirky and 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:47.379 Ford had an Econoline which is honestly kind 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:52.460 of the reject of the Ford company. You sit directly 00:10:52.460 --> 00:10:54.980 next to the motor you're the first person to 00:10:54.980 --> 00:10:56.860 arrive at the scene of an accident if you're 00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:59.279 involved in one it's not a safe vehicle to drive 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:02.139 but as soon as I saw I was like this is it this 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:04.600 is this is the truck that I need to sell my honey 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:07.700 out of. Emily, who is my designer, I was going 00:11:07.700 --> 00:11:09.960 to paint the truck yellow because it just made 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:11.980 sense. Bees and honey and yellow. And she was 00:11:11.980 --> 00:11:14.200 like, no, keep it red. I'm going to work with 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:19.059 it. And I'm so glad that I did because it's integral 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:22.139 to our identity now. By the way, listeners, go 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:24.379 to honeytruck .com and you can see the truck. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:27.019 There's two trucks now and they may be weird 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:29.899 and quirky. I think they're super cool. I think 00:11:29.899 --> 00:11:33.059 so, too. I did learn how to drive a manual on 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:36.559 those vehicles. We found the first one, Kennedy, 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:39.360 just so that people know I love anything space. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:43.100 And John F. Kennedy Jr. was the person who created 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:46.679 the space program. And our first Econoline is 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:50.200 in 1963, which was the year that he was assassinated. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.299 And our second truck, Glenda, is named after 00:11:53.299 --> 00:11:57.399 John Glenn, who orbited the Earth in 1962. And 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:01.610 she is also a 1962... to vehicle. Sweet. Okay. 00:12:01.950 --> 00:12:04.870 Tell us the difference between a logo and a brand 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:09.090 identity. Great question. When I first started 00:12:09.090 --> 00:12:11.690 Honey Truck, I had a friend who could do logos 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:13.970 and it was great. You know, like I've got to 00:12:13.970 --> 00:12:16.529 put it on a jar and identified our company, but 00:12:16.529 --> 00:12:20.299 a brand identity is everything from the colors 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:23.820 that you use, the font that you use, the style 00:12:23.820 --> 00:12:27.120 in which you produce things. When you look at 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:31.200 honey truck, there is very clearly a theme that 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.600 goes with it. When you look at honey truck, you 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.379 see the color red. You can very quickly identify 00:12:36.379 --> 00:12:40.279 that we are a 60s era kind of decor, a vibe. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:42.559 Everything that's wrapped up into a honey jar 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.000 tells you that there's integrity behind it. I'm 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:46.860 very transparent about where our honey comes 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:49.840 from. It's important to me that people understand 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.679 where their food comes from, that they are educated 00:12:52.679 --> 00:12:55.039 on the importance of honey bees. We do a lot 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:58.259 of outreach and talking about honey and why crystallization 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:00.399 is a good thing, what that means for your honey. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.500 You would be surprised at the amount of information 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:05.899 that people don't know about bees and so that's 00:13:05.899 --> 00:13:07.700 what we're really passionate about and talking 00:13:07.700 --> 00:13:10.720 with people. So in your experience what are the 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.879 two questions that people, when they first find 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:16.000 out you're a beekeeper, what are the two questions 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.480 they ask you? My husband likes to, when we're 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:21.700 at networking things, he's an attorney. So he'll 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:23.740 say, oh, I'm a lawyer, but my wife's the beekeeper. 00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:26.460 And that just suddenly starts a whole conversation 00:13:26.460 --> 00:13:28.000 with people like, oh, how many times have you 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.440 been stung? And do you say a lot, a lot of times? 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:34.340 I do wear a suit. I fully suit up. I don't like 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:38.019 being stung. That's not enjoyable for me. I have... 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.600 a few mentors who are amazing at beekeeping and 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.080 will just be able to do it without any sort of 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:47.480 protective equipment. And that's not me, but 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:50.820 I get asked that and I get asked how many bees 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:53.980 are in a beehive, any sorts of questions that 00:13:53.980 --> 00:13:56.360 are that way about beekeeping. I was just going 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:58.259 to say the number one, I get asked do you get 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:00.000 stung and number two, do you sell your honey? 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:04.450 So you got 50 % right. The questions are a little 00:14:04.450 --> 00:14:06.269 bit different when I'm at the farmers market, 00:14:06.330 --> 00:14:08.789 especially when I'm there with the truck. The 00:14:08.789 --> 00:14:10.889 question I get asked the most of the truck is, 00:14:11.309 --> 00:14:14.549 does it drive? Do I know how to drive it? And 00:14:14.549 --> 00:14:19.029 sadly, do I own the truck? OK, so we've talked 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:21.610 about brand identity. I want to talk about somebody 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:25.269 that's brand new at this. Let's say you're a 00:14:25.269 --> 00:14:29.090 hobby beekeeper or working to being a sideliner 00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:31.669 and you really haven't done much as far as selling 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:35.230 any of your products. And you're thinking, this 00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:38.850 summer, oh my gosh, I've got so much honey around 00:14:38.850 --> 00:14:40.909 here. I need to go to the farmer's market. I 00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:43.850 need to figure out how to do that. Where would 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:46.850 you say people should start as far as branding 00:14:46.850 --> 00:14:49.990 and even location? Is a farmer's market a good 00:14:49.990 --> 00:14:53.330 place? So this is something that I kind of went 00:14:53.330 --> 00:14:55.990 into backwards. Like I said, I partnered with 00:14:55.990 --> 00:15:00.399 my friend and she created the identity and I 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:02.799 didn't really consider who my target audience 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:06.919 was at the time and kind of had to do some, you 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:09.480 know, homework on the back end for that to discover 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:11.759 who that is. But my biggest thing, if I could 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.100 go back, would be to tell people, identify who 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:17.820 you want to sell your honey to. I admit a pet 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.879 peeve of mine is that it seems all beehives are 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.460 white. Yeah, boring old white. And just when 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:27.639 I get a pet peeve, Man Lake comes to the rescue 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.860 with their new color collection. The vibrant 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:34.620 new line of colorful beekeeping hive kits designed 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:37.639 to turn your backyard into a buzzing work of 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:41.379 art. Each kit comes completely assembled, ready 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:45.120 to add to your bee yard, but with a big splash 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.000 of personality. We're talking dandelion yellow, 00:15:49.620 --> 00:15:54.100 garden green, coneflower blue, and even bold 00:15:54.100 --> 00:15:58.320 wild rose pink because who says a beehive has 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:01.580 to be plain old boring white. Imagine stepping 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:06.320 into your bee yard and seeing a rainbow of thriving 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:09.679 hives, each one buzzing with life producing golden 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:13.340 homegrown honey. And right now Manlike is offering 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:17.820 podcast listeners 10 % off color collection hive 00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:22.240 kits. Visit manlikeltd .com and use the code 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:26.840 SHOWMETHECOLOR at checkout. That's manlikeltd 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:31.529 .com Discount code, show me the color. In the 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:35.250 wild, bees choose homes with thick walls and 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:38.509 small entrances. Millions of years of evolution 00:16:38.509 --> 00:16:41.870 went into that preference. Primal Bee built a 00:16:41.870 --> 00:16:45.429 hive that actually respects that. Insulated walls, 00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:48.590 thoughtful design, built around how bees want 00:16:48.590 --> 00:16:52.049 to live. I added one to my apiary last fall. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:55.960 with I admit it was a small late summer swarm 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.059 that I didn't think had a chance to make it through 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:01.559 winter. But this spring, I got to tell you, they 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:04.559 made it. They're alive. They're well. And if 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.460 you want to give Primal Beehives a try, I've 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:11.319 arranged a 10 % discount just for Beelove listeners. 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:14.900 Click on over to primalbee .com forward slash 00:17:14.900 --> 00:17:26.279 beelove and use discount code There's at least 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:28.640 four or five other beekeepers who sell honey 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:31.960 here in St. Augustine, and I don't ever view 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.059 those people as my direct competition, primarily 00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:37.500 because they're not going after my target audience. 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:42.019 My target audience is a woman in her late to 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:45.650 late 30s or older. She has expendable income. 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:49.210 She read things like food and wine garden and 00:17:49.210 --> 00:17:52.990 gun Southern living she shops at places like 00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:56.650 William Sonoma and so knowing that ahead of time 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:59.880 determines where I'm putting my honey. We've 00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:02.519 talked earlier, I could sell honey to a beekeeper. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.900 I love talking about honey. I'm great at selling 00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.200 honey, but it does me no good if I sell honey 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.160 to a business owner and they can't get that honey 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.400 off their shelf. And what I'm talking about is 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:17.759 when you see a jar of honey truck honey and it's 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:19.539 at, I don't know, let's say a gas station and 00:18:19.539 --> 00:18:22.180 you're like, why am I paying $12 for this nine 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:25.180 ounce jar of honey? You know, like that doesn't... 00:18:25.210 --> 00:18:28.029 That doesn't mesh, but you walk into a boutique 00:18:28.029 --> 00:18:30.369 store in downtown St. Augustine and you say, 00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:32.990 wow, look at this beautiful jar of honey. And 00:18:32.990 --> 00:18:35.170 it's a mom who's traveling and she goes, oh, 00:18:35.170 --> 00:18:36.890 I need to get a gift for my friend. And this 00:18:36.890 --> 00:18:38.789 is perfect because everybody loves honey. And 00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:41.029 this will look so great on her counter. That's 00:18:41.029 --> 00:18:43.069 my target audience. And that's the person who's 00:18:43.069 --> 00:18:45.559 going to put that honey in their basket. And 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.859 that business is going to call me in a few weeks 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:51.019 and say, hey, I need to reorder. So if you were 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:53.579 just starting out, I would really stop and consider 00:18:53.579 --> 00:18:57.519 who's your target audience. And hint, the answer 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.359 is not everybody. Not everybody is your target 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:03.640 audience. And that's OK. Because once you know 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.599 who they are, you can market towards them and 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:09.960 make sure that you are directly in front of them 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:13.630 and where you need to be. By the way, this truly 00:19:13.630 --> 00:19:17.309 is marketing 101 here. Well, good to know, good 00:19:17.309 --> 00:19:19.009 to know. I've spent my career in marketing and 00:19:19.009 --> 00:19:21.890 advertising, so good job. You started in the 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:25.710 right place. And you don't have to adopt the 00:19:25.710 --> 00:19:29.509 same target audience that Danielle has. If you 00:19:29.509 --> 00:19:31.950 just want to sell a whole bunch of quantity, 00:19:32.289 --> 00:19:36.410 cheap or for whatever reason, you know, for food 00:19:36.410 --> 00:19:38.990 for cows or something, you're looking at a whole 00:19:38.990 --> 00:19:42.039 different target. Danielle, I think, is saying, 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.200 hey, I want to be able to get a good price for 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.359 my honey. And so it's going to take this kind 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:50.660 of a target. Correct. It's going to take people 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:54.339 that can afford it and can appreciate the quality. 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:59.059 And therefore, now comes your design and packaging. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:01.859 Does it look cheap or does it look upper end? 00:20:02.409 --> 00:20:05.490 Correct. And so there's nothing wrong with selling 00:20:05.490 --> 00:20:08.890 your honey in a plastic teddy bear. That absolutely 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:11.529 markets to a target audience. If you want to 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:13.990 sit at a farmer's market, which by the way, the 00:20:13.990 --> 00:20:16.410 honey truck is at a farmer's market, it kind 00:20:16.410 --> 00:20:18.730 of depends on the farmer's market in your location. 00:20:18.970 --> 00:20:21.390 Is it considered a farmer's market or is it a 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:23.049 flea market? You know, like I can tell you right 00:20:23.049 --> 00:20:24.930 now, honey truck would not be at a flea market. 00:20:25.109 --> 00:20:27.170 There's nothing wrong with flea markets, but 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:30.650 that's not my target audience. And so I also, 00:20:30.650 --> 00:20:33.930 you know, you said sell cheap honey. Let's all 00:20:33.930 --> 00:20:36.730 raise the bar when it comes to selling our honey. 00:20:36.890 --> 00:20:38.710 You know, like I talk to beekeepers all the time 00:20:38.710 --> 00:20:41.609 and they undervalue the resource that they're 00:20:41.609 --> 00:20:47.119 selling. You spend all year working towards Harvest 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:50.180 season and then we're just gonna sell it for 00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:52.420 pennies on the dollar like nose take a step back 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:54.220 How much does that jar cost you? How much did 00:20:54.220 --> 00:20:56.759 that lid cost you? How much did that label cost 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:58.940 you if you put it on there? how much are you 00:20:58.940 --> 00:21:00.859 paying yourself per hour and figure out what 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:04.180 it is per case and factor it into the cost of 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:07.220 your honey because you deserve to get paid and 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:09.500 Take it with a grain of salt because I did not 00:21:09.500 --> 00:21:12.319 pay myself when I started out You know like we've 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.180 all been there where you're just like oh, it's 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:18.220 okay. It's fine, but Start pricing your honey 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:20.880 the way it should be priced early on because 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.920 that sets the standard for moving forward You 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:27.039 know like it it kind of sucks to tell your Clients. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.640 Oh, hey, I had to raise the jar by the jar price 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.140 by five dollars because whoopsies. I was way 00:21:32.140 --> 00:21:35.400 undervalued I could not agree more. Thank you. 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.299 You are so preaching to the choir here I have 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:42.180 been to farmers markets not me selling but me 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:45.750 wandering around I'll run into a beekeeper and 00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:50.250 I will see a pint glass jar of honey with a nice 00:21:50.250 --> 00:21:57.269 label on it priced at $9 .99 or $11. I just nicely 00:21:57.269 --> 00:22:01.589 pull them aside and say stop it put $20 on that 00:22:01.589 --> 00:22:04.809 or something so that you're getting paid because 00:22:04.809 --> 00:22:08.789 the more people undervalue their product the 00:22:08.789 --> 00:22:11.009 more everybody else feels like they have to. 00:22:11.170 --> 00:22:14.319 I've had some people A couple people, when I 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:16.880 told them that, they said, well, but over there 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:19.319 at the other end, there's another beekeeper selling 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.759 theirs for $10. So how can I sell mine for $15 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:26.519 or $20? Listen, we as beekeepers need to be a 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:28.319 lot less offended when people ask us questions 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:32.140 because the number one question that I also, 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:34.619 not number one, but a frequent question that 00:22:34.619 --> 00:22:37.769 I'm asked is, why is your honey so expensive? 00:22:37.869 --> 00:22:40.549 And I say, that's a great question, because guess 00:22:40.549 --> 00:22:42.230 what? That gives me an open door to talk about 00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:45.049 how great my honey is and all of the certifications 00:22:45.049 --> 00:22:47.410 that I hold. Great question. I'm so glad you 00:22:47.410 --> 00:22:50.369 asked. Well, for starters, honey truck is regulated 00:22:50.369 --> 00:22:52.250 by the State Department, which means that we're 00:22:52.250 --> 00:22:54.509 subject to annual inspections that we have to 00:22:54.509 --> 00:23:02.730 pass. We're regulated by FDACs. And so we bottle 00:23:02.730 --> 00:23:05.869 our honey in a food grade facility. Secondly, 00:23:06.730 --> 00:23:08.690 our honey is labeled. Look at this beautiful 00:23:08.690 --> 00:23:11.049 label. There is a lot of information that goes 00:23:11.049 --> 00:23:13.069 into this jar of honey. It tells you nutrition 00:23:13.069 --> 00:23:16.049 facts, tells you where it was bottled, it tells 00:23:16.049 --> 00:23:17.930 you about the business, it tells you everything. 00:23:18.450 --> 00:23:21.829 It's got a metal lid enclosure. It is in a glass 00:23:21.829 --> 00:23:25.369 jar. It has a safety seal so that my clients 00:23:25.369 --> 00:23:27.430 don't just walk up and pop the lids and start 00:23:27.430 --> 00:23:30.029 smelling or tasting honey. There's a lot of things 00:23:30.029 --> 00:23:33.509 that go into that. Also, I have liability insurance. 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:35.829 So if you come to the truck and you trip and 00:23:35.829 --> 00:23:39.329 fall, I have to pay for liability insurance somehow. 00:23:39.549 --> 00:23:43.880 Like that is why that jar of honey is so much 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.000 more expensive than the jar down the street. 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:49.240 Can that person tell you that they bottled that 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:52.299 in a commercial kitchen? Or are they bottling 00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:55.019 it in their kitchen? Again, nothing wrong with 00:23:55.019 --> 00:23:57.799 that. That is exactly where I started out. But 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:01.480 if you're asking me comparatively myself to, 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:04.880 you know, John's Bees down the road, this is 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.700 what sets Honey Truck apart. This is why my honey 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:11.420 is that much more expensive. And figure out what 00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:16.309 your story is. because it might be, wow my bees 00:24:16.309 --> 00:24:20.529 are kept off in the middle of nowhere which means 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:25.289 it's organic or whatever it is. Like where I 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:28.230 am, our fall honey is completely different than 00:24:28.230 --> 00:24:31.109 our spring honey kind of tastes like everybody 00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:34.970 else's honey. Our fall honey is incredible because 00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:41.130 our bees are foraging on mint and sage and sunflowers. 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:43.680 To me, it's the best honey in the world, and 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:45.720 I don't mind telling people that. You're going 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:47.960 to pay more because this is the world's best 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:51.339 honey. Put it on your pizza. Mix it with cheese. 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:54.880 I mean, pair it with cheese. Find out how you 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:58.460 love to use this and give them suggestions. The 00:24:58.460 --> 00:25:01.359 next time you're doing a charcuterie board, put 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:04.859 this with such and such and such and such. And 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:07.460 all of a sudden they're going, oh, that is worth 00:25:07.460 --> 00:25:11.460 paying more for. OK, let's move on. Let's talk 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.640 about wholesale, because you wholesale too. Tell 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:17.960 us about that market. As we talked about earlier, 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:22.019 part of my wholesale strategy is identifying 00:25:22.019 --> 00:25:25.839 businesses that are already marketing to my target 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:30.119 audience. So when I make a cold call, I generally 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.680 will go online, Google specifically, and I will 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:37.400 search specific businesses, gift shops, butcher 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:41.289 shops, anything in this area. And then I will 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:43.430 click on their Google listing and I'll look at 00:25:43.430 --> 00:25:45.369 the photos of their shop. I'll look at the reviews 00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:47.930 people are saying. And I immediately know, yes, 00:25:48.269 --> 00:25:50.490 this is my target audience. I know they're shopping 00:25:50.490 --> 00:25:52.670 here. So I will pick up the phone and I will 00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:54.390 say, hey, my name is Danielle. Do you have a 00:25:54.390 --> 00:25:56.650 moment to talk? I'm a beekeeper. I sell honey. 00:25:57.679 --> 00:25:59.859 And generally, that's enough to get my foot in 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:02.279 the door. If it's not a convenient time to talk, 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:04.099 I always try and get the contact information 00:26:04.099 --> 00:26:06.279 of somebody that I can talk to at a later time. 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:09.880 And then I try and schedule a pop -in. Hey, I 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:12.900 want to get samples directly in your hands. When 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:14.640 would be a good time to stop by? Because these 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:17.500 people are busy, so. Stopping by unannounced 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:20.240 to do a sales call is kind of inconvenient for 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.799 them and can be an annoyance. And I want that 00:26:23.799 --> 00:26:25.880 business to know that when you partner with Honey 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:28.140 Truck, we're going to take care of you. You don't 00:26:28.140 --> 00:26:30.220 have to worry about us as a wholesale partner. 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:35.000 We do things professionally. We pride ourselves 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:37.519 on the systems that we've set up when it comes 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:40.380 to wholesale. And having that brand already established 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:43.430 really, really helps. It does. And like you and 00:26:43.430 --> 00:26:45.430 I talked about, you know, what's your cost of 00:26:45.430 --> 00:26:47.690 honey? A lot of people don't consider that when 00:26:47.690 --> 00:26:49.170 they price their honey. They say, oh, I'm just 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:51.470 selling it at the farmers market, which is exactly 00:26:51.470 --> 00:26:54.769 how I started out until a local coffee shop came 00:26:54.769 --> 00:26:56.990 to me and she said, hey, we would love to sell 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:00.029 your honey in our store. Now where I'm at in 00:27:00.029 --> 00:27:03.049 Florida, I no longer fell under cottage food 00:27:03.049 --> 00:27:05.990 law. I had to go through commercial licensing 00:27:05.990 --> 00:27:08.970 and I didn't have the facility that I have now. 00:27:09.109 --> 00:27:12.619 So what that looks like for me, meant going to 00:27:12.619 --> 00:27:15.720 a local bakery, Crème de la Coco. They were incredibly 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:19.059 generous and they are closed on Sundays and Mondays. 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:21.480 And I asked them if I could go in when they're 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:23.960 closed to use their kitchen to bottle my honey 00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:26.240 to be able to sell over somebody's counter. It 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:28.200 was great. It was a great partnership and that 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:31.440 opened up a lot of doors for me and can be a 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:33.140 good way for you to get your foot in the door 00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:34.400 if you're listening to this and you're like, 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.740 I can't afford a kitchen. Like go to the businesses 00:27:36.740 --> 00:27:39.099 that you know that are closed that have commercial 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:42.200 kitchens and see if you can. bottle your honey 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:44.579 there. But that being said, you know, like you 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:47.559 have to consider if you wholesale your product 00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:51.059 and you're only selling it for $10 a jar, if 00:27:51.059 --> 00:27:56.240 at the end, the end consumer is paying $10, traditionally, 00:27:57.660 --> 00:28:00.819 your wholesale client is paying you five. So 00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:03.240 how much are you realistically making out of 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:06.119 that $5? I mean, I can tell you right now, because 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:09.859 you're not buying your jars in bulk. From a glass 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:12.160 manufacturer, you're either working with a distributor 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.160 or somebody else. You're paying a premium for 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:16.400 that bottle. You're going to pay premium for 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.500 that lid. You're going to pay premium for that 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:21.619 label. And all of that's going to eat away. And 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:24.279 suddenly you realize, oh crap, I can't sell this 00:28:24.279 --> 00:28:26.700 jar of honey wholesale for $5 because I'm only 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:29.480 making 20 cents a jar. How often should people 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:32.819 take a step back and look at their little business 00:28:32.819 --> 00:28:36.200 and say, here's where I'm making money. Here's 00:28:36.200 --> 00:28:39.619 where I'm not making money. and let's figure 00:28:39.619 --> 00:28:42.619 this whole thing out. Let's fix it. Probably 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:46.519 do that multiple times a year. My biggest time 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.240 that I do that is traditionally in January for 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:51.539 my business. That's when I'm the slowest. It's 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:55.599 after the holiday Christmas season and I will 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:58.480 sit back and run all of the numbers. How much 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:01.839 of every item did I sell? What were my lowest 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:05.500 performing items? Do I like them? Because I'm 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:06.940 the business owner. I'm the one that's got to 00:29:06.940 --> 00:29:09.019 do all the work. I'm the one that's got to, you 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:11.079 know, rep the brand, so to speak. And so if I 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:13.220 don't like that product and it's not worth my 00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:15.720 hassle trying to reorder it every year, it's 00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.779 off if it's not making me money. You know, like 00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:19.440 at the end of the day, this is a business that 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:22.180 it has to operate like a business. And so I think 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:26.700 analyzing your numbers on a regular basis, I'm 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:30.200 the world. is changing at such a rapid rate right 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:32.279 now. If you don't know what you're paying for 00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:34.160 your materials, you're going to sink your ship. 00:29:34.579 --> 00:29:36.859 So you have to be able to know your numbers like 00:29:36.859 --> 00:29:39.460 the back of your hand before you walk into a 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:41.839 negotiation on a wholesale price, especially 00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:44.539 for a grocery store that's got 10 locations. 00:29:45.220 --> 00:29:47.099 Publix has never been the dream of Honey Truck, 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:49.759 but if I were to work with a Williams Sonoma 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:52.180 that has multiple locations all over the United 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:55.059 States, need to know what my numbers are going 00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:57.079 into that negotiation or else I'm gonna shoot 00:29:57.079 --> 00:29:59.099 myself in the foot saying oh crap I should have 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:02.319 charged more Because I'm losing money on this 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:04.980 deal, you know, like I can't express the importance 00:30:04.980 --> 00:30:08.140 enough for people to Understand what their margins 00:30:08.140 --> 00:30:12.279 are and on each product Correct. It does vary 00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:15.460 so many beekeepers feel like they have to sell 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:20.180 honey and lip balm and some kind of lotion and 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.339 Do you have to sell everything to make money? 00:30:25.299 --> 00:30:27.680 No, that's what makes every business different. 00:30:27.940 --> 00:30:31.460 Honey truck very much sells honey. I love honey 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:34.920 and we're kind of known now for our infused honeys, 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.259 which I love. You know, I tell people we don't 00:30:37.259 --> 00:30:39.279 we don't use essential oils or anything. We're 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.380 using dried ingredients. We try and keep it not 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:45.759 try. We do keep it as raw and natural as possible. 00:30:45.980 --> 00:30:47.859 And so we do a data. I'm looking over now at 00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:50.900 our We do a daddle honey where we dry our daddles. 00:30:51.539 --> 00:30:53.380 We crush them up. We throw it in the honey. We 00:30:53.380 --> 00:30:55.700 have a lavender honey. We use dried lavender 00:30:55.700 --> 00:31:00.029 leaves. We do have a bourbon honey. People love 00:31:00.029 --> 00:31:04.170 it. It's a great product, but those jars are 00:31:04.170 --> 00:31:07.130 different jars, meaning they're different sizes. 00:31:07.509 --> 00:31:09.049 There's a different amount of honey that goes 00:31:09.049 --> 00:31:11.329 into every single one of those. The label itself 00:31:11.329 --> 00:31:14.289 is a different size. To distinguish our bourbon 00:31:14.289 --> 00:31:17.809 from our daddle, the bourbon label is a slightly 00:31:17.809 --> 00:31:20.309 metallic, non -see -through label, so I do know 00:31:20.309 --> 00:31:22.849 that I pay more of a premium for that label versus 00:31:22.849 --> 00:31:26.009 the clear label that is on the French square 00:31:26.009 --> 00:31:29.700 jar. So it really is important to know the numbers 00:31:29.700 --> 00:31:31.519 on everything. I have an Excel spreadsheet that 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:34.339 I could pull up right now and say, this is as 00:31:34.339 --> 00:31:36.420 of, you know, three months ago when I ran all 00:31:36.420 --> 00:31:39.539 of my numbers, my bare minimum, it cost me X 00:31:39.539 --> 00:31:42.980 to make these products. So on your infused honeys, 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:46.759 which are the big sellers? I'm in St. Augustine 00:31:46.759 --> 00:31:50.539 and we are known for the Dattle Pepper. And so 00:31:50.539 --> 00:31:52.960 I would say that the Dattle is probably one of 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:57.740 our more popular products. And then very closely 00:31:57.740 --> 00:32:01.059 second or if not eclipsing it now is probably 00:32:01.059 --> 00:32:04.180 our bourbon honey. People love putting it on 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:07.279 ice cream, mixing it into a simple syrup, putting 00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:10.299 it in a cocktail. putting it over some ribs. 00:32:11.019 --> 00:32:13.519 And then seasonally, we release a holiday honey 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:17.539 every year, which has cinnamon, clove, orange 00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:20.299 peel, just an array of different spices that 00:32:20.299 --> 00:32:23.079 we put into the holiday mix. I like to say it's 00:32:23.079 --> 00:32:24.839 like Florida Christmas. It's like sunshine in 00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:27.240 a bottle. We sell that from the last weekend 00:32:27.240 --> 00:32:30.099 of September through the end of the year in port 00:32:30.099 --> 00:32:32.640 until we sell out. Obviously, the goal is to 00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:34.400 sell out every single year. It's not something 00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.059 that people get year round. I even have friends 00:32:37.059 --> 00:32:38.960 who will text me and be like, hey, I know you 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:40.359 say you're sold out of holiday honey, but do 00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:43.640 you have a jar for me? And I'm like, no, no, 00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:46.640 it's it's all gone. But I would say seasonally 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:48.680 speaking, that one is probably our most popular. 00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:51.359 The fact that it sells all the way out. People 00:32:51.359 --> 00:32:54.099 want it all the much more, don't they? So do 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:56.079 you find if you were to pull up your spreadsheet 00:32:56.079 --> 00:32:59.220 that you have a bigger profit margin on infused 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:02.829 honeys than regular plain honey? Honestly, The 00:33:02.829 --> 00:33:05.490 greatest margins I have on things have everything 00:33:05.490 --> 00:33:07.710 to do with the bottles that they're going in. 00:33:07.930 --> 00:33:09.690 The size of the bottle, the type of the bottle. 00:33:10.029 --> 00:33:12.869 When I first started, most things, if you go 00:33:12.869 --> 00:33:16.069 to the sauce aisle, everything's in round jars. 00:33:16.670 --> 00:33:18.849 And I never stopped to consider why is it in 00:33:18.849 --> 00:33:21.809 a round jar. And that's because all manufacturing 00:33:21.809 --> 00:33:25.269 equipment, the predominant amount of it is designed 00:33:25.269 --> 00:33:29.200 to run round jars. So to go back in time when 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:31.799 I'm at creme de la coco bottling my honey out 00:33:31.799 --> 00:33:34.160 of a five gallon bucket with a spigot going like 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:38.380 this over and over again I could not bottle honey 00:33:38.380 --> 00:33:42.140 enough honey to maintain my accounts in the amount 00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:46.079 of time that I had at that business so what that 00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:49.579 told me was I needed to bottle honey faster so 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:53.920 I went to ABF the ABF conference and there was 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:57.259 a rep from Lega beekeeping supply over in Italy. 00:33:57.700 --> 00:34:01.480 And they had a beautiful bottling machine and 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:03.680 it had the table that went around and it put 00:34:03.680 --> 00:34:06.460 honey in and it was it was amazing. And I fell 00:34:06.460 --> 00:34:10.119 in love. And even then I didn't have the money 00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:12.420 needed to purchase the equipment. So I actually 00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:15.300 asked my parents for the money. I borrowed money 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:18.159 and which I did pay back, by the way. But I bought 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:20.960 my bottler and I was able to be more efficient 00:34:20.960 --> 00:34:22.760 with the time that I had in that commercial kitchen. 00:34:23.019 --> 00:34:27.099 And that decision changed the entire trajectory 00:34:27.099 --> 00:34:30.059 of Honey Truck. Rather than going through somebody 00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:32.340 who could white label my honey, meaning I'm going 00:34:32.340 --> 00:34:34.880 to another business that's going to put honey 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:38.059 in jars and labels and lids for me, I'm now doing 00:34:38.059 --> 00:34:42.639 that myself. And so over time I've become, I've 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:45.199 added more and more equipment. All that to say, 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.099 that equipment is designed to run round jars 00:34:48.099 --> 00:34:51.380 and I picked a French square jar, which does 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:54.150 not play nicely with any of that equipment. So 00:34:54.150 --> 00:34:57.949 I have spent countless years, blood, sweat, and 00:34:57.949 --> 00:35:01.090 tears trying to get the equipment to work with 00:35:01.090 --> 00:35:04.030 my jars, which I do now. It all works and it's 00:35:04.030 --> 00:35:06.989 working super great. But consider that when you 00:35:06.989 --> 00:35:08.909 are trying to scale your business and you're 00:35:08.909 --> 00:35:11.269 trying, if you are considering manufacturing, 00:35:11.389 --> 00:35:13.289 it's a strong word for putting honey in a bottle, 00:35:13.369 --> 00:35:16.269 but consider those things before you make your 00:35:16.269 --> 00:35:18.530 final choices on your jars and whatnot. You could 00:35:18.530 --> 00:35:21.309 switch jars if you had to, but you don't have 00:35:21.309 --> 00:35:25.329 to. So you get to stick out. I've made my bed 00:35:25.329 --> 00:35:28.329 with the French square jar. I'm now married to 00:35:28.329 --> 00:35:31.010 it. And I do think, going back to brand identity, 00:35:31.210 --> 00:35:34.030 I do think that it is important to the ethos 00:35:34.030 --> 00:35:37.110 of honey trick. I've spent countless years watching 00:35:37.110 --> 00:35:39.309 people, sitting in a farmer's market, watching 00:35:39.309 --> 00:35:42.590 people interact with my honey. As soon as they 00:35:42.590 --> 00:35:45.750 pick up a jar, it fits nicely in their hands. 00:35:45.849 --> 00:35:48.710 They like that it's glass. As soon as they pick 00:35:48.710 --> 00:35:51.309 it up, they don't put it down. So when I'm working 00:35:51.309 --> 00:35:53.650 a farmer's market, my goal is to get a jar of 00:35:53.650 --> 00:35:55.949 honey into that consumer's hands because I know 00:35:55.949 --> 00:35:57.309 they're not going to put it down. They're going 00:35:57.309 --> 00:35:59.389 to want to buy it, and that's going to generate 00:35:59.389 --> 00:36:03.690 a sale. And so for me, I hang my hat, so to speak, 00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:06.389 on the French square jar. It's part of our identity 00:36:06.389 --> 00:36:08.369 as the honey truck. I love it. We're learning 00:36:08.369 --> 00:36:14.139 a lot here. Thanks again for joining us on Be 00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:17.699 Love Beekeeping presented by Man Lake. Next week 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:20.019 we'll wrap up our conversation with Danielle 00:36:20.019 --> 00:36:23.219 and learn even more about making money with honey. 00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:26.539 Plus we're gonna enjoy her wild and crazy beekeeping 00:36:26.539 --> 00:36:29.820 story. And another big thank you goes to Vita 00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:33.059 Bee Health for their support. Vita's Varroa Control 00:36:33.059 --> 00:36:36.760 range of products includes Epistan, Epigard and 00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:41.599 now Varroxan. Extended Release Oxalic Acid Strips. 00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:44.380 Hey, thank you so much guys. And if you haven't 00:36:44.380 --> 00:36:47.119 yet, please subscribe to and follow the show. 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:49.679 Tell your friends about it. Click on over to 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:52.179 Be Love Beekeeping dot com to sign up for our 00:36:52.179 --> 00:36:55.239 newsletter. If you have a guest suggestion or 00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:57.460 topic you'd like discussed on the show, shoot 00:36:57.460 --> 00:37:00.699 me an email. Eric at Be Love Beekeeping dot com. 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:03.519 And remember, if you're not just in it for the 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:06.019 honey or the money, you're in it for the love. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:07.199 See you next week.