Key Center Washington
Bulk Food Buying Cooperative
June 2007 Featured Item: HONEY
CURRENT PRICES WE HAVE FOUND SO FAR:
(I have tried to show the per pound price of each one so we can compare prices
.... Please check my math and correct me if I have made a mistake)
(This Costco honey is the best price we have found so far on GRADE A liquid
honey and is what we are recommending you buy if you want to store GRADE A liquid
honey. You can just go pick it up yourself. If you do not have a Costco membership,
email us and we will arrange to go with you so you can cash in on this very
low price. (If you want to join with the Gig Harbor co-op in buying RAW honey,
see instructions and pricing below).
I found this price for Grade A honey in the Everett Costco store. I have not
looked in Tacoma or Silverdale stores, but I assume they would have it too.
(They don't have much left in the Everett store because I bought it all.......
Cordell)
Costco.com
Silver Bow Grade A liquid honey from Moses, Lake WA.
It comes in 6 pound plastic containers for $7.99. (That is $1.23 per pound)
A 6 pound plastic container is just about the same size as a 1 quart plastic
milk jug.
(Because you can pick it up yourself, that will eliminate the delivery charge
you would have to pay with the online stores listed below)
Here is the Silver Bow honey from Costco in the 6 pound container. I sat it
beside a 1 gal milk jug so you can judge how much honey 6 pounds would be. On
the other side of the milk carton is the honey we bought last time in 6 pound
honey container of a different shape.
If you are worried about having such a big container, just save a syrup or molasses
glass jar to serve it from. You can refill it with a funnel. It is best to put
in a glass jar so you can heat it a little in the microwave if it crystallizes.
If you put a plastic container in the microwave, the hot honey can melt the
plastic.
Just as a point of interest, note the date on the top of the left honey container
above. We purchased that honey in Utah in 1993.
It has just been sitting on our shelf in the garage for all those years, even
in the hot summer. 1993 to 2007 would be 14 years this October. We decided to
start eating it this year to rotate it. It has crystallized, but we just put
the crystallized honey in a smaller glass bottle and heat it for a minute or
two in the microwave and it tastes just as good as it did when we bought it.
HONEY IS AN AMAZING THING TO STORE!
So we bought what we felt was a year supply of honey this week at COSTCO (60
pounds per person)
Then we wrote on the lid, where we got it, how much we paid (I wish we would
have done that on the line in 1993
so we would remember now how much the honey
was back then) and the date we bought it. I like to write it on the lid.
Then we put them in plastic bags so there will be no light on them and no ants can get in. (I WRITE ON THE BAG TOO)
Now they are ready to go on the shelf for 15 more years.
We have 7 of these metal cabinets in our garage for food storage. We bought
them at DI for $15 each. It keeps the mice out of the packaged food and makes
a wonderful way to organize everything.
You are kidding me. You actually put your car in your garage! REALLY!!! WOW!!!
I have never seen a car in our garage! Ummmm....
Here is a note from Cathryn Farr about RAW HONEY:
Cordell,
Thank you for all the time and effort you have put in to the honey information.
I will explain what I know about the different types of honey:
Grade A honey is processed. It has been heated up and “pasteurized”
, it has been strained and then made liquid for easier handling by the producer.
Raw honey has never been heated higher than 72 degrees, just barely warm enough
to work with but not too warm to kill the live enzymes which make it such a
valuable food. Many places I have researched use this type of honey medicinally
and I personally have used it with good results. Raw honey is an antibiotic
and aids in healing, plus a lot of other great things that make it worth the
higher price. Check out the site reallyrawhoney.com for more information. That
honey is VERY expensive and I do have a bit I am keeping for medicinal purposes,
yet for bulk buying I am happy with the raw. Yet I am aware that for many, just
having ANY honey will be good, and the price point for the Grade A will attract
many.
As for the term “white” I had never heard of that either but it was exactly what I found on the Walton site:
P008-Honey-Creamy whipped 6 5# pails $60.15 + Shipping
P009-Honey-Grade A White liquid 6 5# pails $58.10 + Shipping
From Walton's home page, I went to shopping cart, then to “honey”
and this is what they had listed.
I also found on Goggle last night a site that listed white honey as an opt ion
...
So like I said, I’m not familiar with what “white” honey
is either, but this is great to share information.
The next thing I’d like to do is to price local honey by getting the name
and phone # off jars sold in Whole foods and “The Farm” and see
if we can get good prices locally.
Thanks for your help, I hope you get plenty of responses to join your e-mail group,
Cathryn Farr
Cordell,
I was wondering if you were familiar with this company. Their honey in bulk
amounts is about $100.00 for 60lbs. This email has been sent to you by a friend.
If you would like to view the product they have referred you to, please click
the link below.
http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=484
Just to let you know, the shipping costs are $4.49, no matter what size the
order is. I'm not sure how they do it so cheap. I got 60 lbs. of honey and 100
lbs. of wheat for a total of $4.49 shipping. I haven't found that anywhere else.
By the way, thanks for volunteering to do this. I'm sure it will help a lot
of people :o)
Wendy Goodfellow
(Thanks Wendy..... That is a good price for an online company at $1.85 per
pound plus shipping... Cv)
I had 1000's of blossoms on my plum tree this year
but no bees came so now I have no plums. Same story on my pears but I do have
apples so apparently they don't need bees ??:
FURTHER INFORMAITON ABOUT WITH SOME SOURCES FOR THE INFORMATION VERIFYING MY EXPERIENCES AS A BEE KEEPER
~~~~~~~~ When I had my own bees after the first queen died, the new queen was quite mean and then the bees chased me when I mowed the lawn after the old queen died and they became mean from the aggressive temperament of the new queen~~~~~
SOURCE: http://cals.arizona.edu/urbanipm/insects/bees/honeybees.html
Bees do respond quickly to any disturbance of their brood area, including loud
noises like lawn mowers, fast movements nearby or scents like perfumes or cologne
~~~~~ Using smoke is how I was able to open the hive at first with out a veil
or gloves with the calm bees but after the queen died, the mean bees were too
aggressive even with smoke to do that~~~~~~~~
SOURCE: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/dpi/nreninf.nsf/LinkView/9C0349CA4DD63137CA257147000CE1CD26181E79F5B05B3F4A256DEA0027399A
Smoke stimulates bees to gorge honey or nectar, temporarily disrupting the
defensive behavior of the colony and making the bees easier to handle.
~~~~~ When the queen gets too aggressive, so do the bees, so the commercial
bee keepers kill the queen and get a calmer one and then the bees are not aggressive
~~~~~~~
SOURCES:
http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm
http://bushfarms.com/beesrequeeninghot.htm
A really vicious hive is in great need of requeening. Queens can live for as
long as five years but most commercial beekeepers replace them every two years"
(and often yearly). This is done for numerous reasons that all boil down to
exerting control over the hive. For example, it is done to prevent swarming,
aggression, mite infestation, and to keep honey production at a maximum.
~~~~~~ The queen bee is much larger than normal bees ~~~~~~~
SOURCE OF PICTURE: http://www.harunyahya.com/kids/honeybee.php
~~~~~~~~ Organic bees are kept miles away from sprayed trees ~~~~~~~~
SOURCES:
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/08ACE33C-92D4-4F58-B0F0-6BA5F2410FCA
www.care2.com/news/member/204426917/393884
http://meaniegreenie.blogspot.com/2007/05/organic-bees-are-not-dying.html
www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=21912
Worker bees can fly as far as 5 miles to fields and orchards. With all the
round trips they make, worker bees may travel up to 50 miles (80 km) per day
to search for flowers, the source of the nectar and pollen they depend upon
for food. Organic bees are kept at least 10 miles from any fields or orchards
that have been sprayed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bee keepers are making bees larger by changing the size of the
cell on the foundation they use in the hive where the bees build the honey comb
~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE: http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=21912
The foundation in common usage results in much larger bees than what you would
find in a natural hive. I've measured sections of natural worker brood comb
that are 4.6mm in diameter. What most people use for worker brood is foundation
that is 5.4mm in diameter. If you translate that into three dimensions instead
of one, it produces a bee that is about half as large again as is natural. By
letting the bees build natural sized cells, I have virtually eliminated my Varroa
and Tracheal mite problems. One cause of this is shorter capping times by one
day, and shorter post-capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into
the cells, and less Varroa reproduce in the cells.
~~~~~~ Why are the commercial bees dying ~~~~~~~~~
SOURCES:
www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-bees10jun10%2C0%2C1027860.story
www.prisonplanet.com/articles/april2007/100407beesdying.htm
www.celsias.com/blog/2007/02/27/bees-dying-by-the-millions
www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9070846
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1087
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1087
Millions of bees have reportedly vanished nationwide. Some beekeepers' hives
have been unaffected, while others in the same area have lost as much as 95
percent of a colony. In some areas of the United States and Europe, up to 75%
of all the bees in a region have died. Scientists have named the phenomenon
Colony Collapse Disorder, but they have yet to determine the cause. No one knows
for sure why the commercial bees are dying or why the organic bees are not dying.
However, so far no organic bee keepers have lost any bees.
DOCUMENTATON FOR WHY
THEY MAKE GRADE A HONEY
SOURCES:
http://www.endtimesreport.com/storing_honey.html
http://www.draperbee.com/info/honey.htm
To attain and maintain that liquid state for a long shelf life in retail stores,
honey must be heated to 181 F for 24 hours
1. All honeys in containers are processed to some extent -- comb honey is the
ONLY unprocessed honey.
2. LESS PROCESSED honeys (no heat applied) have more taste but can be susceptible
to fermentation from sugar-tolerant yeasts which are always present in honey.
3. High temperatures used during processing (over 160 degrees) with filtration,
tend to reduce granulation and help improve the looks of the products, however,
natural enzymes are eliminated.
4. Straining or filtering IS NECESSARY (many different systems are in use) to
present honey at it's best. Partially granulated honey on a shelf, sells very
poorly.
5. Organic is a term that should not be used at all. Bees are nature's creatures
and can not be controlled totally by beekeepers.
6. Just find a honey that looks and tastes good to you and enjoy!
• Honey is hygroscopic and will absorb moisture, therefore all honey processing
equipment must be perfectly dry. Too much water in honey causes it to ferment.
Pasteurizing takes the moisture out of the honey. Grade A honey has been heated
so the moisture content is below 19% and filtered so there are no foreign materials
in the honey.
Water content
If the water content of honey is greater than 19% the honey is likely to ferment.
A low water content is therefore essential. Pasteurizing guarantees that the
water content will stay stable and below 19%.
HOW DO BEES FAN THE HIVE TO KEEP IT COOL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bees sit at the entrance of the hive and cool it by fanning ~~~~
SOURCE: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1139582.htm
If the air inside the hive gets too warm, some of the workers start
fanning with their wings. This draws fresh air in, which helps to cool the
hive. Other bees spread water about inside the hive, when this evaporates, it
also helps to cool the hive.
Bees use a range of methods to deal with a hot or cold hive.
They fan their wings to drive out hot air, put drops of water in the hive for
evaporative cooling, and evacuate when it's too hot.
When it gets cold they can cluster around the brood in a sphere, press their
thorax against the top of the brood cells and even generate metabolic heat by
engaging their flight muscles but not moving their wings.
Here are the worker bees are standing on the landing entrance to the hive, fanning
the hive to draw hot air out of the hive to help keep it cool
If you click on this link and then right mouse click on the green screen and
select “PLAY WITH REAL PLAYER” you can see a movie clip of the bees
fanning the hive
http://hemingwaysouthcarolina.com/movies/nasinovside.mpg
Some times when it is really hot, when they are fanning the hive, they put their
backbends up in the air like this.
These bees are sitting stationary on the landing of the hive entrance, flapping
their weeks “FANNING THE HIVE“
The 2 bees on the right are standing stationary flapping their wings full speed,
fanning the hive to cool it
~~~~~~~~~~ Scout bees do a dance on the honey comb to tell the other bees where
they found flowers nectar. Then after watching the dance, the other bees are
able to fly out to that exact location. Scientists have discovered that the
bees tell the other bees the driection by what direction they are facing on
the honey comb as they do the dance and that is in relation to where the sun
is when they bees leave the hive. They further discoverd that the scout bee
tells the other bees the distance by how many wags of it tail it does in the
dance. ~~~~~~~~
SOURCE OF PICTURE: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.agpix.com/catalog/AGPix_ScCa13/AGPix_ScCa13_0088.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.agpix.com/results.php%3Fagid%3DScCa13%26start_num%3D72&h=150&w=106&sz=32&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=pTgesgoIw3Zx9M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=68&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522bee%2Bfanning%2522%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GFRB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~