Fall Honey Sales (356) — Beekeeping Today Podcast

It's harvest season—and for many beekeepers, that means it's time to sell honey! In this week's episode, Jeff Ott and Dr. Becky Masterman dig into the rewarding (and sometimes sticky) process of marketing and selling your honey crop.

From fall festivals to farm stands, Becky shares her experiences at local events, state fairs, and new retail partnerships, including the launch of her own MastermanApiaries.com website. Jeff talks about scaling Olympia Honey Company and how local markets, branding, and customer relationships have helped him create a sustainable beekeeping business. Together, they explore the fun, challenges, and lessons learned from turning raw honey into a community connection.

The discussion also covers labeling requirements, state regulations, setting retail and wholesale prices, and leveraging AI tools to design labels, calculate pricing, and even develop marketing materials. Becky reveals how ChatGPT helped her brainstorm creative honey names and brand ideas, while Jeff explains how AI-generated mockups led to the final design for Olympia Honey's logo.

Listeners will pick up practical advice for pricing honey fairly, building repeat customers, and turning a seasonal product into a sustainable business—while avoiding the pitfalls of "free honey" and other online hiccups. Whether you sell a few jars or a few hundred, this episode will inspire you to embrace the business of bees with confidence and creativity.

Websites from the episode and others we recommend:

Honey Bee Obscura Podcast: https://honeybeeobscura.com
Project Apis m. (PAm): https://www.projectapism.org
Honey Bee Health Coalition: https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org
The National Honey Board: https://honey.com

Honey Bee Obscura Podcast: https://honeybeeobscura.com

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Betterbee is the presenting sponsor of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode!

Thanks to Bee Smart Designs as a sponsor of this podcast! Bee Smart Designs is the creator of innovative, modular and interchangeable hive systems made in the USA using recycled and American sourced materials. Bee Smart Designs - Simply better beekeeping for the modern beekeeper.

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Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about their line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: <a hre