Wednesday, August 14, 2019

The Way We Were Wednesday - Honey Prices

As I have mentioned I was raised on a Funny Farm, make that a Honey Farm.  In about 1974 there was a world honey shortage and the wholesale price of honey went up from 10-15-cents per pound, to 21-cents per pound.  Beekeepers thought they were getting rich, even my normally conservative father splurged a little that year.  About that time my grandfather retired and my mother and I took over running the processing plant.  We decided to offer retail sales - something my grandfather had resisted as it distracted him from his work.  As I recall we set a retail price in your containers of 50-cents a pound.  When comb honey came in I priced it $1 per section and my father protested that it would never sell at that price.  It did- we sold out.  The next year it was $1.50, then $2.50.  In the Pike Place Market in Seattle, I came across a display of nice cut comb, those are 12 to 16 ounce sections, and the price is $25.00.  I have produced that stuff, it is a lot of work, it is a good product.  That is a lot of money.  I can only imagine my father's reaction, if he was still alive I would print this picture out to show him. He'd probably say, nice looking stuff, I hope you didn't bring me any at that price. 

Have you ever produced an agricultural product? 

9 comments:

  1. spouse has cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, and cukes growing right now. and honey prices will continue to climb as the honeybees go extinct.

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    1. I love fresh tomatoes, nothing tastes the same as fresh off the plant, warm in the garden.

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  2. Honey is one of the true wonders of the world.

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  3. Nope. I've produced the after product of an agricultural product or two. Doesn't count. My neighbor brought me over some home grown tomatoes yesterday. As a rule, I don't care for tomatoes, but hers are terrific! They're so sweet. Who cares that she used them as a ruse to satisfy her nos...uh curiosity about why two of my vehicles are no longer in front of the house. At least she didn't bring that horrendous zucchini again!
    As a kid, I grew up with a grapevine and six avocado trees in the yard. I didn't produce anything, just ate them. Daddy made wine. The fermenting process was gross!

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    1. I was speaking at a Baptist church one day, one of the woman said, I made a terrible mistake, I left my car unlocked the other day, oh you didn't, how bad, three bushels of zucchini were left in my car before I got back.

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    2. BLURRRRRGGGGHHHH!! Funny, I don't mind zucchini bread, but it's to stinkin' hot to bake right now.

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  4. I use honey every day instead of sugar in my tea and coffee. I was just reading that one of the health benefits are the digestive enzymes in it.

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    1. My father and grandfather would approve

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  5. Never. But I LOVE honey and, when I was a kid, we thought honeycombs were so exotic... well quaintly cool.

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