Bulk Honey in Orange County, CA?

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ReadMead

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 28, 2014
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Hello Everyone,

Just joined the site and I am learning so much! I've been brewing all grain beer for roughly 3 years, and just recently had my first mead. It was a melomel from moonlight meadery that blew my mind! Now I want to try making my own.

So my question is, does anyone know of a good supplier for bulk honey in the OC or nearby? I am looking for 1- 60lb pail of orange blossom to use as a base honey.

My only find so far has been from "Dutch Gold" honeys in PA, but shipping on 60lbs is like $70!!!

Thanks in adavance!
 
It looks like all the places I got honey a couple of years ago have gone insanely expensive on their prices. Check out Costco; they source their Kirkland Signature clover honey directly from the beekeepers, so the costs are kept quite low, and the quality is great. Glorybee foods out of Oregon used to be my go-to source, but it doesn't look like they even sell the 40lb pails I used to get from them. Could be wrong...

I thought there was a miller or millers honey out of California a couple years ago as well, but a quick search turned up the same dutch gold site you mentioned.
 
Thanks for the advice on the costco honey. Can't believe how hard it is to source this stuff. I called Millers, and I guess they shut down there California locatation. All that's left is their location in Utah, and same issue - really expensive shipping, and $200 bucks for a 60lb pail.

Where the heck is everyone in California getting their honey?!?
 
One more question Icedmetal...

Does an all clover base work well in a melomel? I'm thinking of doing a BOMM blueberry melomel with it.

How about with a taditional? I thought I had read somewhere on her that it had a stronger flavor and was used better in smaller amounts.
 
With a melomel you're not going to be able to tell what kind of varietal the honey was anyway, unless it's a really strong varietal like buckwheat. So clover honey works fine for a melomel, but don't be surprised if you can't pick out the same notes as you could from the honey. On a traditional, it really depends on what you're trying to make. You could use something mild as a base, then add a few pounds of a strong varietal, or go straight strong varietal, assuming you like the flavor of the honey.
 
For bulk honey you may try contacting morebeer and see where they source their honey from.


Sent from my Motorola DynaTAC 8000X using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the reminder about the honey locator :) I sent email to every local producer in Washington state, we'll see who has what and I'll start planning a roadtrip or two!
 
I found a company selling raw honey, but they aren't the producers, only resellers. But hey, their prices are amazing... https://www.azurestandard.com/

I picked up 5 gallons of OB and 5 gallons of mint. I haven't tasted the OB yet, but tried the mint last night. Very good stuff! And at ~$2.75/lb, you can't really go wrong with a raw honey... The OB was about $1 more per lb, and they carry wildflower and clover as well. They do drop-shipping to my area, so I didn't incur any shipping fees at all. SWEET! Yay, puns.
 
The OB came in a 5 gallon bucket, the mint in 1 gallon wide mouth containers. Neither of which is big enough for my ferments; I need headspace on my 5 gallon batches, and I don't bother with 1 gallon batches... if it's good, I just won't have enough ;)

Not sure what I'll do with the extra 5 gallon buckets, but I'll probably recycle the 1 gallon containers after they've sat around awhile and I don't find a use for them. I suppose I could hold onto them for future bulk honey storage, I do have a couple hives of my own after all.
 
Two hives, and it varies greatly by the year. 70lbs from a single hive one year, 50lbs from two hives the next. Looking good so far this year...
 
I found some great prices at azure, but shopping to vsncouver would have cost me 55+ making it cheaper to just buy locally


Sent from The Age of Legends, trapped inside a Stasis Box
 
I get my honey from Bennett, they are in Fillmore off the 126. Mr. Bennett no longer owns the farm, and their prices are creeping up higher. I used to pay around $10 per 3 pound container, now it's $15. $50 for a 1 gallon pail which I think is extreme, but there isn't any other place around that I know of.