# Self Service Honey Stand



## minz

I am looking for some suggestions before building a self-service honey stand. I am having a banner year and have flooded my normal market. My property borders a highway and I was going to put up a ‘raw local honey’ sign with an arrow, an arrow up the access road and build a cabinet that I could hang on the stand from my Cider press (since it is heavy and available). I plan on putting it in the front yard or in the driveway. I normally only sell 12 oz. bears, 1 lb. muth and 1 lb. queenline but I am thinking of making it at least big enough for Qt mason jars. I am a woodworker, not a metal worker but I do want to have a secure box for them to drop money into. I am thinking $5 for a bear and $10 for a muth just to keep from having to have people have ones. This is just below the $6.50 the famers market guys for bears and over the $8.50 for the muth (why the $0.50 I have no idea)
Suggestions?


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## WBVC

Where I live the honey would go and the money box would remain empty


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## billabell

http://stonehavenlife.com/roadside-stand-woodworking-plans/


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## Tenbears

I had a snack vending machine filled with 6 ounce, 12 ounce. and 1 pound jars, at a gas station for several years. People just put in the money and pressed a number the machine dispensed the honey. If my memory serves me correctly I got the machine at Sam's Club. I still Have the machine, the gas station closed.


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## jrhoto

I have had a self serve honey stand for about 8 years and have had very good success. Place it where it is visible and easy access.Put a metal money box with a lock. You can view mine at our poor valley bee farm face book page.

poor valley bee farm


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## minz

All good suggestions:
Janne, that is what my wife thinks as well. 
Jrhoto, that is a chicken coop, not a honey stand :lookout:. Looking for something small, nice to know that the idea is not too old fashioned to work. 
I had seen the link from Bllabell but just cannot seem to pry open my wallet to pay for a set of plans for something that simple that I will need to customize.


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## My-smokepole

What about a hive body with a lid? I know a keeper that you can leave money on the intercover.


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## minz

Adamant, very nice. I picked up small kitchen counter section, painted the front door yellow (that I got at the restore shop for $15) painting up some signs and arrows that look just like yours. I was thinking of mounting it on my cider press stand but thinking of mounting it to the side of the garage and making a slot through the siding.


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## Jennings

Ten bears: I have been thinking about a vending machine, glad to know it has been done. Any more info about it would be much appreciated.


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## FameFlower

I recommend the book "Honor Stand"... goes over the practicalities of a self-service stand and how to avoid theft. 

I am a pricing nut... please know your cost of production before pricing your product-- don't base it on what other beekeeper's are selling it for, I found most do not know their cost of production. I base my price on the cost of production in a low-average year. I still want to get paid in bad years.

The self-service stand will cost money in lumber, time, etc. Roll that into the cost of your products. Says the who thing costs $600 to building, including your labor, and you expect it to last 7 years. Then the marketing cost for the self-service stand itself is $85/year. The honey should pay for that cost.

I don't recommend selling it for less than what they are selling at farmer's market. Don't undercut yourself or your fellow beekeepers. If people are willing to pay $6.50/jar for local honey than why sell it for $5?


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## minz

FameFlower said:


> I recommend the book "Honor Stand"... goes over the practicalities of a self-service stand and how to avoid theft.
> .... are willing to pay $6.50/jar for local honey than why sell it for $5?


I was unable to find this title on line, at the library, web search or Powell’s new and used books. Do you have more info (ISBN or author)? 
My cost is less than the farmers market. I do not need a booth, workers, gas or my family’s weekend to work an honor booth. I figure by making the Charges as close to a common bill ($5 or $10) the more likely somebody would be to drop the money in the box and feel good about it. I think that they may put in a little less (say $5 rather than $6.50) but feel bad about their purchase and not return.


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## HarryVanderpool

Minz, please call the president of the Willamette Valley Beekeepers Association.
He has had a self serve stand in operation for decades.
He is listed in your OSBA directory.
He will tell you the good, bad, and the ugly!


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## Phoebee

We've visited a honey stand down in Georgia several times, and it is usually unattended. We have met the owner ... he has 1700 hives. He has maybe 20 bottles out at any time, and a small locked metal toolbox with a slot for the money. The stand is within sight of his house. There is some risk, but it is limited.

We frequent a vegetable stand that runs the same way.

A small sturdy metal toolbox with a slot cut in the top is the key. If you lack fancy tools, you can cut a slot using a drill to make a starter hole and a couple of files to turn that into a slot. Or a moto-tool and an abrasive cutoff disk would work nicely.

Most metal toolboxes have places on at least one latch for a padlock. Use that to keep the box closed and attach a chain to your honey stand.

You may get robbed, but limit your losses by limiting stock and cleaning out the box frequently. Hopefully you make up for it with sales you would have missed, and repeat business. If this is in sight of your residence, thieves may think twice. A dummy video camera may help. A real one may help even more. Game cameras are cheap and make very sharp photos when motion is detected.


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## minz

Thanks Harry, I gave him a call. I think I am on track and if anything excited that this idea will work out well. I hope to stock the shelf and hang the signs tonight!
Phobee, I have seen another stand where the money falls into the garage, I figure that would be the model, directly attached to the house and maybe a Game cam.


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## gnor

My mentor didn't have a lot of success with this. After supplying the county with honey for a year, he doesn't do it any more.
I'm thinking about off sale one day a week, and accepting credit cards with my smart phone.


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## minz

adamant said:


> minz, give us some insight on your conversation you had with him..


Well he is big time and moves tons of honey. As Harry mentioned he has been doing it for a long time. He moves more honey from his self-serve stand than at either of the stores, return customers make up a very large portion of the business (a lot use if for allergies). He goes for farmers market prices and does not see a disadvantage / advantage of standard currency amounts (like $5 or $10 that I was concerned with) as a matter of fact did not see the advantage of rounding off to the nearest dollar (which I was shocked by and was adamant against). He used to leave a coin jar with singles and change in it but had some difficulty with it recent and had to make it go away. He does get ripped off but about one time every two years. He limits his stock and only keeps one bear in his stand. Mostly does 2 ½ lb is his primary seller (I do not have that volume so I will go to all bears, some muth jars for fancy gifts and a ½ gallons just because I have a case of them full). He also suggested that if you are against people knocking on your door be clear on your stand what you do or do not do, many will knock and ask about gallons, 5 gallons and try to get a break on quantity. He also mentioned that the new farm bill in Oregon allows for the consignment sales as long as a label is on the honey stating that it was not processed in a commercial kitchen. The wording is exact and should be investigated. His is a year round operation so he did not speak to the advantage of trying to beat the farmer down the road with a phone number on a propped up pallet.
Very nice conversation, personable, I could see how he could be a great salesman.


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## Withano

I sold all my honey (.5, 1, and 2 pound bottles) on an 8' table along the side of our county road. Put a plastic box w about $10 in change in it and used carpet tape to keep it from blowing off the table. Used a "local Honey for Sale" sign along the shoulder. Kept about 20 jars of different sizes on the table. A couple times a day I'd replenish the stock and collect the cash so it didn't build up too much. Took everything in at night. All self service/honor system. After 3 years I was never shorted once. YMMV.


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## ApricotApiaries

I just finished building this mobile stand/bee museum. It is a little over the top but a really fun project. The trailer was given to me a few years back for moving bees. Most of the wood was re purposed from a halfpipe (skate-ramp) I had in the yard. The pine siding came from a local sawmill. 
One side is open, but I plan on eventually building doors. There is a storage locker on the back for cash and extra inventory. The other side is an observation hive viewing compartment. I have not installed the bees yet. Maybe this morning or next. First I need to make a privacy curtain. 
I plan on adding some extra shelves to the inventory side as well as more pictures, beekeeping paraphernalia....


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## billabell

ApricotApiaries,
Very nice work, good imagination. Are you going to be taking it to festivals, farmers's markets, etc.? Or is it going to one seasonal location? My only concern would be how road worthy it would be even strapped down, but seeing your craftsmanship I am sure you have thought that through. Really like it, very cool.


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## ApricotApiaries

for the most part it will be stationary, but can easily be moved from one end of the property to the other or down to our local corner store. I would like to take the whole deal to markets and I think it is roadworthy enough but I am not planning on it too soon. 
Currently nothing is secured but I used to work on sailboats so I have some Ideas about how to secure inventory for travel. 
There is still some work to do--tin for the roof, a couple more shelves,... But I had a bit of a push to get it finished for this weekend. Now I can take a break and get back to extracting.


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## billabell

" ...local corner store" As soon as I saw your creation I immediately thought of my local general store - mile drive from my lane.


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## Pick

We started a vegetable stand that way. 2nd year we started getting hit hard with thefts. Ended up building a farm market building that was manned 7 days a week, made much more money that way.


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## M&M

Great Idea. Where can we legally place a vending machine? 
In particular, can it seat in a truck ?


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## djastram

We had an honor stand for a while. Our only problems were with the City concerned about traffic on residential streets, and we had two little boys steal honey and dump it all over our sidewalk.

I had a camera monitoring it for a while, but I think most people are honest. In more than one occasion, the cash box was long.

We used an electical enclosure from the hardware store for the cash box. It had square drive screws holding the cover on, so I didn't suspect most people carried a square driver with them.

See the video.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQgBXzG5wcFRqTYaJ9yZiSAUTHIYJittQ


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## M&M

THANK YOU!!!
My house is close to an entrance to a small park, with many healthy people hiking the trails,
and also parents with kids. We will try your scheme there once we get new honey!
Best luck to you! Marina


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