# Selling Honey Roadside



## jesuslives31548 (May 10, 2008)

We have sold roadside out of our truck here in southeast Ga. Sometimes its great, other times no one stops. I recommend a very visible signs that says local honey. Many times folks will just stop by to ask about bees. Check with state and local reguations, Georgia is diffrent then Florida. This year has been very slow for us. Not sure if its the economy or what. Local ads in your home town paper would reach many.......my 2cents


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## Bluidshay (Apr 29, 2009)

My town hall told me I could keep bees but I needed a food permit to sell honey. I have since been told (not by town officials though) that that is untrue...one more thing I have to research. Definitely do research on it.

No Farmer's Markets in the area that start earlier than the fall?

What about online sales? Gosh, Clearwater Florida....set up a cabana on the beach! I'd buy lip balm from you if I were visiting!!


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## Musashi (Dec 5, 2008)

Bluidshay said:


> What about online sales? Gosh, Clearwater Florida....set up a cabana on the beach! I'd buy lip balm from you if I were visiting!!


LOL, Yes, my wife is the lipbalm queen and that is exactly what I was thinking, hang out near the beach ;-) No doubt the high rent types wouldn't find it that amusing however.

I guess I'll just try Clearwater's .org site and try to find a phone number and just start asking around. ;-/


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

If you are thinking farmers market check the rules there as well....here in OK to sell at a farmers market you have to extract your honey in a state approved kitchen and you can imagine what that entails.


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## copefarms (Jun 6, 2009)

I would go down to my county offices and see what the regs are.
Also visit your states department of ag and see what they say about the sale of honey. Your state department of ag will know all the rules and regulations about food sales and what you have to comply with there.

The local county office can tell you if you need a permit to sale your wares on the side of the road and such. You may need a business license too. for the short time I was in fla there were tooooo many rules for my blood so I would check to be safe.


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## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

Go to your state agriculture website and look for beekeeping/apiculture. You should be able to find regulations there and also the name and number for the state apicuriist.

If no problem selling roadside, I would talk to the managers of some local stores. See if they would allow you to put out some signs and sell on their lot or near their entrance.

You might try Wal-Mart, Sam's, corner gas stations (especially those with heavy walk-in traffic. See if you can put some in the barber shop and salon that you and your wife use. They may allow you to put in your wares and take in the money for you for a quart of honey.

A sign in your front yard, Craig's List, local free papers and local papers that only sell stuff for people. There is one called "Penny something".

Does your church, allow advertising for church members. Our church does. Way to help other church members.

Hope this helps!


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## copefarms (Jun 6, 2009)

Here are your state laws and website 

For bee information contact these people.
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/onestop/plt/apiaryinsp.html


For information on food safety contact people on this page.
http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/fs/contact.html


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## Musashi (Dec 5, 2008)

Ok, thanks for the feedback all. I looked up the official regs and I must say it is all very "small operator" unfriendly. It seems to me the best option is to just pitch a tent on the side of the road in a more spread out area and if someone stops me and asks for permits etc, just plead ignorance and pack up and leave. That is a LOT of redtape to navigate to sell a couple hundred dollars of honey otherwise ;-(


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

> I must say it is all very "small operator" unfriendly.


That way here too!


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## copefarms (Jun 6, 2009)

You can thank our wonderful govt. bureaucrats for that.
You are too dangerous to be producing your own food don't you know?
If you are really small I wouldnt worry about it just do it. 
Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.


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## John Smith (Jan 31, 2006)

Thanks to St. Ignatius for that quote! It was possibly misquoted to me by a person who had been educated in one of the good Saint's boys school, but the version he used went a bit more like this: "Better to stand and beg for forgiveness than spend your life on your knees asking for permission!" 

So let the system do its thing, there are plenty of them and they all have airconditioned motorcars for mobility, so go ahead and do what you want to do and if it is seriously improper someone will tap on your shoulder and inform you politly what the rules of the day are. 

Believe you me, the rules are a moving feast, and only very infrequently do they actually rescind one. So what happens on the ground, like in the real world and in real time, is they simply quit policing the rules that are proving to be redudnant. The rule books are littered with antiquated rules about things that are long forgotten, but they are still valid rules in the book, and even if you ask you local enforcer about that rule, he/she, may know nothing of it. 

So with beehives in Washing DC, and on the White House Lawn, things are on the turn. Heaps of rules are being abandoned worldwide by establishments everywhere. So now is the time for freedome loving people everywhere to just act on their instincts and start doing what they feel is right. The big businesses are going down in droves, and the consensus is moving in favour of those who can and will produce, so our lawmakers are caught in a cleft stick, or a Catch 22 if your prefer. Their masters in big business are too busy trying to survive to come to the rescue of the inspector on the street, and the masses are looking for a meal. What are they to do? Their kids are home waiting for a feed too!

Reality is upon us. Beekeepers are about as real as any other class of people on this planet. So I say, we need to go for broke!

Just don't forget to put your price up, as the value of the money is failing fast and soon enough you will be taking worthless paper or cyber entries for your very real produce.

It is our moment!

Cheers and good luck.

JohnS


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## Musashi (Dec 5, 2008)

Really, I'm so tired of all the overregulation. I just watched the excellent trilogy of dvd's of the John Adams starring Paul Giamatti. It is so bizarre how far afield this country has become in terms of restricting entrepeneurs.

I am going with the concensus and my heart on this one...I'm just going to pop up in sensible places and I will keep doing so in various places if I run into any permit police.


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## MapMan (May 24, 2007)

John Smith said:


> Thanks to St. Ignatius for that quote! It was possibly misquoted to me by a person who had been educated in one of the good Saint's boys school, but the version he used went a bit more like this: "Better to stand and beg for forgiveness than spend your life on your knees asking for permission!"


I doubt that St. Ignatius would have said that...

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission" is often attributed to Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (one of the developers of UNIVAC I and the COBOL programming language - remember that from your programming days?).


MM


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## Carl F (Aug 6, 2008)

I too would just set up someplace I had seen others sell produce and the like and be prepared to move along if anyone takes issue with it for any reason. The only other thing I'd add is that I would not take any more product than what I reasonably think I could sell in a day. Don't have your whole harvest in the back of the truck just in case some over-zealous cop or other official gets the idea he should confiscate your illegal wares. Similarly, keep just a few dollars worth of change close at hand and stash the rest somewhere creative--especially if you are having a good day. That way, if aforementioned official wants the proceeds too you can say that you have only sold a jar or two.


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## John Smith (Jan 31, 2006)

Thanks, Carl, for the tip on the over zealous official. The hostility of the Universe is moving steadily from the street urchins to the officialdom. I trust we all survive it! But we innocents need a few pointers at times to teach us who to bribe and how much.

We recently had some major structural renovations made to our home which included much exposure to the assumed home invaders and sneak thiefs, and it was something of an eye opener that petty theft in our neighbourhood was (in our case) non existent. Only this morning have I completed putting the locks back on the windows after several weeks of them being quite accessable.

Meanwhile, my insurance company remains the biggest thief I suffer from, and in particular with regards to motor vehicles, as my claims continue to be either highly suspicious to them or downright rejected! All because I have broken some obscure rule somewhere or breached my contract with them. I can go ten years without a claim or twenty even, but that means nothing to the computer these days.

Goods and chattels these days may be getting so common that even crooks had rather buy new stuff than have to use my old and tattered pre-loved variety.

Cheers,

JohnS


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## NorthBirch (Jul 24, 2011)

I am looking at selling honey at my new road side stand this year and am going to sell word of mouth as well. i have increased my hives from 10 to 20. I was looking at increasing my hives 10 fold, but after looking at all the red tape it doesnt seam worth selling wholesale. To many greedy government regulations to keep the little man in its hole. So I am selling word of mouth and road side stand. nothing passes better than word of mouth. A lot of customers are very willing to spread the word to help there fello beekeepers! best of luck everyone!


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## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

Interesting observations on this thread. I have just about finished getting ready to have my kitchen inspected, as there are some benefits to doing things on the up and up. The big thing in my book is to remember that honey is a food product and as the processor I have an obligation to those who consume my bees' bounty (and to my own reputation) to do things in a sanitary and hygienic way.


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## Beeboy01 (May 20, 2008)

Florida has just passed legistation allowing honey to be bottled and sold under the Cottage Industries bill. It allows a bee keeper to sell up to $15,000.00 worth of product to the public in retail sales direct to the customer. The labling requirments are the same as with any other honey lable but it also needs to state that the honey was bottled under the Cottage Industry act. I'll look around for a link to the information.


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## nabeehive (Oct 23, 2009)

Here is a link to the new Cottage Food Legislation for Florida.

http://jaxbees.com/files/CottageFoodAdvisoryAugust11Revised.pdf


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## Peter (Mar 28, 2009)

Bluidshay said:


> My town hall told me I could keep bees but I needed a food permit to sell honey. I have since been told (not by town officials though) that that is untrue...one more thing I have to research. Definitely do research on it.


When I checked our town hall here said no permit needed to keep and no food permit needed for selling, then wished us luck!.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

I live in an unincorprated area just outside of a more suburban area. There a lot of people selling corn and tomatos from roadside stands. One spot in particular is a large gravel pull-off right on a main road less than 1/2 mile from my house. Lots of SUV traffic on the weekends (yuppy soccer moms with lots of money). There is uasually a road side stand there in the day time and sheriff patrol parked in the evenings. One day I stopped and asked the deputy what he thought about the produce sellers and if it was OK to sell honey. He said it was absolutely no problem at all. I plan on setting up shop later this fall when the produce season winds down. 

Now I know a lot of you are going to say (or at least think) that the sheriff deputy has no say so over food regulations. But he is the guy that I fear most because he patrols the area and has the capacity to inflict the most damage to my operation (throw me in jail). If he dont care, I dont care. IF a random food inspector happens to drive by, happens to stop, and happens to tell me I cant sell honey on the side of the road, I will deal with that if it happens to happen. It's not like the food inspector is going to put the cuffs on me. 

Of course I live in Kansas and YMMV.


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## Peaches (Jun 8, 2011)

Nabber, why wait till the produce is over? The people that stop to buy produce is is very ones that will buy honey. They are looking for local, fresh, and friendly producers.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

I thought about that, but I dont want to start a turf war over a prime patch of gravel (another thing to worry about far more than the health dept. - a PO'ed farmer). Of course selling corn/tomatos and honey at the same location would probably increase sales for both people. I guess I could talk to the guys that are normally camped out there.


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## Peaches (Jun 8, 2011)

There you go. Now that's using the ol' noggin'. You could sweeten the relations with a little honey too. That always gets good results.


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