Honey straws

[Bakersdozen]

I don't know if simply buying honey straws and selling them is the way I want to go. The whole idea behind it (for me) is to allow people to sample my honey.

A pretzel stick for sampling is a lot less work.

Yankee11, I noticed in the video that they were leaving a lot of space at the top.  Now I know why.

[Yankee11]

Yea, that was what I was doing wrong. I was pushing honey out of the end of the straw and it was getting on the wire.

As far as Perry's point. It kinda is a problem cause people think that's what is in the jars and I hated telling them it wasn't. The sampling
does work great. Almost everyone that samples buys a jar. I use a wood tooth pick stick and let them dip it down into a squeeze bottle them throw the stick away. Works great.

[Mikey N.C.]

Sound's like the youngster draw. Is a start ,   But  i under stand about your honey , would also won't them to try your honey, I'm sure it's tastee

[apisbees]

some of the draw is all the different flavors. Mix and match 4 flavors for a dollar. A lot of the flavors offered are from adding extracts and coloring. Not what I would call a natural honey tasting experience. A person in Perry's area could market spring, early summer, late summer and blueberry in natural honey, but then your going to have to keep them separate and market them individually if you are using them as samplers.

[Bakersdozen]

This thread kind of died, so I don't know what you decided Perry.  I was just looking through the Betterbee 2016 catalog.  Betterbee has for sale a Honey Straw and Kraft display box for $55.95.  This includes 500 straws.  50 straws of each of the following flavors:  apple, blueberry, cherry, grape, lemon, peppermint, pure honey, raspberry, strawberry and watermelon. 
I believe the craft display box is code for cardboard.   They also sell the same with a wooden display case for $88.95.

[iddee]

You could make your own.


http://www.johnwaynehoney.com/our%20store.html

[Perry]

I think I would be inclined to not spend money on any machines other than a sealer and just go the ketchup tube route to fill the straws. I don't know how big a draw they would be in order to make it worth my while.

[Bakersdozen]

Before buying equipment, I would purchase honey sticks just to see how popular they are.  It seems like alot of work for an item that you can't sell for more than a quarter.  I know your original idea was to let people sample your honey.  Some farmer's market sellers have a sample jar with a flip top lid.  Through the little hole in the flip top lid they let customers dip a coffee stir stick to have a taste.  This seems to keep things sanitary and keeps health departments happy.
Perry you have "growing pains".     Everyone should be so lucky to have a growing business doing something they love.

[flewster]

Thanks for the plug iddee.  Yes I sell a complete honey stick making machine.  it comes with the manifold, sealer, hand pump, hot plate and DVD with instructions. I have sold well over 200 units with no complaints or returns yet.  Visit my site at www.honeystickmachine.com

you can view a video at:

[iddee]

Thanks for joining, Wayne. I hope you like our little family and become a regular.

Yes, I plug a few sites that I think are an asset to hobbyist beeks. That's the purpose of the forum. To help the little beeks as much as possible.

[Bakersdozen]

Wayne, that is really great.  It's easy to see with a little practice, you can produce honey sticks quickly. Welcome to the forum.  It's good to have another Kansan on board. 
Are you using warmed honey to fill the sticks with?  Is that what I see on a warmer in the back ground?

Perry, I don't know...that devise looks pretty cool.  I would be tempted. 

[flewster]

Yes you want to warm the honey to flow better as cold honey does not work well. 

Perry......I sell more honey by using my straws as free samples.  A customer walks up to my booth and are looking.  I take a straw, cut it in half and hand it to them to try.  No mess no fuss.  not only will that sell a jar or two of honey 9 out of 10 times but they usually buy a bunch of sticks too.  When your making them at about 3 to 5 cents each (if you sell honey at 15 a quart) then you can see how quickly you will make up the cost of the machine. 

The machine in the video was my origional that I built many years ago.  quite a few improvments have came along.  I spent over $1000 just trying out different sealers till I found a model that worked and was reliable.  no need to worry if you spill a bit of honey on the element.  I have customers packing honey, maple syrup, concentrated cherry juice and even one guy that does marijuana honey sticks in oregon.  I wonder what those cost?