Selling Honey at the Farm Gate: Labels, Pricing and Records

The first surplus crop always raises the same question: what do you do with sixty jars? Selling direct from the door or a roadside table is the least complicated route, but "least complicated" is not the same as "no rules".

What the Jar Has to Say

Requirements vary by country, so check your national guidance, but the common core is consistent across most of Europe:

• The word honey, plus any variety claim you can actually stand behind.
• Net weight in grams, in a legible size relative to the label.
• Country of origin.
• A best before date — honey is usually given two years.
• Your name and address as the producer.
• A batch or lot code so a specific jar traces back to a specific extraction.

Claims are where people get into trouble. "Raw", "organic", and single-flower names like "lime" or "heather" all mean something specific and are enforceable. If your bees flew over a mixed landscape, sell it as what it is: local mixed-flower honey. It sells perfectly well.

Getting the Jar Right

Fill by weight rather than by eye — a 340g jar needs 340g of honey plus the tolerance, and under-filling is the one complaint that costs you a customer permanently. Let jars settle overnight before labelling so scum rises and can be skimmed. Wipe the outside; sticky glass reads as careless.

Pricing Without Undercutting Everyone

Work out your cost per jar: glass, lid, label, and a realistic share of the season's feed and treatment. Then look at what local producers charge, not at supermarket blended honey — you are not in that market. Pricing well below the local rate does not win you sales; it signals uncertainty and it drags down every other beekeeper nearby.

Records Are the Part People Skip

Keep a simple line per batch: extraction date, hives or apiary it came from, weight extracted, moisture reading, jar count, and the lot code that went on the label. If a customer ever comes back with a question about a jar, that one line answers it in seconds.

The same records tell you something more useful over time — which apiary produces the honey people come back for, and which crop is worth building the following season around.