Beekeepers: how do you use all that honey?

[pg]

Thinking of keeping bees but have come to a conundrum - how to deal with all that honey harvest.

I understand you can get at 50lbs of honey from one hive, which is going a bit even for a honey fan like myself. So what exactly do you do with it all?

Guessing use a lot in cooking - do you use it as a direct replacement for sugar in recipes? Does this work, especially with cakes?

Brew with it!

Swap/give away/sell?

Not extract it all and only take enough for own use?

[pg]

[tottieheed]

Hi

I have been keeping the blighters for years and found that there is never, ever, enough honey! Even on a good year!

You will find that there will be "friends" and family members that you have not seen for years suddenly appear looking for the FREE honey. Your friends friends will also need some and all your neighbours friends, friends of friends and family members too. I even had to make a donation to my daughters school as she was telling everyone that we had a shedload!

I also have an arrangement with a local health food store who is one of the very few that have offered to pay!

The truth is that the bees don't actually make that much! The weather is the deciding factor and where I stay is rains most of the time. A hive heavy with honey one day will become empty after a few days of rain and after a fortnight you will actually need to feed the bees before they starve. Lots of beekeepers lose bees, even in the summer as the bees run out of food during poor weather.

You should certainly venture into the hobby though! Its fascinating and hugely satisfying when you get it right. Expect a large initial outlay though!

[goodlife]

Yep..it just all 'dissappear'..one minute you think you have buckets full of the stuff and next its gone.
Many of us have 'regular' 'customers' that are queuing to get hold of what they can...which is nice when you happen to have good year. But more often you need to put your own honey aside and regulate how much each friend and other people are able to get.
Honey makes wonderful presents, 'thank you' gifts and good stuff to barter with for other things.. ;)
I just have to say to you this..getting honey out of hive and into jars is job on its own...it takes time..its messy..you need quite a bit of equipment for it. It is lot of work...keeping bees is the easy bit.
There is some rules and regulations to follow as well so your honey is up to 'scratch' if you are selling it..things like right labeling and jars.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I give it away, or use it as a sugar substitute. It's about twice as sweet as sugar, so you need about half the quantity, and if it's something like a cake, you need to cut down the quantity of liquid you use.

[tonybloke]

as other posts, mostly for gifts, and mead  ;)

[pg]

Thanks for all your honest replies! More thinking required.