Container question

[UrbisAgricola]

Where do you get drums and what do you pay?  Same question for pumping equipment etc to get the honey in and out?  For honey you want to store for local sales throughout the year, how do you prefer to store?

[mikecva]

I store in my honey house. My daughter stores hers in her mud room. Both are heated enough to deter crysterilization. You can get food grade buckets from most bee suppliers (Mann lake ect.). enen our local tractor supply has some.  -Mike

[tycrnp]

You can get free buckets from Krispy Kreme, bakeries,  and grocery stores that have a bakery. Just let them know in advance and most are happy to save the lids too. (That's a tip I got on this forum earlier this year. )

[BeeMaster2]

What TY said.
I have about 20-3 gallon buckets that I got from Publics.
Jim

[Acebird]

Urbis it is hard to know what volume you are speaking of but you can get a barrel stand that has wheels and allows you to tip the barrel 90 degrees so it is horizontal.  By inserting a spigot with a valve in the large hole you can then fill 5 gallon buckets or less as you need it.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/material-handling/drum-barrel/drum-handling/drum-cradle-with-four-wheels-55-gallon-steel-drums-2?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuZXQBRDKARIsAMwpUeSMZzjrv-fUIDcjb6fJyC__9-Woj-jO_4jz90wveMJ6R8wyZ14YoWgaAk6SEALw_wcB
http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/material-handling/drum-barrel/drum-gates/2-high-flow-drum-faucet?infoParam.campaignId=T9F&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuZXQBRDKARIsAMwpUeRSSwzyjAb9JxhgviFD-qamEenoRDSCrjtkGtPTUl377MG0qV4x-MoaAthbEALw_wcB

[UrbisAgricola]

I've been using food grade buckets from a local restaurant supply store.

Acebird.  I will check out those links, but sounds spot on what I'm looking for as to the first two questions.

Acebird and others: Sorry for the vagueness of my last question, though your answers are helpful nonetheless. I'll clarify a bit if that might give you all more thoughts to share: I think I would put a cap on myself of about 200 gallons that I would want to bottle and sell myself--it's hard to say, but I would stop at the point it stops selling itself more or less from my backdoor.  Anything above what I could sell to friends without much effort, I would sell by the 5-gallon bucket to people who want to resell it at farmer's markets.  I don't have to store that all of that because some of it is sold as it is harvested (a lot of people I have educated enough to understand that if they want to buy local, whether it is honey, beef or whatever, they need to stock up when it is in season).  Still, people do buy a lot of honey during the winter for toddies to help with colds and flu--and for whatever reason.

I'm gathering that at that level, it probably makes sense just to fill forty  five-gallon buckets?

Right now, I envision keeping the honey sale side of my operation at a minimal level.   That could change, but it's where I am right now. Any thoughts on at what point it would make sense to graduate from five-gallon buckets.

[Acebird]

Any thoughts on at what point it would make sense to graduate from five-gallon buckets.

My objections is to plastic buckets.  Although I use plastic buckets during my extraction I do not like storing in plastic even if they are food grade.  There is no chance that I will ever produce 200 gal of honey but if I did I would want it is glass or steel drums.

[UrbisAgricola]

I hear you.  But aren't the steel drums lined with Teflon or something?

[Acebird]

I hear you.  But aren't the steel drums lined with Teflon or something?

It wouldn't be teflon it would be a polymer or lacquer that doesn't outgass or absorb anything, plus steel is impervious to moisture and air.  Think of a vegetable or soup can.