I have had some hives in the past for pleasure. I'm considering getting some and possibly expanding slowly. I've heard there's no profit in beekeeping, but I'm not entirely convinced of that. I've heard that about other enterprises in the past and found it to be untrue. What are the many different types of things you can sell from the efforts of your bees? I know propoplis, pollen, different kinds of honey, beeswax and pollination service. Have any of you read that Walter T. Kelly book, I think it's called "How To Raise Bees and Make Money"??? Is it worth the cost?

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 04, 2002

Answers

havnt read the book,,, but seell wholesale isnt very profitable,, now the market,, but I found a small niche,, selling retail,, to a few groups and even a few craft stores. The biggest maker is beeswax candles for me

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 04, 2002.

I know a fella who makes profits with his bees. He uses them to polinate his fruit trees. Not just any ol' fruit trees ~ he graphs different varieties onto one tree. These trees sell well. His honey has won big time prizes and is in much demand by the public. I didn't know there were 16 varieties of bananas! -G-

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

I've not read the book but if you are going to get into it to make money I wouldn't do it. If you want to get into it because you enjoy bees then the time spent is worth more than money. I've had bees for 15 years and enjoyed all but 5 years. Those were the years I tried to make it profitable. I got into the rut of going after money instead of just for the enjoyment.Making money with bees should just be secondary. I hope this helps.Good luck

-- herb (hwmil@aol.com), January 04, 2002.

Rogo-

What an interesting bit of wisdom about bannanas! I didn't know that either. I know there's a guy big into bee pollination over in New Auburn. I've been coming up to this region for 33years and the people have changed considerably. I'm much more aware of it after having lived up here for over 1.5 years. I could go over an talk to him, but I know I wouldn't get any straight answer. That's why I posted in this forum!

Thanks!! Katie

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 04, 2002.

Herb, how right you are. I have noticed that anytime I try to make a profit on something that I no longer enjoy what I'm doing. I love to work in the yard but, when people started paying me (good money) I no longer enjoyed working in their yard or mine. Once I gave up doing other peoples yards I got back into mine and enjoy it again.

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), January 04, 2002.

I made back all my initial investment the first year selling honey retail from the house. You can do it but you have to figure in your time.

-- (raines@rainesridgefarm.com), January 04, 2002.

Depends how you value your time. Do you value your time working in a factory as I do as much as you value your time outside working with nature?

I can either have lots of idle time as I do right now because we're on a 32 work week next week. Maybe even less the following week. Until we got our paychecks we didn't even know whether we had a 32 hour work week next week and it's been mighty cold up here in N. Wisconsin so trekking the 1.2 miles into the woods to the cabin this last week didn't sound appealing to me!! Don't enjoy the bar scene, so it's not that big a deal to me to put lots of hours in for little pay. Besides I like to use my mind!

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 04, 2002.

Hi, we kept 150 beehives for over 10 years. It was never really profitable if you figured in your time. My husband worked 40-50 hours as toolmaker, then weekends & evenings as a beekeeper. We sold honey out of our hom, we were in a good sot on a highway, & I sold to other fruit stands, while he was working. We also did pollinization, where we made the major part of our money. We did several crops from Apples to squash. You need the right equipment, late nights, & strength to move bee's into the crops. Once your into fall then you need to have hours & equipment to extract large amounts of honey. Can't forget money to treat for mites, or end up in qurantine. We sold the bee's a few years ago to a full time beekeeper, he runs about 1000 hives, he does it full time by pollinating several crops in our home state, then moving them to Florida for winter & pollinating there. So he has two honey crops & lots of pollinization. He also has major equipment, flatbed to haul bees on, forklift to load bees with, honey house here & in Florida for extracting, & last but not least a full time helper. Don't know if this helps, just our experience.

-- Gail Brinkley (dinsmore@qtm.com), January 05, 2002.

Katie, join your local 'Beekeepers Assc.' Call the Ag center in your county. Talk to these long time beekeepers. I joined here and I am able to here what people in my area can/do. Every region is different and every is different.

One 'keeper' has had bees for more that 40years --had 55 hives. Last year he lost 40 hives to different things.

One just retired (30years) from a electric company with the statement --"I can make more money off my bees than I did working." He has 600+ hives that he rents out, Sells bees and queens, sells honey,wax and pollen. He hours in season will be 50+ hrs a week. He has been keeping bees for 37 years and has a great business built up.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), January 05, 2002.

I did try to join a local beekeeping group about a year ago, but the local one had disbanded about 3 years ago. Until a 1.5 years ago I lived in S. Wisconsin. Locally they had an active beekeeping group. Thanks everybody for your reponses! If anybody has different responses to add to this disccussion I will continue to check back every so often!

Also, I woke up this morning and was reminded of stories of the depression from my adopted uncle(I'm not sure who adopted whom)and his attitude towards life. He was raised by his grandparents just over the hill. He had to walk a mile up a steep hill to a one room school house. His family was one of the original settlers that homesteaded the land. His dad carried a stove 8 miles through the wilderness in pieces on his back. During the depression he and his family went out in the woods and collected wild ginseng for $25/lb back then. He said they kept a pail out in the barn and it took lots of roots to make a pound after they dried out. If I heard that once I heard it 100 times! He used to always tell me like "I knew things was bad, but I always knew lots of folks had it worse'n us!" "Anything is possible if a person wants it bad enough, just depends how bad a person wants it! Lots of folks 'spect it to come to them. Sometimes you have to work at it harder than you ever think you can!" Also there wasn't just drought out in Oklahoma. It was up in these parts, too! One of his cousins is still alive and is sharp as a tack. He said "I can remember going over to Barron county with my Dad and seeing dead cattle in the fields with bloated stomachs. You know we went back in the woods and cut down the popple trees and took our cattle back there so they would have something to forage on, but they made it!"

My "uncle" also taught me a lot about my great grandparents that lived the next farm down. Although my greatgrandad didn't homestead the land he did clear it. My great aunt told me that her Dad cleared the land with a team of horses and dynamite. He would come in at noon. His chest covered with sweat and dust. She said, "He LOVED IT, but I still wish we had the place in Virginia. I used to love to watch the dogwoods bloom in spring.

Katie

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 05, 2002.

To answer your question in one word....no.

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), January 05, 2002.

Mary, sorry you feel that way. However, any kind of business is difficult and I've decided I'm up to the challenge! Thanks everybody for your input!! I'm in agreement with those that say cut out the middleman and sell it yourself. My Dad did that with maple syrup, but not with selling his young bucks! We do live in America. There is always opportunity even in difficult economic times. Even during the depression there was opportunity. If there wasn't how'd our parents and grandparents survive???

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 05, 2002.

We have been raising bees and selling the honey for 6 years. Each of our hives has cost us about $150 to 200 to set up (bees, foundation, frames, my husband built the hive bodies). We have 5 hives. Then you have to feed them in the spring...sugar water.... medication, equipment, bottles to put the honey in, jars for the hand lotion, extra ingredients for the hand lotion etc. 2 years ago all of our hives died over the winter. Cost about $60 a hive to get new bees. We have a good friend who had 250 hives...he has to sell beekeeping supplies to keep his head above water and he also has a full time job. So my answer is not just off the top of my head. There is no money in beekeeping. If you figure it out...more power to you.

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), January 06, 2002.

I have thought about beekeeping as well, off and on, some friends I know do it (they're retired). It is probably a great second job, especially if you can then join an association and get decent health insurance. If you keep your books correctly and actually report your sales honestly and so forth, you can take advantage of business deductions (of course, then there are taxes to consider, but you have to take the good with the bad.

I kind of doubt that most of the people who sell honey from their homes are actually running "businesses", they are more likely trying to reimburse their hobby costs, 'cause the bees just stay in the backyard and they just sell "local honey" to the neighbors and the very occasional drive-by.

You would probably want to see if you can network to see if you can develop a client base, and maybe could just do word of mouth advertising. The most important thing is to set a proper value for the time you invest. If the bees are in the backyard and you don't go anywhere, and you share some equipment (the extractor?) with others, it might not be so bad, even if you only figure your time to be worth minimum wage (and I wouldn't, if I were you). The other thing is that often you can only sell at what the market will bear, unless there is something absolutely unique about say your honey, for example I know that honey from the lavender fields in Provence, France, is very expensive, and not just 'cause it is imported, it is because it comes from lavender fields. Just a thought.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 07, 2002.

Katie: If you decided to jump into bees, why not keep a journal and good records, and submit an article to Countryside Magazine on the experience? I've also thought about getting a couple hives, just for polination of our gardens, as I have read articles stating you can more than double your crops with them. Have to get to the point where I've got 30 hour days, first tho! Good luck, Jan

-- Jan in Co (Janice12@aol.com), January 07, 2002.

I've learned a lot from Mary why she feels that way. I don't blame her!! When they had to replace a colony last year it cost them $58/pkg and they thought that was a bargain! For me it would be $32. As for a full-time income I would never go there. Remember the old saying "Be careful not to put all your eggs in one basket in case you fall you'll lose them all." Same holds true for money. Diversity is the key I believe. BTW, I have 13 acres leased to plant whatever I want. This year though it will be put in cover crops in an effort to improve the soil. Although, I am thinking about herbs.

-- Katie (4gnaturegirl@chibardun.net), January 07, 2002.