Three Years But Finally Have Honey

[myrdale]

We had bees growing up, but they were pretty much just in a box in the middle of the cow field. Other than trying to rob them once (which ended very badly for him) my father never did much with them at all.

Late Summer 2019 I got seriously interested. I purchased my first two hives and assembled them, but I wasn't able to get bees until the following Spring.

I spent 2020 watching them grow. I went into the Winter with three hives and came out of it with two. For 2021 I continued to grow. I went into Winter with five hives nearly survived, I had one starve out in early Spring of this year.

Finally after three years of watching them fill boxes of blank foundation with comb, the hives were suddenly overfull of honey. I ordered an extractor and some weeks later it arrived.

I've managed to take off four gallons of honey so far. This year I am just giving it away to friends and family. However projecting out to next year, it stands to be very profitable if everything goes to plan!





.

.

.
.

[james.hendrickson]

Honey has a ton of uses, its an antiseptic as well as a tasty food.

[kork13]

Massive congratulations. It's a huge commitment, but some fantastic rewards, not to mention the potential for some great income. Love it, and good luck as you move ahead with your hive!

[disneysteve]

Very cool. How much honey do you estimate you need to produce and sell before you turn a profit?

[ua_guy]

I'm sure you're paying the bees a fair wage and are not taking credit for their hard work....lol!

Joking aside, that's cool, man.

[bjl584]

That's awesome. Good work on such a huge commitment.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Ten hives seems like starting big! I have one hive in one of my little urban pocket orchards. But the hive belongs to the neighbor three doors down. She has four more in her own yard. I plan to get another bee keeper to set a hive(s) in the other orchard. She has hives all over town and sells her honey out of antique stores, which I think is a clever way to connect with people with spare money to buy something of quality.

[Churcael]

I think this is a profitable business. Only how will you sell the product? I, for example, was engaged in the manufacture of custom gingerbread, but without a website and development, no one just didn't know about me. And products are always afraid of spoilage as far as storage (although honey does not spoil). I remember trying to sell on different sites, but it wasn't convenient. I had to make blanks in advance and then do the painting. And when I made the site and https://mtpremium.net/ was able to promote it, I was already able to plan costs and revenues, turnover and the approximate number of blanks ahead of time. Honey is seasonally harvested

[Petunia 100]

That's really cool. I'd try to hang a flyer at the closest allergy treatment center. Local honey is wonderful for those with allergies.

[rennigade]

That's really cool. I'd try to hang a flyer at the closest allergy treatment center. Local honey is wonderful for those with allergies.

Thats completely fake. It's basically an old wives tale. No science to back it and doesn't even make sense in fighting allergies. I love honey though.

[rennigade]

Congrats on raising bees. It looks like a fun hobby. Joe Rogan had a bee keeper on recently named Erika Thompson...one of his better podcasts. Really fascinating. Here's her Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/texasbeeworks/?hl=en
she removes bees from people's homes, rarely suits up and just uses her bare hands.

She's a hardcore bee person though. She doesn't sell honey and doesn't really use much of it since she sees it as stealing food from the bees.

[mom-from-missouri]

How did your bees fair during the countrywide cold snap? We have been talking about adding bees for several years now.

[myrdale]

How did your bees fair during the countrywide cold snap? We have been talking about adding bees for several years now.

Cold weather really isn't a problem for them. Keep in mind there are people in Alaska with bees. They will form a cluster inside the hive during the winter and keep themselves close to 95*F.

If you're seriously interested in getting into bees, then my suggestion is, within the next couple of weeks find a local bee club in your county (or near by). I guarantee one exist near you. You'll want to wait until March or April to get your bees, but you can go ahead and order a hive or two now. I am of the opinion that you should start with two hives if you can afford the expense.

It's also the type of hobby you can grow over time. I just ordered (15) medium boxes this past week, these are specifically for honey. I've got half put together so far. I didn't order the frames either. The boxes were about $400 total, and the frames for them will be about $600. I'll order the frames throughout this year as the need arises.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

That is still so cool

[steare]

Very cool! Was thinking about getting something similar set up in the yard. Seems like a great way to make some extra scratch, and good for the local ecosystem too.