Bee Farmers apprenticeship scheme

[Plenty of honey]

Well I guess a beekeeping degree could be established at Uni. The graduates would be saddled with a £50k debt and that would really ensure that knowledge was passed on.

 

[foghornleghorn]

Just for the records i am totally behind apprenticeships in the country, one of my concerns was for the future of these apprentices when they have qualified what do they do then, i see in a post that a mere 50k would set them up ! i would ask where does that come form, i am not sure a bank would lend them that amount on a risky business plan and at such a young age with no collateral, as mentioned before it seems to only benefit established large bee farmers employing family members, i would like to fast forward a few years to find out how things turn out, will they be bee farmers in their own right competing with the family business, running the family business, just working for the family business on minimum wages or left the industry altogether which would be a great shame, i think that one of the biggest operations in the UK not using this scheme speaks volumes

Someone leaves school at 18 and knows they want to farm bees for a living, they work for others for the next 10 years so that they'll learn as much as possible all the time putting away a few grand a year, before they're 30 if they've any brains and discipline should be setup running their own business and still very young so have another 30+ years to expand, hire others etc if they want. Dont see where the perception that it would be almost impossible for a young person to set themselves up if they wanted to comes from...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well I guess a beekeeping degree could be established at Uni. The graduates would be saddled with a £50k debt and that would really ensure that knowledge was passed on.

But at least they would have a bit of paper to wave under people's noses!

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Someone leaves school at 18 and knows they want to farm bees for a living, they work for others for the next 10 years so that they'll learn as much as possible all the time putting away a few grand a year, before they're 30 if they've any brains and discipline should be setup running their own business and still very young so have another 30+ years to expand, hire others etc if they want. Dont see where the perception that it would be almost impossible for a young person to set themselves up if they wanted to comes from...

Yes it could be done, i did exactly that 30 plus years ago when i worked in a different industry, but that was a very different world then, i think those days are long gone, you could buy a house for 40k then, self employed could get loans by self assessment !! by your reckoning they would have to save 5k a year for ten years wow!! i assume they would need to stay living at home with Mum & Dad paying nothing until nearly 30 years old, not much chance of that i would suggest, i don`t know what it is like in your neck of the woods but around here the cost of living is sky high, kids just want to live expensive life styles these days finding one that would be prepared to sacrifice everything for 10 years plus i my opinion would be very difficult

 

[Hivemaker.]

kids just want to live expensive life styles these days

If that is the life style they want then bee farming would never be the kind of job for them anyway.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Someone leaves school at 18 and knows they want to farm bees for a living, they work for others for the next 10 years so that they'll learn as much as possible all the time putting away a few grand a year, before they're 30 if they've any brains and discipline should be setup running their own business and still very young so have another 30+ years to expand, hire others etc if they want. Dont see where the perception that it would be almost impossible for a young person to set themselves up if they wanted to comes from...

But I get the impression from some on this thread that people believe it has to be an instant thing - do the apprenticeship, get the piece of paper and five minutes later you have a five hundred hive setup and a contract to supply Fortnum and Masons handed to you on a plate.

My feeling is that the only people with an unrealistic viewpoint on all this are the detractors.

 

[Karol]

No one appreciates honey like a beekeeper.

No one can be a beekeeper unless they appreciate bees.

Who knows everything there is to know about bees to be able to fully appreciate them within three years?

Apprenticeships open the door in a low risk way. I think they're great. But too many people view them as a right of passage. They're not. They merely open the door. The rest is up to the individual and put quite simply, if the individual doesn't have the passion, the zeal and the mettle to succeed then the bees would be better of without them!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Apprenticeships open the door in a low risk way. I think they're great. But too many people view them as a right of passage. They're not. They merely open the door. The rest is up to the individual and put quite simply, if the individual doesn't have the passion, the zeal and the mettle to succeed then the bees would be better of without them!

 

[Jimmy]

My feeling is that the only people with an unrealistic viewpoint on all this are the detractors.

And the poster with direct experience of the scheme seems very positive.

 

[For want of a better word]

No one appreciates honey like a beekeeper.

No one can be a beekeeper unless they appreciate bees.

Who knows everything there is to know about bees to be able to fully appreciate them within three years?

Apprenticeships open the door in a low risk way. I think they're great. But too many people view them as a right of passage. They're not. They merely open the door. The rest is up to the individual and put quite simply, if the individual doesn't have the passion, the zeal and the mettle to succeed then the bees would be better of without them!

An uncle was a fully time served apprenticed cabinet maker, he worked for the same company for 50 years... never owned it and never wanted to.
I have two WBC beehives that he made for my grandfather... and I still have bees in them.

Wealth is not measured in how many Mercedes you own... and any apprenticeship is worth its time in gold!!

Yeghes da

 

[Hivemaker.]

Wealth is not measured in how many Mercedes you own... and any apprenticeship is worth its time in gold!!

My youngest son will be 19 when he finishes the apprenticeship, apart from bees his only other main interest at the moment is his motocross bike, don't think he wants to be lumbered with running his own business and all that entails for a while yet.

 

[Plenty of honey]

Wealth is not measured in how many Mercedes you own... and any apprenticeship is worth its time in gold!!

Yeghes da

Its the poor vision seen in so many students these days. Their all plumped up with how marvellous they will be when they finish at uni, little do the know their so green to the real world. Apptenticeships will give you skills that are rare in most walks of life. The ability to communicate, observe, know when to speak and when to shut up and learn something useful. Whether its Beekeeping , plumbing, Electrician, there all skills that we need. I look at my mate now, who started as apprentice cabinet maker in Jersey, the things he makes now are amazing. He's earning very good money after at least ten years of just scraping a living, but learning an incredible skill!

Hivemaker is sooo right when he says if your looking for the Champagne lifestyle in beekeeping it will mostly afford a larger budget, but I say, a good quality larger, if thats what your happy with.
Its the lifestyle and a way of life that beekeeping is, not the salary and very happy i am nearly in it too!!

 

[mbc]

If that is the life style they want then bee farming would never be the kind of job for them anyway.

Ain't that the truth!

 

[Haughton Honey]

Sadly, Fortnum & Mason aren't all they're cracked up to be.

Great PR/kudos being listed there...but they don't sell that much honey.

But I get the impression from some on this thread that people believe it has to be an instant thing - do the apprenticeship, get the piece of paper and five minutes later you have a five hundred hive setup and a contract to supply Fortnum and Masons handed to you on a plate.

My feeling is that the only people with an unrealistic viewpoint on all this are the detractors.

 

[Hivemaker.]

From what I have seen and read the Bee Farmers' apprenticeship scheme would be a very good thing for a youngster to get into.....
Have two more young ones looking for a job in the next 10 tears!!!

One of our grandsons is also showing a keen interest in beekeeping, maybe another future BFA apprentice.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

One of our grandsons is also showing a keen interest in beekeeping, maybe another future BFA apprentice.

Tell him not to bother - it will take him years before he becomes a millionaire

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[mbc]

Tell him not to bother - it will take him years before he becomes a millionaire

I'm working in my second million now, long since given up on the first!

 

[wavey100]

Bee farming is very easy to start from scratch compared to any of beef,sheep,dairy or crop farming. Less than 50k should be able to get someone up and running with a decent few hives and build from there compared to well over a 100k on stock alone before machinery land etc

I totally agree I am a first generation cattle farmer running pedigree Hereford cattle as well as my bee keeping business and the capital outlay for the farm is vastly more than I needed to set up the bee side ! 20 k should set you up with 50-60 hives and basics for extracting you definitely need luck and an understanding partner who is on a good wage but a good few years you should be in profit and made increase to well over a hundred oh and did I mention the need to work your arse off 100 hours a week should do it !!

 

[Chrisfnvs]

I totally agree I am a first generation cattle farmer running pedigree Hereford cattle as well as my bee keeping business and the capital outlay for the farm is vastly more than I needed to set up the bee side ! 20 k should set you up with 50-60 hives and basics for extracting you definitely need luck and an understanding partner who is on a good wage but a good few years you should be in profit and made increase to well over a hundred oh and did I mention the need to work your arse off 100 hours a week should do it !!

I rest my case

 

[Hivemaker.]

Apprenticeship now finished and finally put Lewis and Andrews certificates on the wall.
Think I will retire now and let the three lads get on with it.