beekeeping professionally

[madasafish]

I average about 50lbs honey/hive in an average year.
With 7 hives, my gross margin before labour is over 50%.

So if I wanted to pay myself £10,000 pa on that basis (£6 per lb, 50% gross margin) I would need some 66 hives. They would be on several sites so I would have additional transport costs and capital investment in extraction and bottling
and a pickup .. so that figure is optimistic...



And in bad years, 50lbs could be 25lbs...

 

[wightbees]

How about honey sales, can you sell it all retail? Because once you start sales to shops or bulk the price drops rapidly.
Also your time is a major factor, there's never enough time lol.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

And when you try to sell it all retail there's the added cost of your time (bottling and labelling, marketing, packaging and distribution) as well as (if you're ding it commercially, the capital expendityre of extra equipment.

 

[mbc]

Then there's market saturation, only so many people will spend extra on local honey.

 

[ericbeaumont]

How about honey sales, can you sell it all retail? Because once you start sales to shops or bulk the price drops rapidly.
Also your time is a major factor, there's never enough time lol.

That is the nub of the equation.

At honeyforsale.co.uk bulk price hovers around £3-3.50/lb. so working backwards will get you to an average yield necessary for a gross return. If we control our retail price and outlets (can be three times the bulk price) then fewer colonies and less work (in theory) is needed.

Let's look beyond the finances: this is a job for unusual people with an offbeat slant on life, the soul who yearns to engage in practical work out in the green yonder and who gains deep satisfaction from it. If that's the choice then monetary compromises must follow, because a business plan is not much use when you're chasing your tail at sunset for the nineteenth day in a row.

I averaged 50lb/colony for my first eight years despite a lack of experience and little knowledge; now I hope for 80lbs+ but don't sweat if all the bells don't ring. The pensions I had were cashed in to expand and I have no fear of the future, despite a mortgage to feed and four months off last winter following a major operation for bowel cancer.

A curious result: by March I was back on the road and have been in bees every day since, and noticed this year that I'm getting younger each day. I cannot say for sure why this should be so, but the job is great fun, involves permanent learning and meeting wonderful people; it expands my horizons and prevents me falling into corrosive life ruts, and in a way, reminds me of the pleasures of getting muddy and bloody as an eight year old. As I don't crave a Maserati, what more is there to ask?

By all means have a business plan, but for Madbee to expand because the money is there is not enough: you must have real passion and commit to take that road. Build slowly, work hard at it, chuck away most hobby beekeeper habits, sell the TV and check that you love what you do.

 

[mbc]

That is the nub of the equation.

At honeyforsale.co.uk bulk price hovers around £3-3.50/lb. so working backwards will get you to an average yield necessary for a gross return. If we control our retail price and outlets (can be three times the bulk price) then fewer colonies and less work (in theory) is needed.

Let's look beyond the finances: this is a job for unusual people with an offbeat slant on life, the soul who yearns to engage in practical work out in the green yonder and who gains deep satisfaction from it. If that's the choice then monetary compromises must follow, because a business plan is not much use when you're chasing your tail at sunset for the nineteenth day in a row.

I averaged 50lb/colony for my first eight years despite a lack of experience and little knowledge; now I hope for 80lbs+ but don't sweat if all the bells don't ring. The pensions I had were cashed in to expand and I have no fear of the future, despite a mortgage to feed and four months off last winter following a major operation for bowel cancer.

A curious result: by March I was back on the road and have been in bees every day since, and noticed this year that I'm getting younger each day. I cannot say for sure why this should be so, but the job is great fun, involves permanent learning and meeting wonderful people; it expands my horizons and prevents me falling into corrosive life ruts, and in a way, reminds me of the pleasures of getting muddy and bloody as an eight year old. As I don't crave a Maserati, what more is there to ask?

By all means have a business plan, but for Madbee to expand because the money is there is not enough: you must have real passion and commit to take that road. Build slowly, work hard at it, chuck away most hobby beekeeper habits, sell the TV and check that you love what you do.

Top post, nailed it!
I wouldn't press anyone to do it without the love as it is proper labour.

 

[thorn]

Honey pickled walnuts anyone?

Oh yes please!

 

[Newbeeneil]

That is the nub of the equation.

At honeyforsale.co.uk bulk price hovers around £3-3.50/lb. so working backwards will get you to an average yield necessary for a gross return. If we control our retail price and outlets (can be three times the bulk price) then fewer colonies and less work (in theory) is needed.

Let's look beyond the finances: this is a job for unusual people with an offbeat slant on life, the soul who yearns to engage in practical work out in the green yonder and who gains deep satisfaction from it. If that's the choice then monetary compromises must follow, because a business plan is not much use when you're chasing your tail at sunset for the nineteenth day in a row.

I averaged 50lb/colony for my first eight years despite a lack of experience and little knowledge; now I hope for 80lbs+ but don't sweat if all the bells don't ring. The pensions I had were cashed in to expand and I have no fear of the future, despite a mortgage to feed and four months off last winter following a major operation for bowel cancer.

A curious result: by March I was back on the road and have been in bees every day since, and noticed this year that I'm getting younger each day. I cannot say for sure why this should be so, but the job is great fun, involves permanent learning and meeting wonderful people; it expands my horizons and prevents me falling into corrosive life ruts, and in a way, reminds me of the pleasures of getting muddy and bloody as an eight year old. As I don't crave a Maserati, what more is there to ask?

By all means have a business plan, but for Madbee to expand because the money is there is not enough: you must have real passion and commit to take that road. Build slowly, work hard at it, chuck away most hobby beekeeper habits, sell the TV and check that you love what you do.

Brilliantly said Eric....... I now understand why I enjoy beekeeping so much

 

[E&MBees]

Originally Posted by ericbeaumont:

"this is a job for unusual people with an offbeat slant on life, the soul who yearns to engage in practical work out in the green yonder and who gains deep satisfaction from it".

Perfectly put, nothing better than working outside. Beekeeping and the knowledge that I have gained about bees and pollinators in general has enhanced the work that I do with vulnerable people as a Horticultural Therapist. Even the most challenging individuals respond to nature and are curious, often despite themselves about our fauna and flora.

 

[Tim.S]

Ericbeaumont hits the nail on the head. Have there ever been any purely money driven honey/bee operations in the UK that have succeeded I wonder? The good ones that I know of have all grown up with people who have had a passion from an early age, or have grown up with it in their family.

From my perspective I came to bees fairly late in life, my early 40's. (I know that's young really!) but I have always worked outside in horticulture (run my own company for 35 years) so really beekeeping is just an outgrowth of my previous life, plus I only do it half to one day a week and the business aspect of beekeeping is only just starting after many years experience slowly without borrowed capital.

The other interesting aspect is to take a look on the companies house website, put in 'apiaries' and see how many companies turn up. A very large number are dissolved companies, a fair number have little worth to quite large debts and only a few are what I would call sensible businesses. And those names will be very familiar to members of this forum.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Beekeeping and the knowledge that I have gained about bees and pollinators in general has enhanced the work that I do with vulnerable people as a Horticultural Therapist. Even the most challenging individuals respond to nature and are curious, often despite themselves about our fauna and flora.

I’ve been meaning to ask you what you did as a horticultural therapist. I had a few strange scenarios in my minds eye. You’ve thrown some well needed light but I’m still curious

 

[madbee]

Will echo the points of ericbeaumont, yes balance sheets and returns vary from year to year and enjoyment is a major part of it. Having been in farming and got mud in the eye regularly, but if there is a decent ruturn which if the sun shines then they can be.

Will think about with partner and work some out, but I don't sticing in the bank doing nothing.

 

[E&MBees]

I’ve been meaning to ask you what you did as a horticultural therapist. I had a few strange scenarios in my minds eye. You’ve thrown some well needed light but I’m still curious

Horticultural Therapy has its origins in Occupational Therapy, which came into being during WW1. Medics realised that for the soldiers to recover, physically and mentally from the traumas of war, they needed to engage in meaningful activity. Gardening, woodwork etc were used as the activities. Medicine progressed and Occupational Therapy (OT) developed into a profession of its own, one which I belonged to, supporting Older People at risk of falling. Unfortunately, the NHS doesn't have the funds or the time to use these traditional activities, so interventions have become more limited to a more medical rather than holistic approach.

Following a family career break, I retrained as a Horticultural Therapist. Gardening can be used in so many ways to help others. I have worked in an inner city community garden, using gardening to reduce social isolation, poor health and promote social cohesion. Older people living with dementia can often remember how to garden as they worked with their parents, yet more recent skills or events have been forgotten. Soil and plants are great stimuli, for someone who has lost their sense of sight. Currently, I work with teenagers who struggle to engage with education, and also those with additional needs, in a small local walled community garden.

If you want further information, have a look on this website:https://www.thrive.org.uk/

Emily

 

[Erichalfbee]

Emily, thank you.
That sounds a remarkable thing to be doing. I have seen quite a bit on the tele about gardening and it’s role in our mental health. This current pandemic has thrown that mental health into the spotlight like at no other time. Let’s hope we remember the lessons.

 

[peteinwilts]

Then there's market saturation, only so many people will spend extra on local honey.

The uk can only produce 5% of the nations needs. The bulk of our honey comes from out of the eu

 

[For want of a better word]

The uk can only produce 5% of the nations needs. The bulk of our honey comes from out of the eu

From the same place as Covid -19?

 

[B+.]

From the same place as Covid -19?

Misread post....please ignore/delete

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

From the same place as Covid -19?

What? the USA?

 

[mbc]

The uk can only produce 5% of the nations needs. The bulk of our honey comes from out of the eu

5%?!
I think that's out by a big margin, from what I remember it's more like 40%, and that's just honey on the shop shelves, most home produced honey doesn't get accounted for. Given, there's more likelihood of honey used as a sweetener or ingredient in another product being the cheapest available but still, uk produced honey accounts for far more than "5% of the nation's needs".

 

[Beekeeper Brownie]

Some interesting numbers in this up to date presentation of European honey production

https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/inf...resentations/market-presentation-honey_en.pdf