Expense

[madasafish]

I will start by saying: I am mean, And an OAP. And was educated in Scotland - in Aberdeen where they are notoriously cautious in spending money.

For my first 4 years of beekeeping I kept Topbar hives made from pallet wood. I think - apart from bees- my biggest expenditure was £35 on a ebay tunic which I still have and use .

I now have 8 Langs : one poly was a prize and the other seven are largely self made wood.. with added supers bought from BE at under £15 each.. My hive tool is made from a steel bar and my smoker is 8 years old £12 from ebay - much mended and modified. My extractor was used twice, half price Maisiemore with settling tank ebay. Bought in winter. All my stands, floors, covers and crown boards are DIY.

My annual spending on maintenance and mating nucs, feed and treatment is under £400, I make most of my nucs (all bar 1) from used or surplus insulation board ditto my overwintering mini nucs.

I keep a running total of my spend and income...

No way as a hobby beekeeper have I spent more than £3k over 9 years . I am not a brilliant carpenter but have a router (Aldi new), Table saw (Screwfix secondhand but excellent £30) and planer etc.. Mostly bought for peanuts.. What I build may not be the latest in looks and style but it is strong, warm, lasts, light and it works....

If I was 20 years younger I would expand but I am not so just keeping fit enough to manage the hives, raise queens and help beginners are my major aims.

Beekeeping can be done on a shoestring and if you can diy and buy carefully (ie when there are sales on) and pick up surplus equipment/materials... then it can be done on surprisingly little money initially.

Of course, if you have little time then that's a different thing.. Woodworking is easy to learn#... and insulation board very easy to cut so diy is feasible if you have time..

And our garage is not full of beekeeping stuff and still holds its designed quota of cars .. and I have no shed. (Supers and nucs stored outside on stands well strapped down.) I make frames in batches of 9 in a (homemade) jig using a £10 Lidl brad gun so 9 in about 20 minutes - so just in time and no need to store many.

# just be very careful around power saws and read up and follow best safety precautions : I write from painful experience Paying tax on the profits is only slightly less painful...

 

[mbc]

Yes, you could end up with it costing you nothing, in fact the bees could end up paying for absolutely everything, you keep them... and they keep you.

Yup, twenty years since I got badly bitten by bee fever, last few years it's been my only source of income, it feeds and roofs the whole tribe (I still have to do a bit of labouring in the winter in the lean years mind!)

 

[blackcloud]

Similar situation,
24 December oblivious to the whole thing
23 March Three nationals fully kitted,WBC to restore,home made monstrosity hive to tame,new cedar waiting to collect at the Welsh show next week
Accessories to make for them all,very understanding wifes freezer half full of frames
Three bait hives on sheds and in trees
New smoker still in box -no bees.....

 

[mbc]

Similar situation,
24 December oblivious to the whole thing
23 March Three nationals fully kitted,WBC to restore,home made monstrosity hive to tame,new cedar waiting to collect at the Welsh show next week
Accessories to make for them all,very understanding wifes freezer half full of frames
Three bait hives on sheds and in trees
New smoker still in box -no bees.....

This is a prerequisite.

 

[Gordoncoll]

I was criticised on other sites(facebook) for any effort to minimise cost one chap saying “take the hit” when I asked if anyone had a spare sheriff hat n veil for sale. I can afford a new one but if I can reclaim and reuse I will try that first. I fall into the having an understanding wife category but even with those 2 factors (wife and reasonsble income) i still want to do this as economicslly sensibly as I can. So far I am probably 600 ish in but if I hadnt been creative that would be closer to 1k. I may have mentioned no bees do at least another 150 for them is coming up. Is it just me or do other sites get a little “bitchy”? Havent noticed it here though.

 

[viridens]

...... Is it just me or do other sites get a little “bitchy”? Havent noticed it here though.

You probably will.

 

[madasafish]

I was criticised on other sites(facebook) for any effort to minimise cost one chap saying “take the hit” when I asked if anyone had a spare sheriff hat n veil for sale...................... Is it just me or do other sites get a little “bitchy”? Havent noticed it here though.

That site has a fair number of "save the bees and to hell with the expense" beekeepers.. I find they often sell up at a large loss after 2-3 years when reality intrudes (stings, time and hard work).

People get cabin fever here.. (But compared to what happened during the neonicotinoid wars of some 6-7 years ago, when the activists ended up being banned from this and every other beekeeping site, it's all sweetness and light)

 

[For want of a better word]

Well I gave up fishing. Mainly because of time constraints with the alotment etc.
Having been banging on about bees for awhile a “friend” arrives at my door and says “i’ve got some thing for you. This something turns out to be what I then was called a beehive but I now know to be a national brood box, base, verroa floor, roof,queen excluder,2 supers,and a crown board. Learnt this quite quickly. Since then I joined an association, booked a course,was told “oh really you want 2 hives. Ok bought what was described as a full hive (no bees)which it was,but the guy was using a brood box as a honey collector on another brood box, soooo bought another floor roof qe and crown board and now have 3. Ah but as I have 3 I now need more supers. Bought 6. They needed frames as did brood boxes. Bought those. Needed a suit bought that.gloves and a hive tool,got those Still havent got bees.

As an addition to this I mainly smell of blowtorched wood, bleach and washing soda. Still no bees.

I have a few of questions:

Does the expense ever stop?
Is anyone selling a sherrif veil/hat?
Does anyone want to buy a kidney?
Is there a beekeepers anonymous?

Loving every minute of it really

Gordon

No bees (yet)

Family sold the fishing boat a few years back when the silver darlings were all taken by the french/dutch/spanish... not to forget the massive russian "trawls" that could scoop up and process a whole shoal in minutes!

And soon if our goc.uk do not invest in a fleet of fishery protection vessels most of europes fishers will be plundering our waters... forget marine protection zones... mean nothing to the foreigners!

The allotment was sold off for development to a company that cares little for its clients... even to the extent of not fitting legally required fire breaks under the eves to save a few quid for its shareholders.

Frames and foundation have cost us £3k to replace.... and another 50 new hives to try and make the whole outfit viable.

I wish I had the time to go fishing!

Bet advice... get a decent new Sherriff suit... and do not mess around with old kit because it will eventually come back and bite!

On the plus side beekeeping is an enjoyable passtime

Chons da

 

[Beefriendly]

I was criticised on other sites(facebook) for any effort to minimise cost one chap saying “take the hit” when I asked if anyone had a spare sheriff hat n veil for sale..

Nowt wrong with being tight....although some beekeepers take it to extreme lengths.
I tend to measure beekeeping product prices as number of jars of honey I need to sell to buy one. That way my bees keep me.
Makes it about 20 jars for a full new suit. or less than a full super of honey.

Whilst a lot will depend on what you do or want from your beekeeping buy the best and the biggest you can from your honey sales. Beekeeeping is generally expansionist so that 4 frame cheap extractor you got for a song is not going to cope with 6 hives worth of honey in a few years time....been there have the T-shirt...now have 20 frame extractor
If you are not into selling honey then it is going to cost you your own hard earned cash....

 

[beebopper]

Yes, you could end up with it costing you nothing, in fact the bees could end up paying for absolutely everything, you keep them... and they keep you.

Absolutely - people seem to like talking about the honey/nucs they produce and the money they spend. Never any mention of how much they make from sales.
If you are good at the craft there seems to me that there is plenty of money you can make. Well I hope so anyway as it part of my early retirement plan.

 

[Eyeman]

Absolutely - people seem to like talking about the honey/nuc they produce and the money they spend. Never any mention of how much they make from sale.
If you are good at the craft there seems to me that there is plenty of money you can back. Well I hope so anyway as it part of my early retirement plan.

Never know who might be listening!

 

[beebopper]

Never know who might be listening!

 

[Popparand]

Started off with £500 for two occupied hives knocked down to £300 because one colony was almost extinct from wax moth infestation. Number one colony gave 100 lb of honey two months later, sold for £5.00 plus per lb without any trouble. Number two colony saved and now thriving. So maybe split one or both this year to double up.

Made a nice double hive stand out of reclaimed skip timber. £12 total including nails, screws and paint. Looks stronger than catalogue stands at £70.

6 frame manual extractor. Italian engineered and really nice peice of kit. Bought new for £270 on ebay/amazon reduced from £500.

You dont need to spend a fortune. £60 for a suit and £10/15 for a smoker - no need to spend 40/50 quid. Likewise kitchen gloves from Sainscos only cost £2. Print your own labels from onlinelabels.com and save 50%+. Shop around for jars, or buy through your local association.

You can make your own warming box with plywood/insulation and a greenhouse heater. If necessary you can warm 30lb in a fan oven overnight from 80f to 125f for bottling. Save £200+.

Don't buy standard stuff from specialist beekeeping suppliers. e.g. you can buy ratchet straps from discount stores/Aldi for half Thrones price. A metal roasting dish makes a perfectly adequate uncapping tray.

Put the word out for birthday/Christmas pressies (pass on the catalogue page so they dont get the wrong one):

Refractometer
Posh smoker
Smock
Hooded vest
Feeders
Polycarbonate crown board (for the grandchildren)

Join your local association for 2nd hand equipment/bees from retiring beekeepers.

Plan for this year: Convert knackered wheelbarrow into a hive/super trolley using recycled pallet wood. Cost £3.00? for nuts and bolts.

You dont have to spend spend spend unless you like spending. Half the fun is getting owt for nowt!

 

[blackcloud]

Understanding boss-queen-it's more a prerequisite than actually having bees...��
It's inevitable to make some investment even if it can only be measured in manhours
There's a theoretical three way sliding scale
Time : money : skill - if you have more of one you need less of the others

 

[For want of a better word]

There's a theoretical three way sliding scale
Time : money : skill - if you have more of one you need less of the others

I have none of the above.... think I will buy another boat!

 

[Murox]

I have none of the above.... think I will buy another boat!

ahhh! but are you clever, original, and inventive

 

[Swarm]

I tend to see stuff I could use/recycle at the most inconvenient time. I saw a skip that contained so much perfectly good 3"x 2" timber it would make enough stands for an entire apiary and I had no means to take it away.
I can't believe what some people waste.

 

[blackcloud]

I tend to see stuff I could use/recycle at the most inconvenient time. I saw a skip that contained so much perfectly good 3"x 2" timber it would make enough stands for an entire apiary and I had no means to take it away.
I can't believe what some people waste.

As a fellow skipdipper I sympathise
A visit to the local recycling centre can have me returning in tears sometimes if the atrtendants are on the ball that day.
You're not allowed to take things off the site which surely is "recycling"

 

[Gordoncoll]

Oh dear can I add some more frames, brood boxes and frames to my list?

 

[thorn]

It doesn't stop.

I'm £11000 down this year

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Ah, but this time next year......