- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Messages
- 19
- Reaction score
- 30
- Location
- Manchester
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 200
I’m based in Greater Manchester. We expanded from around 75 hives in 2020 to over 200 hives in 2021.
The expansion was not easy. We didn’t want to split existing stock as we needed strong honey producing colonies to meet demand, so ended up buying in.
We made the classic mistake of just buying stock without thinking about its provenance, so the first 50 colonies purchased from a retiring beekeeper were a mixed bag. I should have inspected everything before purchase, but I let my enthusiasm get the better of me. It created a huge amount of additional work improving the stock.
The other 75 I was much more selective. I paid more, but they are excellent bees. They have been a joy to work, so we’ll worth the additional investment.
I’m repeating existing advice, but managing 100 colonies is nothing like managing 50, and managing 200 colonies is nothing like managing 100. It takes real investment, both financially, mentally, physically . . . as well as taking-up more time than most full time jobs.
Happy to chat to your friend if they are genuinely pursuing this and are not just trying to make a fast buck.
The expansion was not easy. We didn’t want to split existing stock as we needed strong honey producing colonies to meet demand, so ended up buying in.
We made the classic mistake of just buying stock without thinking about its provenance, so the first 50 colonies purchased from a retiring beekeeper were a mixed bag. I should have inspected everything before purchase, but I let my enthusiasm get the better of me. It created a huge amount of additional work improving the stock.
The other 75 I was much more selective. I paid more, but they are excellent bees. They have been a joy to work, so we’ll worth the additional investment.
I’m repeating existing advice, but managing 100 colonies is nothing like managing 50, and managing 200 colonies is nothing like managing 100. It takes real investment, both financially, mentally, physically . . . as well as taking-up more time than most full time jobs.
Happy to chat to your friend if they are genuinely pursuing this and are not just trying to make a fast buck.
There are definitely some fluid types on this forum...
