New to commercial beekeeping

[fredbloggs]

A first for the Beekeepingforum!

Well Done Mike

you have managed to post a question that has received a unanimous response !! - even the arch-protagonist himself (that will get the other 99% guessing) is in agreement.

I could add numerous words of caution but consider two items

1. A business plan is necessary for a business but new Beeks trip up on the trick of " planning" (nuts and bolts ordering ) two seasons ahead. A simple example would be that your equipment requirements (boxes, frames, health products, feed, foundation etc etc ) for next season will be based on the bargains you can get at the sales- or just pay top dollar on the day. The two years works as in planning to blag a humongous super-dooper TV in the Harrods sale - and missing it by a day - Oh well - better luck next year!

2. What will happen when you are fully operational and lift a box and put your back out quite badly? Who will run your business? will they be able to undertake your detailed instructions?

The best advice here is to shadow a bee farmer and learn the pitfalls of not only running a bee business but being a bee keeper.

All the best

Fred

 

[wightbees]

Let's face it, any one running a business as sole trader who hurts there self, aches and pains just get on with it,I should know ,been there!! As for business plan, no good business will give there secrets away lol. If you can make money with (x) amount of colones repeat the process is the way I think; )

 

[Millet]

I personally think the original post is a wind up possibly from a deleted member.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I personally think the original post is a wind up possibly from a deleted member.

Ha ha ....yes.
It certainly reads a bit trollish and is the chap's one and only post

 

[dpearce4]

Well Done Mike

you have managed to post a question that has received a unanimous response !! - even the arch-protagonist himself (that will get the other 99% guessing) is in agreement.

I could add numerous words of caution but consider two items

1. A business plan is necessary for a business but new Beeks trip up on the trick of " planning" (nuts and bolts ordering ) two seasons ahead. A simple example would be that your equipment requirements (boxes, frames, health products, feed, foundation etc etc ) for next season will be based on the bargains you can get at the sales- or just pay top dollar on the day. The two years works as in planning to blag a humongous super-dooper TV in the Harrods sale - and missing it by a day - Oh well - better luck next year!

2. What will happen when you are fully operational and lift a box and put your back out quite badly? Who will run your business? will they be able to undertake your detailed instructions?

The best advice here is to shadow a bee farmer and learn the pitfalls of not only running a bee business but being a bee keeper.

All the best

Fred

Let's face it, any one running a business as sole trader who hurts there self, aches and pains just get on with it,I should know ,been there!! As for business plan, no good business will give there secrets away lol. If you can make money with (x) amount of colones repeat the process is the way I think; )

Zomorph is your helper and friend in this if you put your back out. Its what gets me to work everyday, I cant stand up without it and my other drugs, gabapentin and co-codamol. 1 disc ruptured and 1 disintegrated due to this. Consultant wont do anything until "I'm in a wheelchair". Thanks NHS.

 

[Millet]

Ha ha ....yes.
It certainly reads a bit trollish and is the chap's one and only post

This made me read again..

5 - how many centrifuges and extractors do you think I need for 50 hives. Also what do they costs usually? Are these very power hungry in terms of electricity. If so what kind of power requirement I will need. How long will take to extract the honey from 50 hives or more.

 

[SDM]

That is pretty unforgivable. However did you have a clear understanding with your landowner in place?



PH

They're on another farmers land, but the fields are adjacent. No way would the owner of my site given them permission without checking with me.

 

[SDM]

I notice someone selling up north Wales,60 colonies plus equipment 16k though

Where did you see that ?

 

[Little John]

Ha ha ....yes.
It certainly reads a bit trollish and is the chap's one and only post

Of all his questions, "7- Do I need to plant flowers nearby. " certainly suggests a wind-up.

LJ

 

[Millet]

Of all his questions, "7- Do I need to plant flowers nearby. " certainly suggests a wind-up.

LJ

And it Takes this thick nobody to work it out,

 

[dpearce4]

And it Takes this thick nobody to work it out,

Takes one to know one as they say Millet. lol

 

[fredbloggs]

And it Takes this thick nobody to work it out,

Ouch !

referee?

moving on - if a wind up, the answers are all good for anyone else considering enterprise beekeeping

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, nearly three pages.....we're slipping!
But yes.....all good answers

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Let's face it, any one running a business as sole trader who hurts there self, aches and pains just get on with it,I should know ,been there!! As for business plan, no good business will give there secrets away lol. If you can make money with (x) amount of colones repeat the process is the way I think; )

If you really damage your back you can look forward to an extended period of immobility. Some back damage never heals fully..
As my doctor once told me "if there's something really heavy to lift get someone else to do it"
Bad backs are hilarious to people that haven't got one!

 

[birdsandbees]

If you really damage your back you can look forward to an extended period of immobility. Some back damage never heals fully..
As my doctor once told me "if there's something really heavy to lift get someone else to do it"
Bad backs are hilarious to people that haven't got one!

indeed! four prolapsed discs in 2014, a nice stay in hospital followed by a couple of months on crutches and now I have to be very careful as the vertebrae are damaged meaning I'm a ticking time bomb! I still have nerve damage in my left leg which may never recover.

be careful out there!!

 

[Little John]

Yes, nearly three pages.....we're slipping!
But yes.....all good answers

I actually think it speaks well of the forum - in that nobody trampled all over a clueless novice's ambitions during the early posts, but tried to be diplomatic instead and steer him towards adopting a more realistic procedure.

For myself, I've now discovered that historical stocking rates at some locations have been very large. Not just Emile Warre's numbers I posted about earlier, but those at Buckfast Abbey (in 1983): 320 full-sized colonies and 520 mating nucs. True - they were using ten out-apiaries, but 40 colonies to each yard was pretty-much standard practice, those being honey-producing colonies, some of which even broke honey weight records.
LJ

 

[Millet]

Takes one to know one as they say Millet. lol

 

[wightbees]

Prevention is better than a cure

 

[madasafish]

indeed! four prolapsed discs in 2014, a nice stay in hospital followed by a couple of months on crutches and now I have to be very careful as the vertebrae are damaged meaning I'm a ticking time bomb! I still have nerve damage in my left leg which may never recover.

be careful out there!!

I have just cured my sciatica by an intense burst of 20 minutes yoga# every morning..for 3 months. Seems to be standing up well to everyday use but it's the beekeeping that does it in

# specifically targetted at spines.

 

[For want of a better word]

I actually think it speaks well of the forum - in that nobody trampled all over a clueless novice's ambitions during the early posts, but tried to be diplomatic instead and steer him towards adopting a more realistic procedure.

For myself, I've now discovered that historical stocking rates at some locations have been very large. Not just Emile Warre's numbers I posted about earlier, but those at Buckfast Abbey (in 1983): 320 full-sized colonies and 520 mating nucs. True - they were using ten out-apiaries, but 40 colonies to each yard was pretty-much standard practice, those being honey-producing colonies, some of which even broke honey weight records.
LJ

A lot more hedgerow back in those days.... and in the Tamar Valley a lot more keepers of honeybees according to some of the archives... but sadly those days fell into a decline as the flower growers went under due to the Dutch growers markets outpricing our own and of course the closure of the branch lines that took our flowers to the London markets!

My Meadow apiary has 30 full sizes yellow bee colonies and returns 20kg + per colony ( except for the TBH which is just there for decoration it seems!)

Bees need flowers... so plant some borrage!

Dohajedh da