Building a Bee Business [Vlog #2]
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- Опубліковано 16 лют 2023
- I'm documenting my struggle and process in scaling a beekeeping business.
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duckriverhoney.com/ - Навчання та стиль
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Great content , and the intro music 👌
Thanks! I spent some time finding the music.
I got two things to say ! THANK YOU for not saying cement Blocks ! Second thing to say is amen on not getting a loan and going broke .
Thanks Michael!
Nathan Thanks for taking us along you path. Avoid debt at every stage. You could find much better mentors between Bob and Ian. Blessings to you and your family.
Your videos are so in detail about the business side of beekeeping. Very interesting and much appreciated. Thanks
I appreciate it Joe!
Nathan, a couple of things: 1. it was great to meet you at the Hive Alive conference 2. I enjoy how you are so willing about your adventure in building a bee keeping business.
Thanks Joseph!
Awesome VID keep up the good work!!!
Thanks Harold
One way to help mitigate risk associated with bad/cold weather is to eliminate all upper entrances/vents and insulate your lids with XPS foam. Might seem silly. But it really does help your colonies when the hive conserves the heat that the bees produce instead of blowing it out of the roof. It also keeps hives cooler in summer. Had a 118*F heat wave here in Portland in 2021…my colonies experienced no brood loss, internal temps were significantly lower than ambient, and internal RH was significantly higher than ambient. Most area beekeepers lost a lot of uncapped brood to desiccation.
Good stuff, thanks
WoW... I dread watching your videos now. It gives me chills... In every subsequent video I see you doing things the way I think is right. I'm glad we think alike and it gives me confidence that I'm on the right track, but it's really shocking to see someone talk about things that I think but have never shared with anyone... Compliments on what you're doing !
Thanks
Can't wait to see the progress you make as you share it with us. You seem to have a good mind and work ethic to you so you're a hard one to not bet on.
I appreciate it Tommy!
You said it, hanging adds extra weight , less payload
Good breeding program
Thanks Ian.
It’s all coming together, good look Nathan , thanks for all your productive vlogs . 👍🇬🇧
Thanks Louise!
Really good update Nathan I always enjoy watching you video or interviews really good 🐝🐝🐝🍯🍯🍯🍯
Thanks!
A lot of beekeepers use a crane with forklift attached or handhold attachment. ❤
To leak test a tank, mix a thick paste of water and chalk, the consistency of paint. Paint the chalk on the outside of the tank along the seams. On the inside of the tank, use a brush to brush kerosene on the seams. The kerosene will wet through and "crawl" to show itself in the chalk on the outside of the tank. Reweld the wet spots. Water will work but has a flaw, water will run, it travels to easily, it will show a drip and give indication to an obvious leak somewhere along the failed joint. Wet chalk will pinpoint the exact precise location because the kerosene is an oil and leaves a temporary stain in the chalk, but the chalk will trap it in place. Bulls eye.
That’s a great tip, thanks.
I just bought the R.O.B. Manley book (Honey Farming). I just started reading it but what a delightful read. Love his style and laughed at his writing in the Resptrospect: "for I never did like honey much." Cant imaging making a living out of bees and not liking honey.
I agree completely, it’s a pleasant read. Quaint and entertaining.
I really look forward to these videos thank you so much for posting them
John, I really appreciate hearing that! Makes it more worth the time.
Congrats and great job!
Thanks Kevin!
Nathan a lot of folks make splits in the spring which might mean losing some of the honey crop. I utilize hives that get ideas about swarming to make those increases but do so with an artificial split so the majority of the bees are left in the "production" hive to requeen with a reduced number of queen cells left behind. Mother queen is held as a spare if things go south. This allows the production hive to still produce honey as the hive has less brood to raise while it requeens. But I prefer and have a tendency to, with my small nuc operation, of making the splits after our spring flow (Apr-Jun, ending sometime in early July). There are plenty of production hive bees and drones around, splitting them and adding mated queens or queen cells still gives me plenty of time to grow them on to strong 5x5x5 medium nucs. If any fail to requeen they get paper merged which will just make for a strong hive going into winter and perhaps shifted into three 8F medium boxes to overwinter. Feeding syrup and using drawn comb gets the nucs building up pretty good. I don't ask them to draw comb - I want them ready for winter by October. But that is here in south central PA so not sure if the timeline will work in your area. Nothing says you cannot do both.
Thanks Nancy. I did a lot of splits last year where I pulled the mother queen up into a nuc above a double screen and that worked well. This year I’ll try to graft and queen rear as soon as we have good drone populations, so strong nucs may have time to build up by the time the main flow kicks in. I’ll expect them to build out their hive if not make honey. Hoping for favorable weather!
Great video! We moved to a rural area as well and operated on hot spots from our phones. We got real internet this past November and I can’t tell ya how great it is!
I can’t wait. We’ve known it was coming for two years. Starlink backseated us or we’d already have that.
Harvey’s hunny in NJ uses those trucks with smaller forklifts on the back. But much more old school then the new stuff.
Funny that you don’t see it more often?
Thank you bro for your inspiring videos there not just about building a bee business its about family and Hope, looking forward to series continuing as I am in the process of building my bee business as well 😀 👍, here in jamaica 🇯🇲, lots of love to you and family, ps love your channel bro keep up the good work
I appreciate it Dale! Curious if you have Africanized bees down in Jamaica?
G'day Nathan really enjoying your videos and watching your journey with the bee business all the best for the future keep up the gr8 work👍cheers Dan from Aussie land 🍻🍻
Thanks Dan! Cheers
Man out here in west Texas the cotton goes fast! Super amazing. But crystalized fast. Same with our mesquite. Love watching ya grow! I’m in the same boat this year!
Thanks! I’ve never had mesquite honey, hear it’s good.
Great video! Very informative and really enjoy following along with your journey.
Thanks!
Nice work. Thank you.
Thanks Howard!
Awesome video. Really appreciate the gross per hive numbers.
Thanks Cody!
I'm big curious about the moffett bed forklift. It seems like the obvious solution, why don't commercial beekeepers do it in the US!?
Really appreciate your videos
Thanks Michael!
You need to plan on selling NUCs in the spring you can multiply your investment 5X.
I’ll probably keep them all this year and plan to sell some next year.
Nice to see how you improve your beekeeping, small warning about the pipe lock under the container! It can freeze if there is water there in the winter.
Rv antifreeze poured in the drain will remedy that issue.
I’m not planning on using the floor drain much in winter. The dehumidifier can also dry the trap out….but I have to have it
Moffett is heavy but the small donkey is just right. There is a company that makes them for bee keepers. They suck in the south when it’s really wet.
I bet I’d have trouble with them around here, but in some places they’d be great.
My daddy once trailed watering bees off the mountain down to their tree next to a creek. Those bees chose to coast off a thousand feet of elevation rather than fly up 150 feet with water. When the sourwood flows my bees are at the bottom of that mountain as close as I can get and it rains bees.... I think the elevation advantage turns a minor flow into one of significants.
Very interesting, thanks
I found the bees do better based at the top of the hill vs having the apiary at the bottom, I believe it to be for several reasons. Sunrise to sunset is far longer at the top, meaning more foraging hours. If you were a hunter, you may know air flows uphill in the morning and downhill in the evening, heat rises and cold sinks, therefore the bottom of the hill is the coolest location also hindering foraging time. I am also rural, starlink has been awesome.
I wish we had starlink! They kept moving our date back by 6 months at a time.
I wish you well in your efforts, Nathan. Onward through the fog!! Glad you are not "outdriving your headlights" and are managing the downside risk with pay as you go equity. An old man gave me wise investment advice once...Bears win sometimes and Bulls win sometimes but "Pigs" (greedy) never win.
Thanks Dwight!
Sounds like you are making head way and being smart about the money flow. at 60 yrs old working my way towards a full time retirement gig, I am self financing everything. One of my Issues is having a personal acct and a Business account but I am financing the business account with my personal account , it gets confusing trying to keep the money separate. I have some questions for my tax service this year. And I have to keep working my full time job because thats the source for financing the business but it limits my time to put into the business side. It's a juggling act for sure, Where my heart is right now and at the moment where the money is. Pushing hard this year to focus on queen rearing. Looking forward to the next video. Pulling for you to succeed !
Thanks, it is definitely a balancing act. I’m expecting a lean cash condition for the next year at least.
Building a packing business, bee business and video content business as a one man show - plan not to sleep🤣. Good luck.
😴😴😴 what was that? I nodded off for a second
A lot of commercial guys are using F550 or something along that line and a Moffitt would not be a good match. A Hummer Bee and trailer is probably about the same money and a better fit. I have been told the Moffitt doesn't do well in soft ground. This opinion and 5 dollars you can probably get a cup of coffee somewhere.
😅
I know a few commercial beekeepers here in Ontario Canada that love Moffets for moving bees into holding yards and loading semi's. I have heard they don't do as well in muck as Bobcats.
I appreciate that, I’ve been curious. All the moffets I see are tandem axles, I thought that might have had something to do with it, like they’re heavier built than necessary.
@@DuckRiverHoney just about any truck with tandoms is going to be a CDL truck so if they dont have a CDL and dont want to pay $5k-6k to get a CDL that could be why.
Have you considered feeding prosweet with the buckets early like this instead of the fondant? I'm in Ohio and giving that a try with 3 of my Colonies that are light. I put an extra box on top to try to keep it a little warmer. They seem to be on it but take it VERY slowly. I'm always nervous to add moisture so I haven't added it to everyone yet until we are consistently in the 50s. We just hit our maple bloom this week here in Columbus Ohio!
I’m not set up for bucket feeding, and I don’t have any prosweet, but I expect it would work. I do think fondant is probably the best winter emergency feed.
My question is why all medium boxes?
I would love to see footage of your honey house build. Maybe it's already upcoming? Or have I missed it and it's already on here. Keep up the hard work, it will pay off in the end!
I’ve got one video out already, working on editing the second now. It’s a lot of work…
@Duck River Honey I can't even imagine! I don't know how everyone finds the time. It's got to be tough sometimes.
Year--round supply makes a lot of sense for business reasons.
I agree Barry, it’s a hurdle I’ve got to jump.
You will definitely like the fiber internet. We finally got it about 6 months ago. Way cheaper, and way better.
I can't wait!
Thanks Nathan. I look forward to your Friday videos. Question: is the septic required for your license? And will you use it for washing equipment and walls, or do you also need to have a toilet in a licensed honey house? I'm impressed you're already exploring packing honey that you buy from others.
Eric, yes, it’s required. Toilet is also required but I can get an exception since it’s only family working there, and two family residences are nearby. I’m working on he honey house update…video goes back to last august so there’s a lot to process. To be honest I’ve been putting off making this video because I knew it would be a bear.
I think the issue with a Piggyback forklift is it puts extra weight on the truck so it can carry less cargo (fewer hives).
Definitely, but it’s got to be handy in some places.
@@DuckRiverHoney agreed and it’s seems simpler. Although the EZ lift seems like a really good option.
Great info. Solid tips and research, I have stumbled into the 30 colonies per outyard to help the higher yield lower scarcity stress. I have trust issues buying other people’s low bucket price honey but that is great perspective on honey packing.
Here’s a question, I mirror Michael Palmer’s philosophy about making the best queens during the spring, but I think there is some traction with the solstice queens in late June early July that isn’t talked about much. Queens are less worn out and perhaps the better swarm determinants?
I think queens made after the solstice make a lot of sense. Bob Binnie talks about that, so does Ian Steppler, so did Brother Adam.
Another good video, thank you. You mentioned e-commerce, how effective is a website and/or internet sales when it comes to honey? Should it be emphasized for marketing and sales or just as one tool in a large box? Also, Bob's approval is on many beekeeper's bucket list, he's earned much respect.
Mike it remains to be seen. I’m targeting keywords around Nashville Local Honey to try to find new customers. When I get a first purchase from someone the likelihood that they buy again goes way up. So I’ve got some ideas but haven’t implemented yet around this. Figure it’s best to start small and improve.
Check out donkey forklifts. I know a few migratory guys that use them. They are great.
👍
Best of luck man, have a spot or two here in southern ohio if expanding gets tough down there. Near Cincinnati
That’s a drive from here! Thanks
I understand it's a drive for sure. But offers open bud
I appreciate it! I like Ohio. Prettiest fall colors I ever saw were around Ironton around Halloween.
I'm relay enjoying this vid series, I have kept bees for 16yrs now for the past 5 I have run 50 double i'm thinking what your doing and how your sharing it might be what I need to make my LLC grow.
Thanks!
Well done as always, Nathan. I want to expand, sell nucs and make honey. With your expansion plan and honey needs, how are you going to balance the two?
Hope, good question. I may pick this one up next week. I plan to make strong splits fairly early with new queens, and then throw drawn supers at my old queens to try to keep them from swarming. I MAY end up with some honey from some of my splits, if I’m lucky. I’ll likely do a round of late splits and queen rearing to make up numbers. Honey and swarm prevention first, numbers second.
@DuckRiverHoney Thanks Nathan. I'm like you. I have around 25 hives. They have 5 brood frames in singles and up to 9 in doubles. My plan is to split them all, leaving 4 brood frames and then making 12 as honey production hives and the rest as resource hives for splits 2 more times. I only need 500 lbs or so of honey at present. I'll sell 20 or so nucs.
What is you camera and sound set up, it sound great?
I’ve got a couple of canon camcorders and a couple GoPros. My mics are Rode Go’s
moffet factory 3 miles down road from me good machines
The forklift they had was pretty neat. Could unload the whole truck from just one side.
Are you ever going to sell nucs or packages? I’ve been wondering if honey is the best bang for your buck or is it selling bees.
Yes I’ll sell bees as well, but I’ll probably keep everything I make this year to increase hive numbers.
Would you post a reading list and affiliate links to purchase those books? Thanks.
I should have those books in my Amazon store. www.amazon.com/shop/duckriverhoney?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_aipsfshop_aipsfduckriverhoney_0JCCBM271S7Z8CS8N4TZ
I went into mind yesterday flying drones at least a frame in each box
Wow, where you at?
I feel like me and you are walking similar paths in different states..
What state are you in Richard?
@@DuckRiverHoney Louisiana
About 40 hives going to 100-250 depends on weather ,bees and me. Built my house 6 years ago and so I already have the wood shop. Got the stainless wax dipping tank 2 weeks ago and a sweet deal on 3/4 plywood. 42 sheets for 20$ a sheet.. the next day you post video with Mr Bob and he says “ get a little wood shop and at least build your own lids and bottoms. That’s why I was happy and felt reassured hearing him say that.
Good luck! Figure you’ve got privet and tallow flows down there? My wife grew up in Louisiana.
@@DuckRiverHoney yeah we’ve have alot of that stuff down here.. I think you will be successful with bees and honey . You’re good at trying to get your facts and figures straight. Do you have a table saw and radial arm saw?
I drive a truck with a moffett as my main job and use it to move my bees up to the Heather every year here in Ireland and there great for off-roading bees up in mountain areas but there very bumpy you gotta have them strapped to the pallet pretty tight
Awesome to know Patrick, thanks!
Would you do a indepeth video showing tank and burner assembly
Yeah, after I use it. I hate how tos from people who haven’t used stuff.
it's a shame you have over 1800 views and less than 200 likes, So simple to support someone by just clicking a mouse
I appreciate it!
Hi Nathan! Thanks for this content. It is the right information at the right time for me. My question is about the septic system. In a previous video with Bob, he mentioned honey and its anti-microbial properties and its effect on septic systems. What practices for cleanups are recommended to avoid problems with the septic system introduced by honey? Thanks a bunch! -=< Kevin >=-
Kevin, I’m not doing anything extra with this septic system, the whole goal is to check the box on the permit application. If I build a “real” honey house down the road I’ll probably do a 2 or 3 chamber system, with trench drains in high wax areas.
Edit that to be " could not find much bettermentors"....I have fat fingers
Thanks Dan!
Cotton honey crystallizes quick I’d stay away from it .
It’d be good for creamed honey then?
@@DuckRiverHoney Yes
@@DuckRiverHoney Cream honey is something that really interests me
It’s good stuff.
Sadly, unless you can control all the drone production for several miles around you breeding in varroa behaviors is always going to be tough. This is because most of the traits that breeders are seeking are recessive traits which means they will be suppressed in a single generation. This is also why breeders need Artificially inseminated breeder queens. As long as there are wild bees, or other beekeepers in your area (i.e. within 6-10 mile flight) you will only have limited success.
I am really looking forward to your business success, and always hope I a wrong about the genetics/recessive traits you are looking for.
We’ll see about the genetics…if nothing else they should be gentle and pleasant to work 😉