My #1 Source of Income As a Beekeeper
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- It took years before I finally got rid of my job and starting keeping bee full-time. Here's what helped me take that step to full-time beekeeping and how I did it.
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#1 - I got a steady source of income
A client of my husband worked for a hotel looking for a beekeeper. They paid me a flat rate to care for a few beehives on their property and harvest the honey. Having that steady income without having to take on a full or part time job was THE BEST!
In the video I suggest places to contact about keeping bees for them.
When trying to get a client like this, remember to make it about them (not you).
They can:
• get press
• raw honey from their property to use in their kitchen or sell in their shop
• they can advertise to customers about what they're doing to help the bees
• they don't need a staff person to do it (easy and worry free)
#2 - Wholesale
The second source of income that I heavily depend on is wholesale accounts. This is a small store that buys 2 cases of honey twice a year. These are the stores that buy at least 4 cases every few months, consistently. They're the people who have customers who are looking for your product.
#businessofbeekeeping
If you found this video helpful, please share on your favorite Facebook beekeeping group or with your beekeeping association! Thank you for your support!
You have a wonderful presentation style, very down to earth and good information.
This is a very nice experienceee, thank you for sharing it.
I am here from Romania, being a junior in IT, but I feel I am struggling with sitting at my pc all day long so I would like at least a side job in beekeeping :). I don't think I will be able to have one or my own hives, but hope is always a thing
Great content video!
Full time since 09 around Wash,DC...
I can't even imagine making a consistent livable income in anything other than aspect than bee removal services?
I also onsite mentor to tf beekeeps and have several gov contracts for hive placement.
Happy beekeeping!
Thank you very much for the information, I am a beekeeper from Morocco.
Hello Laryssa, subscriber here from the Philippines. I would like to know if it's okay to disclose some information here, what were the salient agreements between you and the hotel management prior to the installation of the hives? Thank you.
I plan on making a video about this in a few weeks, but in short, I was paid a monthly rate to care for their bees. All of the equipment was owned by them and they paid for all of the equipment. They also kept all of the honey.
@@BeekeepingMadeSimple Oh I see. Will wait on that episode. Thank you.
This is actually similar to what we do. We service beehives for customers. Although we charge annually and collect upfront. That really helps with having the funds needed upfront and not having to deal with billing issues. Our bread and butter customers are those looking for agricultural tax exemptions. Although we aren't getting quite that high of rates :)
Nice! That's a great idea to collect payment annually. A lot less billing is needed! And great point - it's a wonderful way to start the year with funds to keep the business going and expand.
how does that work for the AG credit? if you don't mind me asking for some info, im trying to navigate the ins and outs; Im buying 5 acres of land that is going to be right beside a CSA ( community supported agriculture and i wanted to reduce my property taxes. Eventually i want to create a Berm home on the property and promote sustainable living practices. NY state specifically.
@@amandawong1256 I'm in Texas. I'm sure your laws will be different in NY. But I would call the county tax office and discuss it with them.
Regarding co-opting bees for a hotel or B-Corp.... how many hives do you manage per site? Did you pay for all the equipment & packages or Nucs? How do you handle liability insurance?
I started with 4 hives at the hotel, but now there's 2. I've found most places don't want many hives.
They pay for all of the equipment and the nuc's. I delivered the nuc's and get the equipment as needed and they reimburse me.
You will want to have a general liability insurance. There's insurance companies that specialize in insuring bee farms. Since the hives are on their property, I believe (but am not positive) it is the hotels' liability if someone is harmed by the bees. The bees are in an area that is out of the way where staff and visitors do not go. There is no walkway that leads to them. There's also a sign up with a chain that goes across the area about 20' before the hives that says "honeybees at work".
That's a great question about liability and definitely make sure you include in the contract with the client before you put bees on their property that you will not be held liable.
Some great ideas there. I need to contact some hotel restaurants. A little good press, and boom.
Exactly! Good point about the press. If a hotel puts beehives on their roof, its another way they can get a lot of press. The hardest part is getting the first client. Once you can tell one business that you keep bees for another business that's similar to them, you'll have an easier time selling.
Good info there! Have you ever thought of tapping into the Souvenier market with Jars of Honey. Say if you have bee hives near holiday resorts then have specific labels saying its from that area. Back in the 1980s My grandad used to sell Souvenier jars from a Seaside town in the holiday season.
Great idea! I have not tried that, but that would be a great idea especially if selling at a farmer's market or holiday fair. I did work for a farm that had a Christmas honey label just for Christmas time. It was for the Christmas Berry honey. She said it sold pretty well.
The hotels idea is quite surprising. I wouldn't have ever thought of that on my own. Clever.
I can't take credit for the idea! They contacted me.
Wonder when you will do a new video...
Had some stuff I was curious to ask you;
How do you find people that will let you put hives there for bee yards? And any thoughts on how compensation should be? (I guess some people would say just to take money for pollination yards like CA almonds, but I've heard its really hard on bees to do that...so maybe that's not a great option while you are building up.)
And I was also curious to ask you if really long dark periods or long light periods will affect bees much, and what you thought? (Like Alaska, Canada, Norway etc.) (Yeah this isn't too practical, but its research fun stuff.)
Hi Noah. I filmed a new video 2 weeks ago, but have been slow to upload b/c I've been so tired and not feeling well. Baby #2 is on the way, and if I'm being totally honest, I got so tired of the negative comments on that flow hive video. There's only so many times I can be told I don't know what I'm before I wonder if it's worth doing something for free just to be called not nice names. Anyway, before I write a long response, just to clarify, are you asking how I found places for my bee yards where they will pay me? Or just to put bees on? When it comes to compensation, I do not pay anyone to put my bees on their property. Sometimes I will give them a small amount of honey, but here people get a tax break if 5 hives are on every acre of land, so I don't see the need for compensation. I'm not familiar with offering pollination services. It's not really done here with so many commercial apiaries looking for land.
A friend of mine in VA puts bees on estates. She said she shows them how, after 2 years, they're making money in honey sales even after paying them for their services. Their business is doing well, so it sounds like that sales technique is working for them. I'm hoping to interview them for the podcast, but it won't be until at least July.
I've met a bunch of Alaskan beekeepers here in HI. A lot of people from Alaska move or travel to HI. they all told me the bees did well in the summer. One person sent me some fireweed honey which is what she primarily harvests, but the season is really short. All the beekeepers I talked to said their hives die over winter and they buy new ones in the spring, except one person said their mentor has a bee shed where their hives go for the winter and some of their bees survive in the shed. I wonder if days of darkness would prevent the bees from leaving the hive? My guess is that its mostly the temperature that affects the bees foraging, but I'm sure there are beekeepers in these areas that talk about it??? Let me know if you find anything!
@@BeekeepingMadeSimple Very cool! Exciting. Bees are just really fun to research. I caught the bug and keep thinking of stuff to figure out. Haha.
I think you offer a fresh perspective on beekeeping. So you should keep it up. The ideas you present are totally different from the other guys doing it and valuable. And probably anyone with a survivor perspective of being able to keep bees alive through the mites/winter/etc is good, because they are hearing from posers/virtue signallers a lot instead of...whoever is having say a certain % of their hives always live through winter, or can get good numbers.
So don't let the flow hive troll comments get you down.
A lot of us are tired of the grumpy beekeepers also. You already heard my comments on that from another comment a few weeks ago; but you aren't grumpy and I don't have to worry if you are going to push buttons or be a jerk.
So those are all thoughts I hope you'll consider in not giving up doing videos despite hardships that are legitimate, and reasons to slow down.
I didn't know there was tax breaks for bee hives! That is very cool. I've watched hundreds of bee videos and never run into that idea. It makes me curious if that's in other states also. Some of them probably have it. That is a major selling tool to use to help find spots to pot hives. (I meant the question on finding apiaries because last year I tried to find places but couldn't w ad on online ads. I think overall I would need to study it out more in all areas.)
I think one of the reasons people run into negative comments and attitudes is that they will end up finding people who feel like they are leading the pack in certain industries who feel threatened when they see new ideas because they have already been content with where they are, and there's pride to be considered to know a lot. So they lash out at anyone different from they are, or when there's a new idea. I saw this on beesource a lot. (And because of it I avoid beesource unless I absolutely have to. I've noticed its about a 60% chance someone will be a jerk to a new idea poser on beesource; terrible troll odds.) In some cases they are right, you'll get a response like, you are overthinking it. And I do that. But sometimes comments can pile up and twist into negative directions easily, because ppl act on pride or want to show off.
These are all reasons why I hope you'll stick with it; because you can offer more. The business perspective alone is good, and many people actually wouldn't be honest about that. The safe environment concept is actually going to win more people over to you also. Safe environment is worth a lot.
Re: your response on light and dark; I wish I knew more about how they navigate and their brains and eyes work; that would give us the answers on if darkness stops them from leaving the hive. (Although there are other things to research.)
I have heard there are beekeepers in places like Finland, Sweden, and even Russia. So I am certain there's ways of working it out with cold, darker places. But I don't know how well they do and it sounds rough. And I've read many comments of people say they wish they hadn't gotten Russian bees and that they aren't as good as they hoped. (Although I haven't done Russians myself. But I keep running into that. But some of them that I read about in the off hand they ended up with some of the survivor Russians those tended to be pretty good.) I had read some stuff from a long time ago that sometimes ppl in Canada would put their hives in like a basement cellar way back in the day. But I don't know more than that, or how well it worked.
T2UL.
Thanks very much.
@@noahriding5780 Thank you for the response! Russia, last I read, was one of the #1 countries for beekeeping. I don't know how far north you'll find beekeepers, but I started beekeeping on a whim. After I got my bees both of my grandmothers told me my great grandfathers had bees on their farm in Ukraine. Who knew it was in my blood? Oddly enough, neither told me this until I was already keeping bees, but both tried to convince me not to keep bees. They said it was a man's job.
I love your questions and comments. It reminds me of myself when I was first getting started. I couldn't learn enough. I was so curious and wanted to test out theories. Watch out. I got bee fever hard and ended up moving across the country to keep bees year round. It's contagious :)
very honest & helpful
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome.
New sub, thank you for the ideas, very creative. Definitely some good ones to consider.
Thanks! I'm so glad you found it helpful. Let me know how it works for you.
Thank you for sharing your insight. It helped me.
You're welcome! I'm glad it helped. I, by no means, am an expert at this, but these two revenue streams helped me a lot.
Thanks 4 sharing your experience 🌈
Great information Laryssa. 👍
Thanks!
Hey there! About how many hives do you think it takes to start making enough money to begin to do this full time? What does an average year look like for how much you can make per hive? Excluding pollination services, I’m just talking honey, wax candles, and comb honey. Any thoughts?
It really depends on how much you want to make, what products you're making, who you're selling to. It really varies depending on where you live and how you're selling your products. I would have at least 10 hives before it can be a part time job and start there. Here we can keep bees year round and there's a lot of tourists so the markets are year round. If you're in a cold weather state, you might need a second source of income in the winter months.
Have you experience of royal jelly, what it is, how its made and how to harvest it, and have you made a video of it please
Sorry, I know absolutely nothing about how to harvest royal jelly for commercial use. I don't harvest pollen or royal jelly because they both have a shelf life and if given the option, I prefer to stick with harvesting honey since it lasts longer.
Thank you very informational !!
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, great informative vid. I do worry that turning my hobby into an income may take away the enjoyment? But I guess I'll never know unless I give it a crack.
I can almost guarantee that turning your hobby into a source of income will take away the enjoyment. LOL It's just how it goes. It might still be enjoyable most of the time, or at least some of the time, but it probably won't be as enjoyable. When I started keeping bees for the hotel, I got super stressed out about it. They only wanted 4 hives there, it was a 45 min drive to get there and I had to coordinate with security to get onto the property. It was in an area my former boss told me bees didn't do well in because there was very little food 9 months out of the year and it was super windy in the afternoons. Having to drive an extra hour or more made beekeeping less fun and the stress of not being able to make mistakes and just shrug my shoulders and keep going also made it less fun. I still love what I do, though, and don't regret leaving my graphic design work for it.
@@BeekeepingMadeSimpleI find your info and personal experience very interesting, thank you. I'd actually never thought of offering to a hotel. My sister is a director of Four Seasons here in Hampshire and when I was lucky enough to stay here last year they had their own hives. I don't think they'd have let a man from Birmingham tend to their beekeeping needs!
I shall definitely consider this as an option. If not, maybe to start with selling equipment as there doesn't seem to be any stores around this city? I rent, currently a unit on a farm selling plumbing and heating equipment. Won't hurt starting off with small amounts of equipment for beekeeping.
@@reade79 Thanks! The Four Seasons here has a honey company take care of some flow hives for them as well. I was talking to the owner of that bee farm and he said they had some employees of the hotel do the honey harvest because it was a flow hive and they forgot to turn the key back and there was a ton of honey in the bottom of the hive. LOL
the purpose to some of these videos is to just let beekeepers know that there's ways to make money other than killing yourself (and your back and shoulders) running an apiary with thousands of hives. I worked for a place like that and it's a ton of work and stress and doesn't bring in as much money as I think it should. Starting with an avenue like selling equipment if you already do that in your main line of work is probably the best way to get started.
Does the monthly fee include extracting and bottling of there honey?
That $300 fee I charged included extracting and bottling but I didn't think about that part when I told him my price! And then 4 months later I'm spending 4 hours bottling and not too happy about it. That's why I suggest asking for more. If you live somewhere colder, maybe charge less for the Winter months. That being said, they do have one of the landscapers help with the bottling and they do the labeling, so it gets done in one morning. this year, because of COVID I took the honey back to my place and harvested with my frames so it was faster. They also give me a $250 bonus every year. I've since increased what I charge.
The hotel idea, if putting hives on the roof is not good, as bees are returning late evening in the honeyflow period and flying on the lights in the rooms. My neighbours hating me
great advice
Thank you
You're welcome!
Good video thank you
How do you find wholesalers to sell honey to?
My first wholesale account was with my employer at the time. It's really helpful to work for an apiary before starting your own because you'll get a better idea of where the gaps are in the market. They're still my best client. Then, I emailed the local grocery stores a PDF with photos of my products and pricing along with my certification and licenses (you don't want to make them ask you for it).
@@BeekeepingMadeSimple Thanks!
Cool ideas. New sub here.
thanks!
Question: do you pay social security taxes on your bee income?
Hello
New subscriber,, I too keep some bees in some of my videos, maybe we can get ideas from each other
I hope so!
Okay you live in Hawaii
Sure do. First I was in PA, then moved to a semi arid desert in Hawaii, then up the mountain where's it's super rainy and back to the desert :)