Thanks Jerry, you hit the nail on the head. I am in Central Texas with this specific business goal that you just described. Raise bees, produce queens and then learn AI queen raising using my drones and queens from Georgia and Indiana. This is a need in central Texas.
Being a Northern Beekeeper, I need to limit the amount of packaged bees by the season. Typically I would be buying from southern keepers about now for delivery in late April, early may. Naturally, season dependent. I'm going to be setting swarm traps again this spring and anticipate the sale of those bees more likely as nucs. Great video on the possibilities. I really appreciate the straightforward approach to the question with an honest answer. Anyone who has kept bees for more than one season knows, there are no lazy beekeepers. 😉
I have 2 occupied hives & 1 vacant. In Oklahoma. What kind of income can I expect before the winter hits, from selling honey? I dunno if doing a split can happen or how that impacts income. Just saying this is what I've got & I need to make some money badly.
You make it sound so easy, in reality startup costs and the work involved can be brutal . It takes years to build clientele. People are jumping on the bandwagon thinking they are going to get rich flooding the damn market with trash and cutting costs. The learning curve will be your biggest obstacles.
The beekeeper determines the start up cost. I'm assuming the viewer already has experience with bees and already has a few hives. One could build 10 nucs for a cost of approximately $115. Make a few splits from they're existing hives with purchased queens and they could sell them. Beekeeping isn't that hard, some folks try to reinvent the wheel and over complicate things. I do agree with you about people selling junk and dropping prices. That can be fixed, for example. In my area 4 years ago, there was a beekeeper selling nucs for $100. I was selling mine at the time for $170. I bought around 30 nucs from him before he realized what I was doing and he raised his prices. I was buying them and reselling them for $170. I also agree there is a learning curve one must learn. That's why I said start out slow. Thanks for your comment, I will add some of your points in one of the videos.
It does not take years to build clientele. You need to think outside the box. My local bee club has people looking for bees all the time. In my state we have over 5 clubs in a 30 minute radius of me. Word of mouth is a great way to build business. Yesterday I posted on Craigslist that I had Nucs for sale for 250ea. I had over 20 messages from people wanting to buy them. Most wanted 3 or 4 and quite a few wanted 20 or more nucs. That was the only advertising that I did. It didn't cost me anything, but a few minutes of my time to type up the ad. You can save a ton of money by making your own boxes. I can make 4 Five frame Nucs with 1 sheet of plywood. Or you can buy everything from Mannlake or other places and pay $15 + for each box. There are ways to save money. I see a lot of wouldn't couldn't and can't here. That type of attitude will never make it in this business. I know of many people making 6 figures in this business. Time is the biggest enemy and unfortunately doing this part time you won't make the big bucks, but you can still make money.
Social Media seems to be the way to go. I've been trying to figure it out for some time now. Finally getting the hang of it. I'm getting my bees April 13, 2 nucs. I hope to make some income and perhaps I will get into selling bees once I get going.
Liked and subscribed.. I'd love more info on this topic as I've loved bees for years and decided to become a beekeeper this year. Great video, looking forward to more.
There are several companies that sell the boxes package bee's come in. Cohen in CA, there are few others but not sure of the name. I've always reused some that I have. I find it easier for me to just buy the package bee's from Don and stick to selling queens and Nucs.
Yes, you would only need to go thru the hive completely a few times per season. You would be adding boxes and removing them on a weekly or biweekly rotation during the flow. One day per week is plenty.
Are u just buying packages and growing them into nucs?If not how many hives before you started being able to sell nucs ? I starting to think you HAVE TO buy in to get started,or take Literally years....
When I started, I purchased 10 packages to make nucs. I already had 10 8 frame hives as well. I just started making splits, by the end of the season I had around 75 colonies. If I remember correctly, I sold around 40 nucs that first year.
You will have to buy some bees to get started. You can always buy a nuc, add a deep, and feed it for 2-3 weeks. Then sell off half the nuc, add a queen and your left with another colony at little cost.
The intro was from someone on fiver.com, $10. It's been awhile, I'll look and see if the order is still in my history. There were quite a few different people there that do intros and stuff.
Depends on what time of year it is. During queen rearing and making nucs, I could probably work a full day several days per week. I've never really kept up with how long I'm in the yard. It doesn't take near as long as many people online claim they spend in the hives. My problem is, I also have a HVAC business. That season picks up dramatically as bee season is in full swing. I try to work late evenings and weekends to keep up. Once I stop making Queens, I spend 4-8 hours per week in the bee yard cleaning, storing unused equipment, and doing whatever else needs to be done. Really depends on what your trying to do. I try and sell a couple hundred nucs, and couple hundred Queens. It doesn't take that much time once you've got a system in place. But the system I use is very time sensitive. You have to be in the bee yard certain days to harvest Queens and place cells/virgin queens, do your grafts. I hope this answers your question.
@@thehoneybeegarden3149 ya i run a couple business pretty much takes 8 hours a day. I have 30 acres that i do nothing with. It would be nice if my land was making money.
@@whocares5188 it's not that time consuming if you set up your plan the right way. I'm hoping to get back on this topic in the next week with a few videos showing how someone could do it with little experience and resources. Thanks for the great question.
I do not. I do make very good money in February, March, and April during peak sales for the year. I get very busy running my other business late spring and summer.This video was made because of a UA-cam beekeeper that says a lazy beekeeper can make $20000 per month. I was just trying to show what it takes to make that kind of money, and tips to help go from hobby to at least selling enough bees to cover your expenses or beyond.
This has got to be the most painfully boomer beekeeping video i have ever seen. It takes a ton of time and money to build an operation capable of making 20k in sales in one month and to insinuate in any way that that isnt true is so disingenuous and deceiving that its honestly disgusting.
@AdrenalineTheory who said it wasn't true. I simply stated that a lazy beekeeper would have a hard time making 20k per month. I was poking fun at another UA-cam beekeeper that used to always say "even a lazy beekeeper can make $20,000 per month". I know it can be done, and I've done it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Thanks Jerry, you hit the nail on the head. I am in Central Texas with this specific business goal that you just described. Raise bees, produce queens and then learn AI queen raising using my drones and queens from Georgia and Indiana. This is a need in central Texas.
Being a Northern Beekeeper, I need to limit the amount of packaged bees by the season. Typically I would be buying from southern keepers about now for delivery in late April, early may. Naturally, season dependent. I'm going to be setting swarm traps again this spring and anticipate the sale of those bees more likely as nucs. Great video on the possibilities. I really appreciate the straightforward approach to the question with an honest answer. Anyone who has kept bees for more than one season knows, there are no lazy beekeepers. 😉
I have 2 occupied hives & 1 vacant. In Oklahoma. What kind of income can I expect before the winter hits, from selling honey? I dunno if doing a split can happen or how that impacts income. Just saying this is what I've got & I need to make some money badly.
You make it sound so easy, in reality startup costs and the work involved can be brutal . It takes years to build clientele. People are jumping on the bandwagon thinking they are going to get rich flooding the damn market with trash and cutting costs. The learning curve will be your biggest obstacles.
The beekeeper determines the start up cost. I'm assuming the viewer already has experience with bees and already has a few hives. One could build 10 nucs for a cost of approximately $115. Make a few splits from they're existing hives with purchased queens and they could sell them. Beekeeping isn't that hard, some folks try to reinvent the wheel and over complicate things. I do agree with you about people selling junk and dropping prices. That can be fixed, for example. In my area 4 years ago, there was a beekeeper selling nucs for $100. I was selling mine at the time for $170. I bought around 30 nucs from him before he realized what I was doing and he raised his prices. I was buying them and reselling them for $170. I also agree there is a learning curve one must learn. That's why I said start out slow. Thanks for your comment, I will add some of your points in one of the videos.
It does not take years to build clientele. You need to think outside the box. My local bee club has people looking for bees all the time. In my state we have over 5 clubs in a 30 minute radius of me. Word of mouth is a great way to build business. Yesterday I posted on Craigslist that I had Nucs for sale for 250ea. I had over 20 messages from people wanting to buy them. Most wanted 3 or 4 and quite a few wanted 20 or more nucs. That was the only advertising that I did. It didn't cost me anything, but a few minutes of my time to type up the ad. You can save a ton of money by making your own boxes. I can make 4 Five frame Nucs with 1 sheet of plywood. Or you can buy everything from Mannlake or other places and pay $15 + for each box. There are ways to save money. I see a lot of wouldn't couldn't and can't here. That type of attitude will never make it in this business. I know of many people making 6 figures in this business. Time is the biggest enemy and unfortunately doing this part time you won't make the big bucks, but you can still make money.
Social Media seems to be the way to go. I've been trying to figure it out for some time now. Finally getting the hang of it. I'm getting my bees April 13, 2 nucs. I hope to make some income and perhaps I will get into selling bees once I get going.
That's awesome, just keep learning and moving forward. Bee's are amazing to watch.
Liked and subscribed.. I'd love more info on this topic as I've loved bees for years and decided to become a beekeeper this year. Great video, looking forward to more.
How do you build or where do you buy boxes and syrup for package bees. I'm looking at selling queens, packages and nuks in the next 2 years
There are several companies that sell the boxes package bee's come in. Cohen in CA, there are few others but not sure of the name. I've always reused some that I have. I find it easier for me to just buy the package bee's from Don and stick to selling queens and Nucs.
How to get the most honey,?
Are there strict ordnances on keeping these, I have property but I’m also technically in city limits
You would have to talk with your local extension office. I'm also in the city limits, but it's also a part of the county agriculture district.
The Honeybee Garden 👍
Can I be a beekeeper if only have a day a week to tend to them?
Yes, you would only need to go thru the hive completely a few times per season. You would be adding boxes and removing them on a weekly or biweekly rotation during the flow. One day per week is plenty.
when will your nucs be ready for 2020?
Late March.
Are u just buying packages and growing them into nucs?If not how many hives before you started being able to sell nucs ? I starting to think you HAVE TO buy in to get started,or take Literally years....
When I started, I purchased 10 packages to make nucs. I already had 10 8 frame hives as well. I just started making splits, by the end of the season I had around 75 colonies. If I remember correctly, I sold around 40 nucs that first year.
You will have to buy some bees to get started. You can always buy a nuc, add a deep, and feed it for 2-3 weeks. Then sell off half the nuc, add a queen and your left with another colony at little cost.
Hi I am vinod and I am commercial Indian beekeeper. How many beehive your apiary plz tell
I have several yards. At times more than one hundred hives at each yard.
Dear sir tell me about how many beekeeper working your apiary ?
@@vinodbaria6543 just my son and I.
It's very hard.
Thanks this was helpful
Will be following. From Salisbury
Nice video Jerry. I need to start selling bees myself. I like the intro. I want one as well. Did you make it or have someone do it?
The intro was from someone on fiver.com, $10. It's been awhile, I'll look and see if the order is still in my history. There were quite a few different people there that do intros and stuff.
Did I meet you at dandelion?
I believe so. We were talking about Queens I think.
The Honeybee Garden yup. I do extractions and got your number. Thought i recognized you
Sound is fine here. I will be following and I did click the bell! @rehbee.
How many hours do you work with the bees a day?
Depends on what time of year it is. During queen rearing and making nucs, I could probably work a full day several days per week. I've never really kept up with how long I'm in the yard. It doesn't take near as long as many people online claim they spend in the hives. My problem is, I also have a HVAC business. That season picks up dramatically as bee season is in full swing. I try to work late evenings and weekends to keep up. Once I stop making Queens, I spend 4-8 hours per week in the bee yard cleaning, storing unused equipment, and doing whatever else needs to be done. Really depends on what your trying to do. I try and sell a couple hundred nucs, and couple hundred Queens. It doesn't take that much time once you've got a system in place. But the system I use is very time sensitive. You have to be in the bee yard certain days to harvest Queens and place cells/virgin queens, do your grafts. I hope this answers your question.
@@thehoneybeegarden3149 ya i run a couple business pretty much takes 8 hours a day. I have 30 acres that i do nothing with. It would be nice if my land was making money.
@@whocares5188 it's not that time consuming if you set up your plan the right way. I'm hoping to get back on this topic in the next week with a few videos showing how someone could do it with little experience and resources. Thanks for the great question.
I have a question: do you make 20K/month doing this?
I do not. I do make very good money in February, March, and April during peak sales for the year. I get very busy running my other business late spring and summer.This video was made because of a UA-cam beekeeper that says a lazy beekeeper can make $20000 per month. I was just trying to show what it takes to make that kind of money, and tips to help go from hobby to at least selling enough bees to cover your expenses or beyond.
@@thehoneybeegarden3149 may i ask how much do you make
??
Okay thanks again
This has got to be the most painfully boomer beekeeping video i have ever seen. It takes a ton of time and money to build an operation capable of making 20k in sales in one month and to insinuate in any way that that isnt true is so disingenuous and deceiving that its honestly disgusting.
@AdrenalineTheory who said it wasn't true. I simply stated that a lazy beekeeper would have a hard time making 20k per month. I was poking fun at another UA-cam beekeeper that used to always say "even a lazy beekeeper can make $20,000 per month". I know it can be done, and I've done it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Clickbait he said 200k 😂
Thanks for catching that. It's meant to read $20,000. It's not click bait.
Its chilled good vid tho