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Author Topic: 30 Hives  (Read 11141 times)

Offline bugleman

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #20 on: January 14, 2009, 03:42:08 am »
Irwin,

I am sure the guy is interesting you succeeding so he would probably point you in the right direction regarding pasture, locations and flows.  (I think someone hinted at this)  If you do think he is getting to good of deal you could always make divides or sell nukes.   :evil:

Offline mathispollenators

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #21 on: January 14, 2009, 08:03:53 am »
Cool sounds like a good deal and I'm glad you decided to do it.  I have been watching this wanting to see what you did.  As someone said I wouldn't sell a thing you'll need it in time.  If you could get them to do it I would see if they would help robbing & extracting honey.  That way you get the help and they have the comfort you aren't ripping them off.  With 30 hives you'll need to increase a percentage each year just to maintain that hive count.  I would also give him his share in bulk containers saving yourself cost of bottles.  Half the honey is half no matter if it's in little bottles or 55 gallon drums.  And my advice is definitely have them inspected before you take them over.  You wouldn't want the inspector to make you destroy a few of the new ones because of something you  didn't know.  And during the inspection you can pick the inspectors brains to see what he thinks of the bees and your deal.  When you do rob honey make sure you leave plenty for over wintering these next few years that saves on feeding cost and you're giving half the honey to the trucker anyway. So he's picking up half the feed bill in a way. Here in the south I like to leave 1 or 2 supers on but our winters aren't that cold so they don't hold the cluster all winter like I think they do in other areas.   Another tip is to buy in bulk especially the stuff that will store well.  I find where the price break is an buy that way.  Like if I only need 1000 sheets of wax and the break is at 1500 I'll get the 1500 and store the other 500 for later.  That is if you have to space for storage.  I personally have bee stuff scattered all over my back 2 acres and dad has more stuff at his place in Florida as we run a commercial watermelon pollination service.

My question is do you have a place to extract and store your bee supplies.  And please don't say kitchen that's not going to cut it with 30 hives now.  Anyway have fun and as you know ask and somebody will answer.
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Offline Irwin

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #22 on: January 14, 2009, 10:09:54 am »
My question is do you have a place to extract and store your bee supplies.  And please don't say kitchen that's not going to cut it with 30 hives now.  Anyway have fun and as you know ask and somebody will answer.


The answer is no and no. My wife wont let me in the kitchen with frame's of honey I only get to make food for the bee's. I'm trying to find place's for storage and extracting.
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Offline charmd2

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2009, 10:35:28 am »
Irwin,

around here the churches have kitchens you can use if you clean them up afterward.  If you're a member of a church that's something to look into.  If not, perhaps there is a community building in the area you can rent for a small fee if you do the majority of your extracting at once. 

I think our local community building is $75 for a 12 hr day.  With 30+ hives that may be a worthwhile investment as well.
Charla Hinkle

Offline Irwin

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #24 on: January 15, 2009, 09:34:04 pm »
The wife is having a problem NOW with me getting the bee's :-x She says to much of my time and money. But when I have a day off she runs me out of the house :? I'm not giving up yet  :-D
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #25 on: January 15, 2009, 09:49:06 pm »
The wife is having a problem NOW with me getting the bee's :-x She says to much of my time and money. But when I have a day off she runs me out of the house :? I'm not giving up yet  :-D

Tell her it's your way of giving her some space.  Then when she starts complaining about all the time you spend with the bees and not enough with her, hand her a veil.
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Offline dpence

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #26 on: January 15, 2009, 11:47:29 pm »
The wife is having a problem NOW with me getting the bee's :-x She says to much of my time and money. But when I have a day off she runs me out of the house :? I'm not giving up yet  :-D

Tell her it's your way of giving her some space.  Then when she starts complaining about all the time you spend with the bees and not enough with her, hand her a veil.

Hang in there.  I'm lucky I handed my wife a suit...no questions.

David

Offline Natalie

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #27 on: January 15, 2009, 11:51:55 pm »
Just tell her how much you will be able to do for her with the new income. :-D Maybe she would like to market honey, maybe she just needs to feel included.
Sometimes a hobby can work out for a couple. You could keep bees, and she could do honey sales.
Just wondering if thats something se would be interested in.

Offline Kathyp

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #28 on: January 16, 2009, 12:17:25 am »
tell her you are thinking of an alternate hobby like engine repair.  ask her to start saving the newspapers so that you can cover the living room floor and not get oil on the carpet.  bet she'll reconsider the bee thing  :-)   :devilbanana:
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline EasternShore

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #29 on: January 18, 2009, 06:53:38 am »
Way To Go IRWIN!!!

With 30 hives, I would start building or buying nuc's bodies and frames! The income from that will more than pay for your costs.

Candle making business for the little lady?

With the losses in the upper northwest we need Bees!
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Offline 1of6

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #30 on: January 18, 2009, 10:16:39 am »
Irwin,
     I agree with others.  You can do this.  Involve your wife as others have said, try to get her involved in candle-making or some other extra marketing, and see if there are others around that can help you too.  You local organization should include members who want to see you succeed and will help you out a little in the beginning years.  If you have another beek locally who's pretty good, see if you can form a good relationship with them, or possibly even a partnership.  You can make a little money at selling nucs sometime down the road as well.  If you even have to go the simple route and keep them somewhere locally, all you need do is find three people who will let you put 10 hives or so each at their location.  Many folks would be glad to do this just to get the free pollination.  After you're established, you can look at pollination contracts and ways of moving them around. 
     Make sure your wife knows that there are ways for you to do this without having to go at it alone.  I think folks have presented you with some absolutely great ideas, especially the one about using your church.  If you need help during the extracting process, enlist your church's youth group or even your sunday-school class, and tell them you'll donate a portion of your proceeds in return for them helping you with the extracting so you can get your business rolling - this would be a great educational opportunity, and may help you establish a local market as well.  If you were in dire need of help, others may even be willing to help you with the marketing, etc. as well.

     There's a lot that you can do with a little creativity to make this work.  Good luck

Offline Kathyp

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #31 on: January 18, 2009, 01:19:43 pm »
 :buttkick:

Quote
Candle making business for the little lady?


 ;)
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.

Offline Irwin

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #32 on: January 19, 2009, 07:07:29 pm »
 :-D First the good News I'm getting the bees if he sign's the contract with the honey trade thing. I talked to a guy that I work for and he said he would help with the money for stuff I need just pay him back when I get thing's going. And I got a place for extrackting the honey all it will cost is a fifth of CROWN ROYAL and when I'm done I'll have to have a drink with him. And I talked to this lady that will help get me set up in our local farmers market to sell the honey. Now the bad News found out why the wife has been in a bad mood she has osteoporoses a herniated disk in her neck and upper back and her doc said she is not to lift over 8 pounds.
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Offline poka-bee

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #33 on: January 19, 2009, 07:18:07 pm »
OWIEE Irwin, I would be cranky too!  Give her our best & she will be in my prayers.  Do the Dr.s have any ideas on what can be done to fix or eliminate some of the pain? Will surgery of some kind be an option?  Kinda hard not to lift the grandkids though I'm sure they would love to help her get better, little girls are great for taking care of you!  J
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Offline Jim134

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #34 on: January 19, 2009, 07:21:40 pm »
   Now the bad News found out why the wife has been in a bad mood she has osteoporoses a herniated disk in her neck and upper back and her doc said she is not to lift over 8 pounds.

Irwin....

 Hope the doc can help the wife see you on Ventrilo


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Offline Natalie

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #35 on: January 19, 2009, 08:33:38 pm »
Well, first off I am sorry to hear about your wife. Back and neck pain is tough to deal with, I have had neck pain and I do have back pain, so I know she is hurting.
I hope the doctors can do something for her before it does any nerve damage. When they tell her not to lift more than 8 pounds make darn sure that she doesn't.
I know its tough to adhere to those guidelines when you are raising kids, but she will pay for it later.
She is in my thoughts.
Now, so are you! Congratulations! See how everything fell into place? Excellent news. You must be a good person for everyone to be willing to help you out.
I wish both of you the best of luck.

Offline steveouk

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #36 on: January 19, 2009, 09:10:34 pm »
Ill say go for it, there are other ways to get your wife involved, you'll need a name and a logo for your business and some one to stick all those labels on the jars !

I'd also point out how much you could bring in to the house hold budget. This about it 80-100lbs of honey per hive and then at $5 a lb x 30 hives = $12000 - 15000 dollars from the sale of the Honey alone !
Then you got pollination, put a poster up in all your local Feed Stores, you'll get 80-140 dollars per month per hive from that.

I think your going to do very well and every one is routing for you !

Offline mathispollenators

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #37 on: January 19, 2009, 09:35:14 pm »
Cool using that spot maybe good for a bit to extract.  That way you'll get the chance to decide what you actually need in a honey house.   Sorry to hear about the wife and her back problems.  I don't have any advice there that's not my specialty for sure.  Mine kind of married into beekeeping so she can't complain now.  Wondering now what else you are getting than just the 30 hives. 
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Offline Brian D. Bray

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #38 on: January 19, 2009, 09:47:10 pm »
:-D First the good News I'm getting the bees if he sign's the contract with the honey trade thing. I talked to a guy that I work for and he said he would help with the money for stuff I need just pay him back when I get thing's going. And I got a place for extrackting the honey all it will cost is a fifth of CROWN ROYAL and when I'm done I'll have to have a drink with him. And I talked to this lady that will help get me set up in our local farmers market to sell the honey. Now the bad News found out why the wife has been in a bad mood she has osteoporoses a herniated disk in her neck and upper back and her doc said she is not to lift over 8 pounds.

My doctor says my lifting limit is 5 lbs but when you have livestock you still have to wrestle those 80 lb hay bales and 50 lb feed sacks.  But that may be why my back has only gotten worse over the last 30 years.
I have an appointment tomorrow to get a shot of cortizone in my lower back so I can tolerate walking and lifting a bit more that the 50 lb sack of rabbit food I did today.  Can't say enough about the cortizone shots, they're what keeps me going.  I also take a regimine of Anti-inflamitories and Muscle relaxants along with Oxycontin. 
Your wife might want to look into some of those options as the osteoporosis is long term and the herniated disc can be.
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   :brian:      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!

Offline EasternShore

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Re: 30 Hives
« Reply #39 on: January 20, 2009, 08:52:35 am »
Hey..why the boot for the little lady comment???

My lady IS little...but she can pack a wicked punch!
Sorry if I offended you..really..
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
We are the keepers, it is our duty to preserve life.