Beekeeping With Twenty-five Hives

Beekeeping With Twenty-five Hives

This manuscript is written for the beekeeper who is hoping to grow to around twenty-five hives, or for the beekeeper who is at the twenty-five hive level and is struggling a little bit to find the available time to effectively manage bees on this level.

There is nothing magical about keeping twenty-five hives of bees other than the reality that things begin to change when you reach this level. Twenty-five hives begin to ask you to take your commitment seriously, that these bees now occupy a higher priority in your life.

I also write for the person who is not, and may never, keep enough hives to justify their hobby/sideline as a full-time endeavor with all the aspects of making their operations financially profitable. I really want every beekeeper to find that elusive enjoyment that I found keeping bees, and if the opportunity presents itself, to make a little money along the way.

I hope youâ€™re the kind of person who wants to tap into the wonderful potential so many beekeepers miss. This potential, at first blush, is often perceived as a financial potential, and the financial return is there. And there is no doubt in my mind you can make substantial amounts of money keeping honeybees.

But there is also a level of satisfaction, meaning, purpose and enjoyment so many beekeepers miss. I hope this book helps you reach that level of personal satisfaction, even if you donâ€™t keep but a few hives of bees.

Iâ€™ve also written for the person who would like to grow beyond twenty-five hives, eventually up to one-hundred hives, but recognizes the need to master this twenty-five level first.

What follows is what I learned as I started out in Glenville, Minnesota with twenty hives, then after moving to a new part of the country, started over again with four hives, then five, then seven up to twelve, to thirty, to sixty and then upwards (at the time of this writing) to one hundred and fifty hives, plus a bunch of nucs where I raised my own queens and made splits. When asked, I now simply tell people I have â€œaround 200â€ hives.

You may not want to get this big, and thatâ€™s okay. We each must choose our level of beekeeping, keeping in mind our other factors such as age and health, family and work obligations, desire (what I like to call the â€œhunger factorâ€), your passion for keeping bees, financial stability, land availability, spousal approval, etc., etc., etc. Only then can you really decide how many hives to keep and what level of intensity is right for you.

This manuscript is written with the idea of working up to twenty-five hives. Whether you continue to expand beyond that level is up to you. There are things I learned on the way to twenty-five hives that served me well as I went on up to one-hundred. Then there are a bunch of new things I had to learn at that level.

There is nothing really magical about twenty-five hives. It is, however, a level in which things will begin to change in terms of your time commitment to the bees. Time will be your most precious commodity. You will also notice a change in the management of your resources (mostly time and energy) but also your marketing opportunities.

You will also detect a change in your spouseâ€™s attitude. My wife lovingly refers to my bees as my â€œhobby on steroids.â€ My son refers to my bees as â€œthat other family that you spend time with.â€ But itâ€™s funny how he seems to enjoy the money from the sale of the honey brought in by â€œthat other family.â€

For some of you, that dream of profitability may be your spouseâ€™s hope as well. Or you may be the beekeeper with twenty-five hives or so and youâ€™re looking to discover and master the efficiencies to expand further. You like the money that is coming in and you know you can do better.
Country USA
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2014-03-19
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2014-03-19
Format	Kindle eBook

Beekeeping With Twenty-five Hives

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