I am a commercial beekeeper running over 1000 hives. From 60 hives you cannot make honey for 100 stores. Hi imports or buys honey wholesale and repackages selling as an expensive brand.
Agree, I run 600 colonies and his math does not add up. This video is misleading. If you are thinking about getting rich quick on beekeeping, be careful because you will likely lose a lot of money.
@@mikleach How do you manage to run 600 colonies? Do you employ helpers? Beekeeping is one of the hardest farming and requires huge amount of knowledge.
There are no rules, the 60 colonies are just for show. Taking care of thousands of colonies would only eat up all his time. He let's you do that and he buys honey wholesale and focuses his efforts on selling at retail.
Could someone please explain what I am missing? Early in the video it was stated that they are @ $250,000 in revenue just six months into this year. The price per pound of honey on the high side is $20 and one hive averages around 80lbs of honey per year. The owner has 62 hives which translates to just shy of $100,000 in revenue for an entire year. I watched the entire video and I cannot figure out what I am missing.
Yeah, I think that is misleading in the title and I never heard 41k per month mentioned in the video and don't think it's anywhere near possible with just 62 hives. I'm at about the same number of hives and I'm nowhere near even the $150,000. Granted I'm still scaling so just because I have around 60-70 hives, doesn't mean they're all production hives yet. (Meaning not all hives are bringing in excess Honey yet). Location plays a lot too. I might get 50-60 pounds per hive average on a decent year. This year was horrible for Honey production and I'm only getting around 400-500 pounds total (still processing the Honey at the moment). There are other ways to make money in beekeeping as someone below already mentioned. You can sell Pollen, wax, propolis, royal jelly and even bees. (Queens, package bees and Nucs (nucleus colonies), as well as pollination services. I sell a few Nucs but I think I might hold off until I scale larger because I'm only selling around $2,000-$4,000 in bees per year when I could be putting those bees to work and grow my apiary. I'm still growing it, but just not as fast because of selling some of the bees off. There is good money in selling bees, but it's a lot easier to do when you've already hit your target number. Because at that point, every new colony made is excess and can be sold off without slowing down the business plan. The quicker you can get to a larger number of colonies, the quicker you're making better money. I did decide to stay steady this year though because last year I took a beating just trying to keep up. I went up to 75 colonies and wasn't ready for it. I didn't have my boxes built so I was constantly playing catch up through out the year. I also work a full time job (I just can't afford to quit no matter how much better it would help me run my bee business). I need to get to where I want to be first before I can quit. Trying to work full time and sell Honey any time I wasn't working, as well as building equipment, really took a toll on me. So 2024 was a year to hold steady and catch my balance so to speak. I'll plan to grow to 100-125 colonies next year. In my opinion, I won't be looking at decent money until I get to around 200-300 colonies.
So this guy being a veteran was a HUGE help for him.. for me to get a $40k forklift, F350 and a trailer I’m going to be in the hole for $100k, he spent $2k 🤯
I am from Portugal and i also have cork trees (and bees). I was so happy to hear the word Portugal on your video. Also happy about the possibility that some of my cork might be used on your honney jars. Let me invite you to come to Portugal and see our bees and cork trees in real. Hugs fom Portugal.
What's crazy to me is all the dang programs he was smart enough to land. Most of us just save & put our money down to get started. Others get loans. This guy got a program to pay his help 75% and then another program that paid him 40%... therefore he got paid to let someone work for him. 1k truck. $500 forklift. Absolutely impressive!
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
@@simpled5755 befor you made this comment the actual person in the video commented right above you and said they buy most of their honey from other farmers so its definitely misleading
Starting a business is a leap of faith. I’ve been tattooing for 17 years. I had my last job in 2013. It was part-time working for Toyota. Take the jump off the porch! Whatever you wanna call it. My prayers is that all entrepreneurs are successful because the country thrives off of us❤
To mitigate winter losses theres a grant you can get for a hoophouse/greenhouse, leave the hoops up all year and throw poly over the hives when temps start to drop.
It is always a leap of faith. Cutting the cord to a well paying full time job is a dream, but you have to be committed to your side hustle if you want to work for yourself. Having a friend for guidance on the subject was a good shortcut. And having the physical space for bee’s and beekeeping is important. I have a coworker who has bee’s and six hives he works three jobs computers, computers and bee’s. I’m going to send him this video.
I got into beekeeping years ago, but got burned out because I was collecting colonies by performing cut-outs. I may revisit this again next Spring. I actually have a colony in our old house - I'll collect swarms from this and nearby hives, then perhaps requeen them.
I burned myself out also my first trip in Beekeeping cuz I'd run everywhere cutting out bees. Got out for 5 year, now restarted with 1 package. Split it to 5 by winter. Used super insulated hives, 3" PSE foam board, went 5 for 5 in a mild michigan winter. Managed the hives for mites by Don Fat beeman technique of fogging with mineral oil & spearmint/wintergreen, manage hive beetles with peppermint candy. Hives are booming. I would only do a cutout now to help a desperate person, cuz I never charged anyone. they are the most expensive bees you can get. Start small & focused & grow as you can afford & manage.
he says in a "good" year he can make 1000$/hive per year , and he also said this year he already made 250000 dollars which sounds a little sus with only 68 hives
@@Userxyz-z2dI agree as a commercial beekeeper and he lies about the floral sources he has in the Carolinas and buys a lot of honey and is really only in three grocery stores
Its not about # of hives. Its about revenue. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
After a 24 year career as a Police Officer the job finally took me out with PTSD. For the last two years I’ve been off work going from one mental health appointment to the next. The first 6 months was the roughest then I saw a permaculture garden show on RUclips. I found a new purpose and spent as much time in the garden as I could. One day I thought I need more pollinators in my garden so I started watching bees on RUclips and I was fascinated. I now have 2 hives in my backyard and I find real peace sitting down every afternoon watching and listening to my bees. I can’t get enough of them. I haven’t been able to articulate why they relax me so much. To hear your story makes me believe I’m not crazy. Thank you for sharing your story
I started my beekeeping business in 2020 and I'm still working full time on 2 jobs working between 60 and 100 hours a week. It's hard to let go and make the jump on beekeeping alone... Eventually I will though. Great video it was super inspiring.
I’ve tried for 4 years to start a bee hive. Unfortunately I have not had success. It’s sad and each year is a new problem. Hopefully this year my bees will make it. Research research research. In the end though sometime that hasn’t been enough.
@@dogblackprincehoneyI don’t know, I went out one day and all of them were just gone. I’d like to think they are somewhere they think is better and are happy.
Did honey for the purpose of having greet pollinators for all varieties of trees. Found like anything to turn out great it takes work (and lots of money to get started. I give this "story" a C for effort. Eighty pounds per hive. What were they, the size of a hundred gallon barrel!
Commercial beekeeping exploits bees for their honey and other products by stealing it from them. In addition, honeybees compete for the same resources as other bees (lots of species of wild bees) and other pollinators, making it a monoculture that wipes out biodiversity.
Lots of misinformation here.... 500 dollars to start? Well he stated he bought two packages of bees at 150 each, leaving 200 for everything else. The price of boxes, frames, gloves, smoker, beesuit, hive tool etc. is much more than 200 dollars. He said he gets 1000 dollars a hive a year. He has 62 hives, so the maximum he could get is 62,000 in a year. Your title says he gets 41,000 a month. This is very dangerous to misinform people about very important details.
It's impossible to do it in USA according to BeeFit girl. She has about 50 hives and has to work somewhere else to make a living. The guy maybe gets a lot of grants as a veteran.
IDK I havent watched this yet but I was driving around in the hills near me in SoCal and came across a honey farm on google maps... Did some research and they do $2M a year. Not bad for a small biz honey farm!
I agree. They cut a lot of that out of my interview because it was just too much. I have kept the processing costs down by making do with inefficient equipment, and using a USDA Value Added Producer Grant to cut the costs of my bottles and such.
Always a leap of faith. I quit my perfectly good corporate job with 8k in my bank and a desire to travel. I never looked back but it has been a struggle. There is never a perfect time, only the visceral necessity for change. Money then becomes a game of creativity vs execution. 🎉
This RUclips channel is for business builders not for beekeepers. I’ve been a beekeeper for seven or eight years now. To be completely honest I’m not 100% invested in my process at most. I’ve had five hives and the largest harvest I’ve had is less than 70 pounds. This RUclips channel is talking about just growing a business. They aren’t talking about varroa mites, hive Beatles or wax moths. Not talking about hive losses. I have no doubt that this brother in Arms is passing on viable information yet with that being said there is a lot that is being left out and the person running this RUclips channel is just a money hawk. If you want to learn what it takes to become a beekeeper find a mentor And see what you can do. Another individual had a comment here that was absolutely incredible to me. When they said, peoples lives have been destroyed because of videos like this. I will say this, though, thank you for the information about the military surplus, definitely something I wanted to know. Become a beekeeper it’s good for the environment and the rewards are amazingly sweet.
Y’all don’t listen he said he has contracts with grocery stores for his product. The one store he said he went from 60 to 160 stores, blah blah blah blah blah blah these contracts pay in a lot of cases upfront and you can say he’s making the money if he has a contract You can’t look at how many hives he has and how much he’s making a year right now he may be anticipating having more hives. You know he’s giving you figures right now with the amount of product he’s making right now, but that doesn’t mean he’s not gonna upscale quit bashing people.
All his expenses need to be doubled. 50$ for a bottom deep and super is crazy. closer to $100-$125. Not to mention most keepers run double deeps and hopefully double supers.
For you bee hive owners. How many hives can you have per acre. I know there's many land factors with climate, trees, flowers, vegetables. But roughly how many hives per acre do y'all fit?
As a long time hobby beekeeper; honey bees need resorces to produce a good crop of honey. Where is he located and more importantly what pollin and nector is located within fivee miles of his bees?
This episode was so helpful! I have questions specifically about that $20k honey pour set-up. I hand pour fudge and my neck and shoulders are killing me. Can the honey stay in there for a long time? Do you think chocolate sauce could work in that? I have to bring it up to a boil but then maybe pour it into that to keep the right temp. This is the main thing stopping me from scaling my biz. Thank you for sharing so much already!
Thrilled to hear the episode was helpful for you! Have you considered consulting with a equipment specialist or maybe testing it out on a smaller scale first? Keep pushing forward with your biz-you've got this! 💪
creating merchandise such as t-shirts and candy made from honey. Additionally, offering pre-made iced honey tea could significantly boost profits. Documenting the entire process through a RUclips channel could also help build credibility and attract a following.
Step one: be able to afford a home with land. Or just a home with big enough space.. Unfortunately for those who haven’t bought a home yet it’s ridiculously increasing in price every year. Many can’t afford housing anymore
It’s tough out there, but staying informed and planning carefully can help navigate these rising costs. Keep pushing forward and exploring your options! 💪
It is possible to rent land for your hives. If you find the right person they may even give you nearly free rent in order to claim zero taxes on a parcel used for agriculture. Further, bees don't require fencing. Another option is putting hives on other existing farms because farmers like pollination but don't want to learn to care for hives themselves.
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
I own bees. I think the average beekeeper nets around $70 per beehive per year if they are doing a good job. If he's actually netting more than $5k he's doing a great job.
Hi you say you only extract twice a year, why only twice a year? Here in Queensland Australia when my dad had 12x full size 9 frame hives he would extract every 4 weeks sometimes he would have to do it every 3 weeks for 1 full 9 frame Super or they would build up into the lid.. + Harvesting typically takes place in spring and summer for us which is September to April/May that's like 9 times a year or more.. unless your adding multiple + supers per hive ?
One colony of bees for me was $180 and my hives were $250 and my bee suit was $100. I bought 4 colonies and 3 died within the first year. Plus the pollen patties and mite killer and tools and extras all add up. They make it seem very inexpensive in this video but my experience has been a very expensive endeavor.
I wonder if his calculation is based on high side of 100 pounds per hive on 2 harvests of June and October (5 months?) or 200 pounds per hive per year or 12,800 pounds at $20 per pound or $248,000. Maybe his price per pound is more than $20?... So $41K over 6 months per month possibly makes sense... but not $41K per month over 12 months... UpFlip should give further clarification...
Yah like verification of income & receipts. I think what hes doing is buying honey from other Beeks. So hes spending $248,000 to make $250,000, its the Corp nonsense.
I would say that this was misrepresented on income. 61 hives all 61 productive each super at 35 lbs max weight you would have to get 3 full supers per hive. That is only 6100 lbs of honey this would only be $54,000 gross income. Then stating a hive cost is $50 including frames again is not a realistic price. There is Bottle cost, label cost, labor cost. Honey is only 15% of a bee business. You have to split into Nucs and sell bee nucs and packages to reach these numbers. The income numbers vs cost numbers don't add up to the numbers expressed . They would have to be buying and processing honey from other sources as well , selling bees and again 100 nucs is only an income of 24,000. So to reach the numbers expressed there is much more going on that is not being told
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
@@Userxyz-z2d Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us. But my stated profit margin is accurate.
Beekeeping for PTSD relief and making a fortune? This is a perfect example of turning passion into profit. Can anyone recommend more unconventional business ideas like this?
There are a couple of sites where you can find surplus (just search them up on the web). While you're at it, check out this website for more announcements: www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa
Interesting that this farm gets money from honey mostly. As I heard, in US main earnings go from pollination. In Ukraine, where I'm from almost 100% of money goes from honey selling and other bee products - Pollen, Bee bread, Cappings (my favorite), Propolis. Pollination business just starting. And every year, I hear beekeepers complaining about the low price of honey. If I don’t hear it, then something’s wrong with the beekeeper. ))
Maybe consider exploring online platforms, farmers' markets, or local collaborations to get your product out there. Wishing you all the best in your journey! 🍯🐝
@@UpFlip Can you clarify the revenue numbers everyone is asking about in the comments. The math doesn’t seem to math. Just lay out the calculations for us like we’re children (even though some of us have accounting degrees!!)
Oh wow I I can’t believe he’s sole propertier and not llc. It was like $50 more to register as llc. Years ago I had a small business as did my hand and the accountant told us to always do llc.
For such a remarkable beekeeper, he sure is unknown in the beekeeping community...maybe do an actual interview with Bob Binnie. Nobody knows about this guy, and his story nor numbers equate
I appreciate the complement. I am a bit of a dark horse. Bob and I have talked a number of times. He is the one who suggested some of my equipment, and I totally copied his model of supplementing my hives with honey from others. I just do it at a higher end sales and use a lot of grants and programs to reduce my cost of goods sold. I also only buy from other beekeepers within a 50 mile radius of me. I have the distinct advantage of having spent 14 years as a program manager in government contracting at a high end firm. I just transferred the model and business skills to farming, especially my time combining ridiculously complex government programs to help my business. I have really been surprised how well its worked. Some examples are the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act, The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and WOrk Opportunity Tax Credit to cut labor costs, USDA Value Added Producer Grant to cut costs of goods sold, and a number of others.
I enjoyed watching this wonderful movie and welcome you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thank you to the photography team and my beekeeping friends. It is truly worth admiring and sharing
To get into big grocery stores was it your premium product or lower price? When you state 40% margin are you stating net proceeds? Are you surrounded by agricultural land and if so, does their pest control negatively affect your bees? I am surrounded by working land; a big dairy to the west, corn, sugar beets, mint and wheat. Does their programs of agricultural land use make bee keeping harder or easier?
Appreciate the questions! To answer the first one, getting into big grocery stores usually depends on a combination of factors like the quality of your product, pricing strategy, and sometimes relationships with buyers.
Hes probably buying honey from other beeks. Quality control is hard to monitor & I suspect at some point the Govt will step in bc many Beeks feed their bees sugar so the honey they produce is Franken honey. Oversight is def needed in this industry.
62 hives Keep in mind this. 41k/month title say. That’s about 20 dollars as he say per kg ( to say so ) this mean you make 2000kg / month honey. Things did not add up mate. Do bees for 20 years. Never come up such things Or title is wrong. 😂😂😂😂
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I am a commercial beekeeper running over 1000 hives. From 60 hives you cannot make honey for 100 stores.
Hi imports or buys honey wholesale and repackages selling as an expensive brand.
Agree. Something doesn't add up.
Agree, I run 600 colonies and his math does not add up. This video is misleading. If you are thinking about getting rich quick on beekeeping, be careful because you will likely lose a lot of money.
@@mikleach How do you manage to run 600 colonies? Do you employ helpers? Beekeeping is one of the hardest farming and requires huge amount of knowledge.
There are no rules, the 60 colonies are just for show. Taking care of thousands of colonies would only eat up all his time. He let's you do that and he buys honey wholesale and focuses his efforts on selling at retail.
@@dogblackprincehoney very mechanized reducing labor wherever possible used seasonal help when needed 4 full time employees
Could someone please explain what I am missing? Early in the video it was stated that they are @ $250,000 in revenue just six months into this year. The price per pound of honey on the high side is $20 and one hive averages around 80lbs of honey per year. The owner has 62 hives which translates to just shy of $100,000 in revenue for an entire year. I watched the entire video and I cannot figure out what I am missing.
Let me know when you've figured it out. Beats me too.
Honey, beeswax, bee pollen, propolis and royal jelly all the products from beekeeping. The gentleman also sells eggs from what I saw earlier.
Yeah, I think that is misleading in the title and I never heard 41k per month mentioned in the video and don't think it's anywhere near possible with just 62 hives.
I'm at about the same number of hives and I'm nowhere near even the $150,000.
Granted I'm still scaling so just because I have around 60-70 hives, doesn't mean they're all production hives yet. (Meaning not all hives are bringing in excess Honey yet).
Location plays a lot too. I might get 50-60 pounds per hive average on a decent year.
This year was horrible for Honey production and I'm only getting around 400-500 pounds total (still processing the Honey at the moment).
There are other ways to make money in beekeeping as someone below already mentioned.
You can sell Pollen, wax, propolis, royal jelly and even bees. (Queens, package bees and Nucs (nucleus colonies), as well as pollination services.
I sell a few Nucs but I think I might hold off until I scale larger because I'm only selling around $2,000-$4,000 in bees per year when I could be putting those bees to work and grow my apiary. I'm still growing it, but just not as fast because of selling some of the bees off. There is good money in selling bees, but it's a lot easier to do when you've already hit your target number. Because at that point, every new colony made is excess and can be sold off without slowing down the business plan.
The quicker you can get to a larger number of colonies, the quicker you're making better money.
I did decide to stay steady this year though because last year I took a beating just trying to keep up.
I went up to 75 colonies and wasn't ready for it. I didn't have my boxes built so I was constantly playing catch up through out the year.
I also work a full time job (I just can't afford to quit no matter how much better it would help me run my bee business). I need to get to where I want to be first before I can quit.
Trying to work full time and sell Honey any time I wasn't working, as well as building equipment, really took a toll on me. So 2024 was a year to hold steady and catch my balance so to speak.
I'll plan to grow to 100-125 colonies next year.
In my opinion, I won't be looking at decent money until I get to around 200-300 colonies.
@@TexasBeekeeper I think the grants and the line of funding through on the job training adds direct cash back into the business as well.
@@colinaamot Great point!
So this guy being a veteran was a HUGE help for him.. for me to get a $40k forklift, F350 and a trailer I’m going to be in the hole for $100k, he spent $2k 🤯
I am from Portugal and i also have cork trees (and bees). I was so happy to hear the word Portugal on your video. Also happy about the possibility that some of my cork might be used on your honney jars. Let me invite you to come to Portugal and see our bees and cork trees in real. Hugs fom Portugal.
Glad you enjoyed it. I get mine from Corklink and have been super happy with them.
What's crazy to me is all the dang programs he was smart enough to land. Most of us just save & put our money down to get started. Others get loans. This guy got a program to pay his help 75% and then another program that paid him 40%... therefore he got paid to let someone work for him. 1k truck. $500 forklift. Absolutely impressive!
Bees don’t make this much, we have 75 hives as a side business. We get around 3k pounds in honey. It’s around $40-50k
He doesn't factor in costs. Only states sales. He probably buys honey from Beeks.
@@Userxyz-z2dexactly. After watching this it looks like he buys barrels and white labels the honey.
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
Beeswax, bees, and other bee products, I believe he said he sells eggs too. He didn't say it only came from honey, just mostly from honey
@@simpled5755 befor you made this comment the actual person in the video commented right above you and said they buy most of their honey from other farmers so its definitely misleading
Starting a business is a leap of faith. I’ve been tattooing for 17 years. I had my last job in 2013. It was part-time working for Toyota. Take the jump off the porch! Whatever you wanna call it. My prayers is that all entrepreneurs are successful because the country thrives off of us❤
hahahaha let me guess this guy a loser dropout and like many many others they go into tattoo bullshit
Start, build, and grow your business with guidance not guesswork: www.upflip.com/academy
Stop lying about the profitability
maybe make reputable content before you ask someone to buy from you
Wow, the tutorial at 2:15 is so detailed and easy to understand! I love how you explained it. I’ll definitely apply it to my farm!
To mitigate winter losses theres a grant you can get for a hoophouse/greenhouse, leave the hoops up all year and throw poly over the hives when temps start to drop.
Interesting idea. Thank you.
Love this episode! Even more, I love to see my fellow Veterans succeeding in the Civ Div. Semper Fi
It is always a leap of faith. Cutting the cord to a well paying full time job is a dream, but you have to be committed to your side hustle if you want to work for yourself.
Having a friend for guidance on the subject was a good shortcut. And having the physical space for bee’s and beekeeping is important.
I have a coworker who has bee’s and six hives he works three jobs computers, computers and bee’s.
I’m going to send him this video.
You’re spot on! Hope your coworker finds the video helpful! 🙏
I got into beekeeping years ago, but got burned out because I was collecting colonies by performing cut-outs. I may revisit this again next Spring. I actually have a colony in our old house - I'll collect swarms from this and nearby hives, then perhaps requeen them.
You're one of those people that starts rambling to a stranger about your life when literally no one cares 🤣
I burned myself out also my first trip in Beekeeping cuz I'd run everywhere cutting out bees. Got out for 5 year, now restarted with 1 package. Split it to 5 by winter. Used super insulated hives, 3" PSE foam board, went 5 for 5 in a mild michigan winter. Managed the hives for mites by Don Fat beeman technique of fogging with mineral oil & spearmint/wintergreen, manage hive beetles with peppermint candy. Hives are booming. I would only do a cutout now to help a desperate person, cuz I never charged anyone. they are the most expensive bees you can get. Start small & focused & grow as you can afford & manage.
@@samhiss6807 how do you guys get into beekeeping, like where do you gather so much information
he says in a "good" year he can make 1000$/hive per year , and he also said this year he already made 250000 dollars which sounds a little sus with only 68 hives
Buys honey from other Beeks? He doesnt say what his expenses are. We think profit, Corps think gross sales.
@@Userxyz-z2dI agree as a commercial beekeeper and he lies about the floral sources he has in the Carolinas and buys a lot of honey and is really only in three grocery stores
After three years ! 😂 Huhuhu ! 😅
Its not about # of hives. Its about revenue. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
@@SecretGardenBees so why did you lie blatantly about the cost of the flow master and the bottling tanks
After a 24 year career as a Police Officer the job finally took me out with PTSD. For the last two years I’ve been off work going from one mental health appointment to the next. The first 6 months was the roughest then I saw a permaculture garden show on RUclips. I found a new purpose and spent as much time in the garden as I could. One day I thought I need more pollinators in my garden so I started watching bees on RUclips and I was fascinated. I now have 2 hives in my backyard and I find real peace sitting down every afternoon watching and listening to my bees. I can’t get enough of them. I haven’t been able to articulate why they relax me so much. To hear your story makes me believe I’m not crazy. Thank you for sharing your story
Nature truly has a way of healing, and it's great to hear how your journey has brought you such comfort. Thanks for sharing your experience! 🙏
I started my beekeeping business in 2020 and I'm still working full time on 2 jobs working between 60 and 100 hours a week. It's hard to let go and make the jump on beekeeping alone... Eventually I will though. Great video it was super inspiring.
I’ve tried for 4 years to start a bee hive. Unfortunately I have not had success. It’s sad and each year is a new problem. Hopefully this year my bees will make it. Research research research. In the end though sometime that hasn’t been enough.
i have a story for you, my father is beekeeper. find me on X app (7moodzx899)
Why the bees didn't make?
@@dogblackprincehoneyI don’t know, I went out one day and all of
them were just gone. I’d like to think they are somewhere they think is better and are happy.
@@HLTrizzay They can leave if they have a lot of ticks or frames are too old and dark or something else.
Change the spot of the hive 3 foot away. There are bad energy spots and the bees don't like them and leave.
Thank you! Just started my llc!
Did honey for the purpose of having greet pollinators for all varieties of trees. Found like anything to turn out great it takes work (and lots of money to get started. I give this "story" a C for effort. Eighty pounds per hive. What were they, the size of a hundred gallon barrel!
Dude is a bee pimp.
Commercial beekeeping exploits bees for their honey and other products by stealing it from them.
In addition, honeybees compete for the same resources as other bees (lots of species of wild bees) and other pollinators, making it a monoculture that wipes out biodiversity.
Lots of misinformation here.... 500 dollars to start? Well he stated he bought two packages of bees at 150 each, leaving 200 for everything else. The price of boxes, frames, gloves, smoker, beesuit, hive tool etc. is much more than 200 dollars. He said he gets 1000 dollars a hive a year. He has 62 hives, so the maximum he could get is 62,000 in a year. Your title says he gets 41,000 a month. This is very dangerous to misinform people about very important details.
When I got started bare minimum was shy of 1k it seemed and that was trying to find everything second hand
He said $1000 the first year, then $10k the second year, and more the following year. Or did I miss something?
@@FarhanFaisal op is talking about start-up expenses, you're talking about annual revenue
Impossible to do this in serbia. I have 134 bee hives and bearly make 10k a year.
It's impossible to do it in USA according to BeeFit girl. She has about 50 hives and has to work somewhere else to make a living. The guy maybe gets a lot of grants as a veteran.
@@dogblackprincehoneyits very possible that he sells other producers' money
Poz brate Srbine. Jel prodajes samo u Srbiji ili?
Impossible in america too. He is buying and reselling honey. He has those hives just for show.
@@Dougarrowhead He did say he is reselling honey somewhere in comments, and he added that his talk was edited a lot.
Great content as always! Your passion for farming really shines through in every video
Stay tuned for more great content - we appreciate your support! ☺️
IDK I havent watched this yet but I was driving around in the hills near me in SoCal and came across a honey farm on google maps... Did some research and they do $2M a year. Not bad for a small biz honey farm!
How many hives they have To make that much money ?
Wow, the owner gave us so many wonderful tips especially for hiring someone, especially a veteran! Thank you! This video was extremely helpful.
Glad you found the tips helpful! Thanks for watching, and we’re glad you enjoyed the video! 😊
Misleading to not mention the expenses beyond year one. You have massive expenses for processing that you did not disclose
I agree. They cut a lot of that out of my interview because it was just too much. I have kept the processing costs down by making do with inefficient equipment, and using a USDA Value Added Producer Grant to cut the costs of my bottles and such.
@SecretGardenBees awesome that you replied to his comment!
So wish we looked after our vets in Europe in the same way. I've been beekeeping for 6 years and need to look into this.
Always a leap of faith. I quit my perfectly good corporate job with 8k in my bank and a desire to travel. I never looked back but it has been a struggle. There is never a perfect time, only the visceral necessity for change. Money then becomes a game of creativity vs execution. 🎉
Embracing change can be challenging, but it often leads to the most rewarding experiences. 🙏
Im from Eastern NC and live here currently shoutout your an inspiration!
This RUclips channel is for business builders not for beekeepers. I’ve been a beekeeper for seven or eight years now. To be completely honest I’m not 100% invested in my process at most. I’ve had five hives and the largest harvest I’ve had is less than 70 pounds. This RUclips channel is talking about just growing a business. They aren’t talking about varroa mites, hive Beatles or wax moths. Not talking about hive losses. I have no doubt that this brother in Arms is passing on viable information yet with that being said there is a lot that is being left out and the person running this RUclips channel is just a money hawk. If you want to learn what it takes to become a beekeeper find a mentor And see what you can do. Another individual had a comment here that was absolutely incredible to me. When they said, peoples lives have been destroyed because of videos like this. I will say this, though, thank you for the information about the military surplus, definitely something I wanted to know. Become a beekeeper it’s good for the environment and the rewards are amazingly sweet.
Thanks for all informations. Great job 👏👏👏
Love this episode. Excellent video guys!
Thank you! Stay tuned for more great content - we appreciate your support! ☺️
Excellent video guys! Thank you both for doing this show. Great advice. Pete.
Eventually I will though. Great video it was super inspiring.
Leap of faith! Start part time and grow from there. Learn & implement, learn & implement.
I just bought my first hive. No bees yet. Thats next year. Learn first.
Y’all don’t listen he said he has contracts with grocery stores for his product. The one store he said he went from 60 to 160 stores, blah blah blah blah blah blah these contracts pay in a lot of cases upfront and you can say he’s making the money if he has a contract You can’t look at how many hives he has and how much he’s making a year right now he may be anticipating having more hives. You know he’s giving you figures right now with the amount of product he’s making right now, but that doesn’t mean he’s not gonna upscale quit bashing people.
A contract means that he had the ability to fill the order,,, if not he won't last longe
So hes got to go spend $150,000 more to make the $250,000. He bot himself a job.
He is buying large quantum’s of honey and selling as his own and is taking advantage of being a veteran
Im currently making myself a bee business ive got 4 hives next year shooting for 15 with the supplies currently for like 10
How's it going bro?
ya this is why I have tons bee traps and spray them. there's no bee shortage at all. they just say that to drive up the price
I’m not understanding how this can be, but very happy you are so successful.
Love the movie The Beekeeper 🙂
So... If I'm looking to do around $80K - $100K annually, if this a good way to do it?
2 minutes in i never been stung by a bee and im already motivated to start a bee hive business 🤣
Well, it sounds like you’re already one step ahead of the game-no stings, all the honey! 😉
Customers spend more time in produce section and among all the boring produce, the honey stands out.
Honey has great health benefits, making it a popular choice among shoppers!
I loved this episode !
What temp and humidity do you store them at after harvest? How long do they keep well for?
All his expenses need to be doubled. 50$ for a bottom deep and super is crazy. closer to $100-$125. Not to mention most keepers run double deeps and hopefully double supers.
For you bee hive owners. How many hives can you have per acre. I know there's many land factors with climate, trees, flowers, vegetables. But roughly how many hives per acre do y'all fit?
As a long time hobby beekeeper; honey bees need resorces to produce a good crop of honey. Where is he located and more importantly what pollin and nector is located within fivee miles of his bees?
This episode was so helpful! I have questions specifically about that $20k honey pour set-up. I hand pour fudge and my neck and shoulders are killing me. Can the honey stay in there for a long time? Do you think chocolate sauce could work in that? I have to bring it up to a boil but then maybe pour it into that to keep the right temp. This is the main thing stopping me from scaling my biz. Thank you for sharing so much already!
Thrilled to hear the episode was helpful for you! Have you considered consulting with a equipment specialist or maybe testing it out on a smaller scale first? Keep pushing forward with your biz-you've got this! 💪
There’s no right time the right time happens when you make a leap of faith
creating merchandise such as t-shirts and candy made from honey. Additionally, offering pre-made iced honey tea could significantly boost profits. Documenting the entire process through a RUclips channel could also help build credibility and attract a following.
Awesome and thanks for sharing with us ❤I’m new to your channel and I’m excited to be here ❤
don't be, all the information you heard here is absolutely false, at least in terms of profits
The Beekeeper!!! Watch it 9/10
Thanks for the awesome reco! 😉
I joke that "The Beekeeper" is the second semi-autobiographical movie about me---I was EOD in the Army so the first was "the hurt locker."
Watched that movie thought of you.@SecretGardenBees
Honey is also a healing substance .
Working in the cool of the night together to bring good stuff to tables around us thanks for the honey 🍯
awesome episode!
Holy smokes I had no idea about Government Surplus? I am a Veteran looking to start a farm business and just about fell out of my chair! LETS GO USA!
This is INSANE.
share the link fellow vet?
Yeah, that surprised me too! I would love to get my hands on a truck and a trailer for my scuba business...
I would like to get a link as well. Can't find it myself
I’m getting ready to retire from the service /21 years. I’m starting a farm, I seriously want that link too!!!
That man is well equipped for this business and fast at rectifying business mistakes and miscalculations a great business man.
Step one: be able to afford a home with land. Or just a home with big enough space..
Unfortunately for those who haven’t bought a home yet it’s ridiculously increasing in price every year. Many can’t afford housing anymore
It’s tough out there, but staying informed and planning carefully can help navigate these rising costs. Keep pushing forward and exploring your options! 💪
It is possible to rent land for your hives. If you find the right person they may even give you nearly free rent in order to claim zero taxes on a parcel used for agriculture. Further, bees don't require fencing. Another option is putting hives on other existing farms because farmers like pollination but don't want to learn to care for hives themselves.
@ 3:22 The person in the black shirt has good taste in music.
Yeah the numbers don't really add up.
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
I own bees. I think the average beekeeper nets around $70 per beehive per year if they are doing a good job. If he's actually netting more than $5k he's doing a great job.
Do you need to have a flower garden to farm bees...?
What bee keeping suit brand is best? I don’t want to get stung at all 😅
Make sure to look for features like ventilated fabric, elastic cuffs, and reinforced stitching for the best protection against stings! 😉
@@UpFlip thanks! Do you happen to know the brand that one is by?
Great presentation, please what is the name of the honey-filling equipment that operates at 104 degrees and accurately fills the bottle
Hi you say you only extract twice a year, why only twice a year? Here in Queensland Australia when my dad had 12x full size 9 frame hives he would extract every 4 weeks sometimes he would have to do it every 3 weeks for 1 full 9 frame Super or they would build up into the lid.. + Harvesting typically takes place in spring and summer for us which is September to April/May that's like 9 times a year or more.. unless your adding multiple + supers per hive ?
The frequency of extraction can vary based on local conditions and hive management practices. Thanks for watching! ☺️
Sharp business owner and he builds quality it would be a good mentor. He reminds me of Paul Akers and his 2 second Lean
Where do you buy the package of bees plus the queen for $150.00?
One colony of bees for me was $180 and my hives were $250 and my bee suit was $100. I bought 4 colonies and 3 died within the first year. Plus the pollen patties and mite killer and tools and extras all add up. They make it seem very inexpensive in this video but my experience has been a very expensive endeavor.
I wonder if his calculation is based on high side of 100 pounds per hive on 2 harvests of June and October (5 months?) or 200 pounds per hive per year or 12,800 pounds at $20 per pound or $248,000. Maybe his price per pound is more than $20?... So $41K over 6 months per month possibly makes sense... but not $41K per month over 12 months... UpFlip should give further clarification...
Yah like verification of income & receipts. I think what hes doing is buying honey from other Beeks. So hes spending $248,000 to make $250,000, its the Corp nonsense.
I would say that this was misrepresented on income. 61 hives all 61 productive each super at 35 lbs max weight you would have to get 3 full supers per hive. That is only 6100 lbs of honey this would only be $54,000 gross income. Then stating a hive cost is $50 including frames again is not a realistic price. There is Bottle cost, label cost, labor cost. Honey is only 15% of a bee business. You have to split into Nucs and sell bee nucs and packages to reach these numbers. The income numbers vs cost numbers don't add up to the numbers expressed . They would have to be buying and processing honey from other sources as well , selling bees and again 100 nucs is only an income of 24,000. So to reach the numbers expressed there is much more going on that is not being told
Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us.
@@Userxyz-z2d Yep. There was some creative editing from them here that cut out when I explained this. I absolutely buy other farmers honey. Several nearby farmers needed a reliable honey market at a fair price and I needed more supply. The honey is all from within a 50 mile radius and it works out well for all of us. But my stated profit margin is accurate.
If it sounds to good to be true it most likely is.
If he added flower beds for the bees I bet the bees would produce the honey faster
How are ppl spending $20-40 for 1 lb for honey in NC when I can buy local raw honey for $11-17 for 3lbs in GA?
Is it really raw or just corn syrop?
@@dogblackprincehoney it’s raw honey
@@qldavis3005 11 dollars for 3 pounds raw honey?
People are not spending $20-40 per pound, guaranteed. Unless hes selling to the Govt lol
Raw honey is good for health, one can't buy cheap raw honey. If it's cheap it's probably catering honey.
I started in 2020 also and am down $4,000
I would love to get in contact with James to find out about the government equipment transfer law for veterans
everyone's a bee farmer until they get stung 100 times in the nuts lol
That's funny.
😂😂
Oh my goodness 😂…
I’ve bee in my car once hidden in my door panel and the buzzing sound annoys the hell out of me 😂😂😂
The buzz is worse than a sting:)
Beekeeping for PTSD relief and making a fortune? This is a perfect example of turning passion into profit. Can anyone recommend more unconventional business ideas like this?
For other unconventional business ideas, you might want to explore areas like urban farming, eco-friendly products, or wellness retreats.
This is the 3rd video I've watched and there is no blue sky in any of them. Where is the blue sky?
Can you please post a link to the Va study on bees and PTSD
thank you for the veteran info
Guys, can you supply the link to buy military surplus? I'm a vet and could really use the help
There are a couple of sites where you can find surplus (just search them up on the web). While you're at it, check out this website for more announcements: www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa
"Corks from Portugal!!" Yeah!!
Corks from Portugal are top-notch!
Interesting that this farm gets money from honey mostly. As I heard, in US main earnings go from pollination. In Ukraine, where I'm from almost 100% of money goes from honey selling and other bee products - Pollen, Bee bread, Cappings (my favorite), Propolis. Pollination business just starting. And every year, I hear beekeepers complaining about the low price of honey. If I don’t hear it, then something’s wrong with the beekeeper. ))
Ground support.
I am in Texas on the gulf coast a pond of honey sells for $10 on the side of the road or in the store.
I'm in the hill country and successfully sell mine at 21 per pound.
I was under the impression that bee keepers are honest? this guy is not, pure and simple.......................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🐝I started in 2020 as well but due to where I live selling honey has proven difficult. Thanks for sharing
Maybe consider exploring online platforms, farmers' markets, or local collaborations to get your product out there. Wishing you all the best in your journey! 🍯🐝
@@UpFlip Can you clarify the revenue numbers everyone is asking about in the comments. The math doesn’t seem to math. Just lay out the calculations for us like we’re children (even though some of us have accounting degrees!!)
Oh wow I I can’t believe he’s sole propertier and not llc. It was like $50 more to register as llc. Years ago I had a small business as did my hand and the accountant told us to always do llc.
Registering as an LLC can offer extra protection and benefits, and it’s often worth the small additional cost.
Follow your dreams
For such a remarkable beekeeper, he sure is unknown in the beekeeping community...maybe do an actual interview with Bob Binnie. Nobody knows about this guy, and his story nor numbers equate
I appreciate the complement. I am a bit of a dark horse. Bob and I have talked a number of times. He is the one who suggested some of my equipment, and I totally copied his model of supplementing my hives with honey from others. I just do it at a higher end sales and use a lot of grants and programs to reduce my cost of goods sold. I also only buy from other beekeepers within a 50 mile radius of me. I have the distinct advantage of having spent 14 years as a program manager in government contracting at a high end firm. I just transferred the model and business skills to farming, especially my time combining ridiculously complex government programs to help my business. I have really been surprised how well its worked. Some examples are the Veterans Small Business Enhancement Act, The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and WOrk Opportunity Tax Credit to cut labor costs, USDA Value Added Producer Grant to cut costs of goods sold, and a number of others.
Great Guy
Bee's emit a healing frequency and the average life expectancy of a beekeeper is 103!
I enjoyed watching this wonderful movie and welcome you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thank you to the photography team and my beekeeping friends. It is truly worth admiring and sharing
Thank you for your advice
I'm Mahmoud Bilal from Sudan but now I live in Saudi Arabia and I would like to contact with you
More like "Women-unfriendly Tyranny of Saudi Arabia". You guys got stuck in the medieval times.
Very inspiring
To get into big grocery stores was it your premium product or lower price? When you state 40% margin are you stating net proceeds? Are you surrounded by agricultural land and if so, does their pest control negatively affect your bees? I am surrounded by working land; a big dairy to the west, corn, sugar beets, mint and wheat. Does their programs of agricultural land use make bee keeping harder or easier?
Appreciate the questions! To answer the first one, getting into big grocery stores usually depends on a combination of factors like the quality of your product, pricing strategy, and sometimes relationships with buyers.
@@UpFlip For me I worked for the grocery company so I have business contacts when my production is high enough.
Hes probably buying honey from other beeks. Quality control is hard to monitor & I suspect at some point the Govt will step in bc many Beeks feed their bees sugar so the honey they produce is Franken honey. Oversight is def needed in this industry.
62 hives Keep in mind this. 41k/month title say. That’s about 20 dollars as he say per kg ( to say so ) this mean you make 2000kg / month honey. Things did not add up mate. Do bees for 20 years. Never come up such things Or title is wrong. 😂😂😂😂
A Little money laundering. Naa just click bait title.
Read responses to comments. He explains that editing cut out a lot and he sells other keepers honey.
Awesome video