Have you looked into Kirk Webster and Daniel Weaver from Bee Weaver Honey Farm? They have been running hundreds of hives for over 20 years now without doing any mite treatments, and they are still going strong! They don’t do mite counts or anything, they just split the strongest hives that survive each year. I hear you say often that there are no queens that can handle the mites on their own, but those guys are doing it.
David, people ask me about beekeeping. I tell them to first read the book beekeeping for dummies, but start at the back of the book. The back explains the issues of beekeeping. If they still want to do it, then go for it. If they need help I'll help.
It's good to hear someone say all this, it needs to be said. The investment in equipment can be huge. On that front I took a different route by building some of my own and hauling off another man's junk and repairing what I could. There is no such thing as a perfect hive, as for winter survival you must make sure they have enough food. Most winter dead outs are caused by starvation. People would be surprised at the places bees build their hives and thrive in, took a colony out of a stack of tires last sommer that had been there 5 years. They made it through the freak winter storms of 2022 and 23 with no assistance. There is a colony in the bell housing of an old tractor on my property that's been there at least 20 years. Great video keep them coming.
I was very lucky to get 4 gallons of honey off my first hive. A big swarm building out a brood box and two supers and filling them up in under two months. Going into winter with two hives, looking forward to the surprises next year bring!
Bee keeping can be expensive the first year but once you get going you get free bees and queens each year by learning to make splits. You learn to make your own boxes, hive bottoms, hive stands. You buy jars on sale, or reuse other jars from food. The only main expense will be buying more frames, that's the one thing that's more cost effective to buy unless you have unlimited amount of time and skills then you can make frames for free from scrap 2x4s .
Your other BIG expense will be mite treatment. Even with OA is probably the cheapest, you have to buy a $500 vaporizer. Unfortunately, I've tried to keep bees on the cheap in the past, and it never ends well. To keep bees healthy, and expanding and to be able to deal with mites and harvest honey...it's VERY expensive.
Some people get started in beekeeping and start buying a lot more hives and a lot more equipment. Such as big time extractors maybe even a new beekeeping truck and in that case it’s gonna take a long time to break even. Unfortunately, that’s the mistake I made in the beginning.
David i understand that new beekeepers can miss things when aassesing new hives and there is a lot to learn . Do you think its common for someone whose selling bees to pass their poor egg laying queen to a customer and keep the new queen just purchased . They could take eggs from a great queen and add it to the nuc with the poor queen and the new beekeeper doesnt have a clue unless they have help Do beekeepers replace their queens after buying a nuk? How would you know how old the queen is if she isnt marked?
I have been bee keeping now 7 yrs and have enjoyed every minute. Not saying it was all nice and easy. Went from 1 hive to 12 hives in 3 yrs, made lots of honey and now back down to 2 hives because of my back restraints. Made my own hive boxes, bottom boards, winter insulated wrappings, etc. Over this period approximately expenses $900.
I done so much research by reading and through watching videos but still wasn’t really prepared for the challenges. I did stick with it and I’m still learning
Bee honest! Good realistic perspective on the costs and time for this wonderful hobby. I am a gentle hobbist rather than a bee business... I just enjoy the bees and want to support them. It is a good benefit for my garden, too!
expensive, frustrating, challenging BUT, every time I open a hive I feel like opening a Xmas present; so exciting. Also there is a sense of responsibility for living beings, try to make everything possible to make the survive and thrive...i finally made some money after five years of doing it..to pay for equipment
Beekeeping is a type of farming. Anyone who says you'll make money farming is lying. Not because farmers don't make money. But because farmers struggle *very* hard to stay in the black, and new farmers typically start out in the red and stay there for years. Because events like drought, bad summers, bad winters, heavy rains, wildfires, wildlife predation, and bad or changing markets also very easily disrupt their operation. And the farmers who do make money basically treat it as a full-time job, not a hobby-- and many of those farmers already have a part-time job on top of the farming in order to stay afloat. Do beekeeping because it's fascinating and fun. Don't do it thinking you're going to make any money back whatsoever. Any money you make is basically going to help subsidize your hobby, but not pay for it in full, and certainly not make you a profit.
Two more to add to the list. (1). Queen rearing is easy and even new beekeepers can make huge profits from queen rearing (2) Demaree hive configuration is easy and all new beekeepers should do it to make loads of extra honey.
Add a tick coat of wax to the plastic foundation so they can rebuild the cones on the plastic foundations and move the un-finished one to the middle next to a well finished one..
If you live in Illinois ours are pickup only $155: www.honeybeesonline.com/3-pound-italian-bee-packages-on-sale-jan-1-please-read-and-agree-to-the-following-before-ordering/
Beekeeping is like any other hobby fun but can be costly. Just like ham radio fun but the equipment can be costly. I have not been a ham for years, but I'm considering getting into it again 😊
Good stuff. Thanks. I'm thinking I'm going to try to help other kinds of pollinators as I've read honey bees are doing much better these days. As a large man, I'm thinking Bumble Bees could use my help......
I wanna cry!!! Got our first hive this Spring, another hive flew in, so we had two hives and they were doing great! And this Fall, both hives got robbed and my bees killed! I plan on getting more honey bees in the Spring....I just wanna know what we did wrong..........
So sorry to hear! Sounds like there may be hives near you and your colonies may have become weak or smaller and the larger hives around you robbed your hives. Best thing is to run robber screens in late summer and fall. Be careful about feeding your bees in the fall to prevent robbing.
Im a second year bee keeper (hobbyist) and i have yet to have any honey and its not likely i will have any this year either, year 1 = 2 hives - massive wasp problem- saved 1 queen an a cup of bee's - brought 2 NUC's and built up cup hive, start of spring Nuc's went into full hives and built up really strong....commercial bee keeper starved his 24 hives over winter so they nailed my hives for food- saved half a hive, built back up and managed a split and then had a failed swarm happen and lost queen and half a hive dead bees everywhere, so brought 4 queens and am now back to NUC's and have expanded to 3 apiaries so i can cover loss but now i have more travel cost due to locations, so yea not a low cost hobby but it does get my mind off the 9 - 5 grind and i really enjoy the whole experience and look forward to what comes next.....hopefully some honey 😄
I love the videos, thank you so much. As a first time bee keeper I am at a loss what exactly happened to my first hive and if you have the time could you give me your opinion pls. My channel James Stroup and the videos , 1-what is going on? 83°,2- Best hive strongest hive GONE, 3- 5 hives to 2 hives that fast. I’m going to start your online classes but need advice on what happened 😩. Thank you again and look forward to your amazing videos.
Have you looked into Kirk Webster and Daniel Weaver from Bee Weaver Honey Farm? They have been running hundreds of hives for over 20 years now without doing any mite treatments, and they are still going strong! They don’t do mite counts or anything, they just split the strongest hives that survive each year. I hear you say often that there are no queens that can handle the mites on their own, but those guys are doing it.
David, people ask me about beekeeping. I tell them to first read the book beekeeping for dummies, but start at the back of the book. The back explains the issues of beekeeping. If they still want to do it, then go for it. If they need help I'll help.
Good point
that's the only book I read...5 years later.. I'm still a dummy lol! I wish I knew I was getting into... expensive and stressful
Keeping bees with a smile , Fedor lazutin
Should be mandatory/law
It's good to hear someone say all this, it needs to be said. The investment in equipment can be huge. On that front I took a different route by building some of my own and hauling off another man's junk and repairing what I could. There is no such thing as a perfect hive, as for winter survival you must make sure they have enough food. Most winter dead outs are caused by starvation. People would be surprised at the places bees build their hives and thrive in, took a colony out of a stack of tires last sommer that had been there 5 years. They made it through the freak winter storms of 2022 and 23 with no assistance. There is a colony in the bell housing of an old tractor on my property that's been there at least 20 years. Great video keep them coming.
I was very lucky to get 4 gallons of honey off my first hive. A big swarm building out a brood box and two supers and filling them up in under two months. Going into winter with two hives, looking forward to the surprises next year bring!
That is awesome! Great attitude!
Things that are easy are not always worth doing. Although anything worth doing is usually a challenge but ends up very rewarding.
So perfectly said. Wow, I love it!!
Bee keeping can be expensive the first year but once you get going you get free bees and queens each year by learning to make splits. You learn to make your own boxes, hive bottoms, hive stands. You buy jars on sale, or reuse other jars from food. The only main expense will be buying more frames, that's the one thing that's more cost effective to buy unless you have unlimited amount of time and skills then you can make frames for free from scrap 2x4s .
Your other BIG expense will be mite treatment. Even with OA is probably the cheapest, you have to buy a $500 vaporizer. Unfortunately, I've tried to keep bees on the cheap in the past, and it never ends well. To keep bees healthy, and expanding and to be able to deal with mites and harvest honey...it's VERY expensive.
"A bug is a bug and doesnt care what kind of wood it is"
Tell that to eastern red cedar, hemlock, or Black walnut
All great points and advice! No hobby is free😂😂
Good point, "No hobby is free." I like that!
Will you ever break even?
Some people get started in beekeeping and start buying a lot more hives and a lot more equipment. Such as big time extractors maybe even a new beekeeping truck and in that case it’s gonna take a long time to break even. Unfortunately, that’s the mistake I made in the beginning.
So basically keep it small and you might break even?
David i understand that new beekeepers can miss things when aassesing new hives and there is a lot to learn . Do you think its common for someone whose selling bees to pass their poor egg laying queen to a customer and keep the new queen just purchased . They could take eggs from a great queen and add it to the nuc with the poor queen and the new beekeeper doesnt have a clue unless they have help
Do beekeepers replace their queens after buying a nuk? How would you know how old the queen is if she isnt marked?
I just dove into this a month ago and literally nobody says these things
I have been bee keeping now 7 yrs and have enjoyed every minute. Not saying it was all nice and easy. Went from 1 hive to 12 hives in 3 yrs, made lots of honey and now back down to 2 hives because of my back restraints. Made my own hive boxes, bottom boards, winter insulated wrappings, etc. Over this period approximately expenses $900.
I done so much research by reading and through watching videos but still wasn’t really prepared for the challenges. I did stick with it and I’m still learning
Great job!
Bee honest! Good realistic perspective on the costs and time for this wonderful hobby. I am a gentle hobbist rather than a bee business... I just enjoy the bees and want to support them. It is a good benefit for my garden, too!
Love the challenges. Keep the mind young
It’s not easy but it is more fun and satisfying that I expected.
So true!
expensive, frustrating, challenging BUT, every time I open a hive I feel like opening a Xmas present; so exciting. Also there is a sense of responsibility for living beings, try to make everything possible to make the survive and thrive...i finally made some money after five years of doing it..to pay for equipment
So well said!!
Beekeeping is a type of farming.
Anyone who says you'll make money farming is lying.
Not because farmers don't make money. But because farmers struggle *very* hard to stay in the black, and new farmers typically start out in the red and stay there for years. Because events like drought, bad summers, bad winters, heavy rains, wildfires, wildlife predation, and bad or changing markets also very easily disrupt their operation. And the farmers who do make money basically treat it as a full-time job, not a hobby-- and many of those farmers already have a part-time job on top of the farming in order to stay afloat.
Do beekeeping because it's fascinating and fun.
Don't do it thinking you're going to make any money back whatsoever. Any money you make is basically going to help subsidize your hobby, but not pay for it in full, and certainly not make you a profit.
As ex dairy,beef sheep and hen farmer I agree 100%😅
Two more to add to the list. (1). Queen rearing is easy and even new beekeepers can make huge profits from queen rearing (2) Demaree hive configuration is easy and all new beekeepers should do it to make loads of extra honey.
I thought I would have wax comming out of my ears...😂 5th year and the bees still get it all back on plastic foundation.
Add a tick coat of wax to the plastic foundation so they can rebuild the cones on the plastic foundations and move the un-finished one to the middle next to a well finished one..
All true. Still love it though. Would like to see a video on cleaning and processing, storing raw, fresh pollen
Great idea
Good stuff David. #truth
Thanks Bruce
Rewarding
Great video David. I appreciate your honesty this is exactly what new and sesend beekeeper's need. Keep it up!!!
That is the first question I get about bee keeping" How must does it cost for a hive of bees"?
It's about 175 for a package. Got mine from Mountain Sweet Honey order now.
If you live in Illinois ours are pickup only $155: www.honeybeesonline.com/3-pound-italian-bee-packages-on-sale-jan-1-please-read-and-agree-to-the-following-before-ordering/
Tru Dat, David
Beekeeping is the most difficult hobby I've ever undertaken (except Golf). But, it is addictive...
Very good point!!
You are doing great. Telling the truth. I love to watch your teachings. Thank you
I appreciate that
It is easy maybe not so simple or is it simple and not easy? Mostly what I heard was what" Lies" that are being told about beekeeping.
Beekeeping is like any other hobby fun but can be costly. Just like ham radio fun but the equipment can be costly. I have not been a ham for years, but I'm considering getting into it again 😊
Good point. Ham radio and beekeeping are similar in cost.
hello namaste.
Hello
Hi Bee Squad from NYC 🗽🇩🇴🇺🇸
Hello!
I didn't get any honey in my first year
Same, due to terrible weather. Rainy summer.
Good stuff. Thanks. I'm thinking I'm going to try to help other kinds of pollinators as I've read honey bees are doing much better these days. As a large man, I'm thinking Bumble Bees could use my help......
It is very difficult. So many commercial beekeepers are losing most of their hives, and hobbyists are in for a particularly rough winter this year.
Good advice, David. December is not too early to get things in order. 😃😃
I wanna cry!!! Got our first hive this Spring, another hive flew in, so we had two hives and they were doing great! And this Fall, both hives got robbed and my bees killed! I plan on getting more honey bees in the Spring....I just wanna know what we did wrong..........
So sorry to hear! Sounds like there may be hives near you and your colonies may have become weak or smaller and the larger hives around you robbed your hives. Best thing is to run robber screens in late summer and fall. Be careful about feeding your bees in the fall to prevent robbing.
Is a very good explanation !!! Thanks , happens to me , after 7 years I got 400 plus pounds of honey from about 15 colonies.
Amazing!
Im a second year bee keeper (hobbyist) and i have yet to have any honey and its not likely i will have any this year either, year 1 = 2 hives - massive wasp problem- saved 1 queen an a cup of bee's - brought 2 NUC's and built up cup hive, start of spring Nuc's went into full hives and built up really strong....commercial bee keeper starved his 24 hives over winter so they nailed my hives for food- saved half a hive, built back up and managed a split and then had a failed swarm happen and lost queen and half a hive dead bees everywhere, so brought 4 queens and am now back to NUC's and have expanded to 3 apiaries so i can cover loss but now i have more travel cost due to locations, so yea not a low cost hobby but it does get my mind off the 9 - 5 grind and i really enjoy the whole experience and look forward to what comes next.....hopefully some honey 😄
Great 👍 video. The Money part is 100% true 😊
I love the videos, thank you so much. As a first time bee keeper I am at a loss what exactly happened to my first hive and if you have the time could you give me your opinion pls. My channel James Stroup and the videos , 1-what is going on? 83°,2- Best hive strongest hive GONE, 3- 5 hives to 2 hives that fast. I’m going to start your online classes but need advice on what happened 😩. Thank you again and look forward to your amazing videos.
Older larvae and general nutrition.