# Average age of a beekeeper



## Rob (Mar 29, 2005)

I've just turned 27 (4 weeks ago) and I've been beekeeping for 18 mths,plus it's my only source of income.So that vote in the 20-29 column in the poll in the other post is mine,I'll be interested to see the results but I'm betting on an average of 45, that's the average in our town.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Just a couple a days short of a half a dollar here. Yea thats right. 50 cents. Of the commercial folks within 20 miles of me it would be 50, 55, 58, 60, 63, 65.

Out of the lot only one has a son in the running to "take over." Mine will be off to college in the fall to study to become an ME although my heart tells me he will likely consider coming back to run bees or some other sort of farming. His goal as an ME is to design equipment for the ag field that lessens manual labor inputs. 

Besides moving bees with forklifts beekeeping is still in the stone age mechanization wise. Not sure we will ever be like auto tomato pickers or the like as much of beekeeping requires a quick look and see to determine what to do next. 

Maybe someday we will have probes and sensors that will tell us how and when to feed, etc..... based on computer modeling. That would be nice labor wise but sure would take a lot of the fun out of keeping bees.

I think thats why many young people disdain beekeeping. Its a great job but if you look at if through the general American mindset it just to darn hard physically and with long crazy hours to boot on top. Not enough folks willing to put up with what it takes. 

Besides that who would want to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars on capital that might die of in a heartbeat.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Let's see. I'm 58, so my average year would be all the years I have lived divided by all the years I have been a beekeeper, which is 35, or, too much math.


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## WilliamsHoneyBees (Feb 17, 2010)

26 here. You may find that you're data may be a little low because a lot of the older folks are still trying to figure out what this here televison screen sitting on the desk is for and can't get on here to post? Wheres the dang remote for this TV set? :s! But you gotta hand it to them. Learning the things that they did without the use of the internet. I tell my wife all the time that I could give up the tv and every book I have in the house but I would not give up the net. Just so much information available. An example? Well humm let me think...:scratch: Oh yeah BEESOURCE! Yes I will be here all night.


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## giant pumpkin peep (Mar 14, 2009)

im 16. Dont plan to give it up any time soon. If it will ever be what I do? I dont know, dont have to know. Ill get to 10,and if that goes well maybe 25, and if that goes ok,more. You get the idea. My club has a lot of younge beeks like myself . All but one of them isnt terribly bright. We need beekeepers and prices will rise and more people will get into it on bigger scale....hopefully.


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

It is good to see a young person involved. I am 48 and have kept bees for almost 39 years. I feel very old, as I have seen so much change in the industry. I went from just using terrimyicin and sulfa to fight AFB. To just about having to have a pharmacist degree to treat the bees with their new exotic diseases and pest. I went from using managment knowing that your bees would be there every time you visited to "Know Till management": You do not know what you got till you get there. I have seen the bees decline along with the number of experienced beekeepers decline also as their bees declined. A lot of practical knowledge has been lost because of this. Yes, I feel old--like a dinosaur that survived the KT extinction boundary. The young man that posted is a bright spot--beekeeping will continue. And I wish him well TK


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Come on Ted you are just a kid at 48, your next 48 are always the best. Yeah I remember when AFB was the baddest dude on the block but that is soooooo 1980. I'm still trying to figure out GPP's statement that all but one of them isn't terribly bright. :scratch: Whatever, glad to hear there are some young folks excited about beekeeping. Surely the death of the beekeeper has been greatly exaggerated.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

How does one determine the average age of one person?


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Come on Mark you take the year times 10 and divide it by uhhh I think 10.


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## bhfury (Nov 25, 2008)

Where did the poll go :scratch:


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

jim lyon said:


> Come on Mark you take the year times 10 and divide it by uhhh I think 10.


That's what I thought. So my average age is 1.


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## giant pumpkin peep (Mar 14, 2009)

What I ment is the scholarship beeks they are getting arn't being taught or mentored very well. I do have to admit, I read A LOT, which can give an edge. Every scholarship winner has to do a presentation a year after they started. Even after my first year I heard what they where saying. I would have hoped the mentor provided by the club would teach them better. Oh well. I do though think someone in the club is trying to start a youth branch which would be cool. I know mike (kingfisher) will chime in here soon. Hes farther ahead of me as far as expanding. Also a little warmer.

Here, we have to groups of beekeepers FOR THE MOST PART. Theres the older beeks who are in the way of dumping whatever into the hive, and never really expiriment with much. Just give em apistan, and hope the live. Then we have younger beeks,20's or 30's, or whatever who are trying this that and the other thing. Im not trying to be stereotypical, becuase there is exeptions. 

Also in our club there is very few people who care to expand past 10 or 12 at the most. There is one who would like to go into queen production with 3 hives. Have to chuckle that one off. There one or two who have 70 ish. There is a few people who have 30 ish. As long as im happy doing bees ill keep growing my numbers. When it becomes no longer any fun, then I shall stop growing.

Thats one of the more long winded posts Ive ever had. You old geasers really get me talking.  :lookout:  :thumbsup:


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## danwyns (Nov 11, 2007)

30 yo and 6 years playing with bugs professionally. I'll definitely be in this game in some context for the next ~30 years but can see myself transitioning from the commercial sector to a more research oriented track in the future. I like the practical skills, hands on nature and irregular schedule of the 'heavy lifting' side of beekeping now, but I've also met enough older guys and seen what 30 years of lifting supers does to a body to know it's not what I want to be doing at 60.


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## Wyo (May 17, 2010)

I’m 36, but most of the folks I have been around are 50+. More importantly, both of my kids are getting into beekeeping this year (age 9 and 12). Both are saving _their_ money to buy a nuc this spring (the deal was, kids each buy a nuc, mom and dad will provide complete hive boxes). They are very motivated and only a few dollars each from getting them.

I am also a 4H leader and starting this year our club now has a beekeeping group. As far as we have been able to determine, we are the only club in the state that has beekeeping (and one of a handful nation wide). Not including my kids, there are at least 4 other kids involved in bees (at least two want their own colony this year, the other two just want to learn and be around them to start). Hopefully, we can keep growing a whole new crop of little beeks!


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## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

Jim, you have seen as much change as I have---does that not make you feel like one of the ancients in this business?? It does me, especially when I see the new beeks trying to reinvent the wheel. Hobbyist seem to bee scared to ask a commercial beek for advice and because of that, alot of practical knowledge has been lost.TK


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## summer1052 (Oct 21, 2007)

I have read before that the average age of beeks was about 63, and predominently male.

I wonder if the question should be: "What is the average age of the beeks who are *internet friendly*, and willing to share with other beeks?" So many beeks out there are still one-fella operations who learned it from _____ or grampa and have been out there all alone ever since. I would conjecture that this group has been the backbone subscriber to _Bee Culture_ and the _American Beekeeping Journal._

If you are comfy online, you are probably a bit younger, or one of us forced to learn computers for work, and stuck with things like Beesource, while avoiding things like the MMORPGs. 

Also glad to see more women involved in all levels of non industrial agriculture, not just beekeeping.

Just my $ 0.02.
Summer


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

In defence of Old Beeks!

As I see, part of the problem is, the new methods may be great in terms of varroa control, (or sometimes they may not be), but in any case I respect folks for trying.

But a lot of people using new methods it's all they know. They think they are pretty successful if they can just get most of their hives through the winter alive. They don't know what a good honey crop is.

My bees are in excellent locations and I use old fashioned methods. If one of my honey producing hives does less than 300 lb's I'm wanting to know what went wrong. Some of the new guys just don't know what a crop is, so consider themselves "more advanced" than the ones using old methods. There is an idea the old guys just don't get it in todays world. Any experienced old beekeeper can run hives by the new methods, bees are bees, if you understand them. I'm helping some folks using new designs and methods and their hives have started doing rather well. Or at least, as well as they can using those designs and methods.

To me, I see the bees doing a good crop, as doing it because they are well housed, healthy, and happy. And yes, I really believe a bee can be happy.

And nobody tell me they are not in this for the honey! Who doesn't want enough honey to pass around family, friends, and neighbors as much as they can eat!


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Close your ears!

I'm not in it for the honey!! 

In fact, I still have about 12, 5 gallon buckets of honey in the basement from years past. I can only consume so much of it and give so much of it away.


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## green2btree (Sep 9, 2010)

My son and I got into beekeeping last year. He's 17, I'm 53. Of course, he is off to college this fall to become a veterinarian so then it will be just me. Beekeeping is my current thing because I find that at 53 it is easier to heal a bee sting than a bunged up leg that the horses running over me caused.

JC


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Well it takes all sorts 

Not you Barry, but usually when I hear people say they didn't want any honey anyway, I tend to think that secretly they would have loved to have some.

It's just that people get locked into some dogma about some design, method, or whatever, and feel they have to defend it. When their bees were unable to store a surplus the only justification available is something like - "all part of the plan, didn't want any honey anyway".

But anyway, that's a whole different subject i guess, just thought I'd make a case for old traditional beeks, living in the past who just don't get computers or todays society, but somehow have bees that can produce.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Ted Kretschmann said:


> Jim, you have seen as much change as I have---does that not make you feel like one of the ancients in this business??
> 
> No not really Ted but it does give me a little more confidence I know what I am talking about if you are challenged. I don't expect the younger guys to listen to me any more than I would listen to the older folks when I was their age (which wasnt very much). When asked for advice I usually say I can tell you a lot of things not to do and I can tell you what I do but there is no substitute for experience. Oh and by the way sometimes I actually pick up some new ideas from some of these folks. Of course they were things I had been planning to do all along.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Oldtimer said:


> just thought I'd make a case for old traditional beeks, living in the past


If this is truly the case for you, then you are a very privileged one! Everyone I know who is old enough to have had bees pre mite days are nowhere capable of keeping bees the way they did living in the past. They changed their management practices to include miticides, various drugs, etc. So for the rest of us who have to deal with mites and SHB and all the other maladies, some of us will do our best to help the bees survive these in as much a natural way as possible, without using chemicals and drugs.


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

I guess for me the timing was perfect, I had bees in the pre-mite days, then due to a move gave up beeking before I had to deal with mites. Now back in it I am 100% a chemical/treatment/what-ever-else you want to call it free beek.....Oh and although I hate MMORPG's I have been playing FPS's and TPS's for many years...8)


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## lcsdday (Dec 9, 2009)

39 here and not ready for 40 yet.:no:


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

My dad, 89, who is no longer tecnically a beekeeper, but still looks in my hives.
My self, 54,
and My son, Christian(6th generation) ,24 

I would like to take exception at the old timers not being able to handle the mites and CCD. Yes, I believe that there where MANY practices in the days pre mites, that can no londer be use. Not all pre mites and pre CCD practices where the same.
If anything, we have reverted to the more labor intense beeekeeping 
practices of the 40's thru the 60's. More frequent inspections , like done in the past, allow you to nip any infections in the bud, before they become full blown, and can keep the mites under control with out the aplication of chemicals. Isolating disease control, as used in the days of AFB and burning, is still a viable option. Sterilization of equipment, like what Brother Adam, is also pertinant today. 
Maybe it is those that strayed away from the conservative "german" approach of the past, are those that are strugling the most today.

Roland
Linden Apiary. Est. 1852


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## TexasTim (Oct 20, 2010)

I am 47. I suspect the reason most beeks are older is simply because this is an expensive "hobby" to get into. My first year I spent about $5,000 for eqpt. alone. When I was 24 and had 5 kids, spending that sort of money would have been unthinkable. In addition to that, many young, potential beeks are city dwellers. It takes some years and money to just be able to buy a home place to even start.
So, unless you are "born" to a beekeeping family, being in your 20's and being a keeper of any size is unlikely. My newborn son stands a better chance of being a young beekeeper than I ever did (born to inner city chicago professors). 
I guess the same can be said of ANY type of farming. Unless you are born into it, it is rare to find young people innvolved. 
I guess what I am saying is that no, there are not tons of "young" people comming into beekeeping but plenty of 30-40-50 year olds starting all the time.


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## jabbott (Jun 30, 2009)

My daughter has four hives. She is eleven.


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## Merlyn Votaw (Jun 23, 2008)

I had my 72nd b day last Friday but I am going to down size. just can't do what I did a few years ago. I also have 39 fruit trees to trim and spray and hope to do a little fishing this yr


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## jal_ut (Jul 22, 2010)

70 here. I have been keeping bees since 1957. I am a small hobby beekeeper. It is not my main occupation.


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## BradW (Mar 15, 2010)

39 here, hit 40 in September. This is my 2nd year as a beekeeper. I've always been interested in it, as my great-grandfather who was a bit of a larger than life mountain man (gunsmith, farmer, beekeeper, faith healer, etc) kept around 35 hives. I tend to take after him with all my interests, but he passed away when I was only 3. I really enjoy working with them, and wish I'd plunged into it several years ago.


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## beemanbob (May 28, 2010)

Turned 55 last July, been keeping bees for 13 years, and yes my back hurts.


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## phil c (Jan 21, 2007)

I will turn 46 this year,just about the same time I am hoping to put the first supers on!


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## valleyman (Nov 24, 2009)

Will be 67 in 5 days. Me and the bees made it thru another winter, well almost. Back hurts whether I'm caring for my bees or not. However the degenerative disc disease that I was diagnosed with 25 years ago limits the number of hives that I have, figure I'll limit out at 12, 15, or maybe 20. Depends on how much my boss, helper, sweetheart and wife helps me. ( All one and the same). I started keeping bees 10-11 years ago without much success. Didn't realize how much care they needed at just the right time. So my third time in, I'm going to make it, the good lord willing, and the bees stay alive. Oh, and with the help of Beesource.


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

40 years young here


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## Beaver Dam (May 27, 2008)

Few days past 60. Beek for 3 years now. Father had 50+ when I was 12


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## Davisbees (Apr 24, 2009)

I am 52, started with bees in spring of 1978 and had 25 hives going into the winter of 1988. Come spring of 1989 they were all dead that is when the Tracheal mites hit hard in this area. Went 2 years without any bees and could not stand it any longer. Started over with 1 hive and built back up to 40 which is what I try to stay at. 33-2=31 years.


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

62 years old and I have been keeping bees since 1957.


BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## mrsl (Apr 21, 2010)

Will turn 45 this week; started beekeeping last year (wish I had started many years ago!).


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## BoTBees (Jun 8, 2010)

thirteen here. been keeping bees for about a year now. got about 20 hives, that are mostly nucs. wish i would have started when i was 2.


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## rob.bees (Mar 17, 2011)

43 here


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## jim314 (Feb 12, 2011)

60 here. Expecting my first packages next month. Figured if I don't do it now, I never will.


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## Cris (Mar 10, 2011)

*sigh* 32; and my first package is (hopefully) arriving next month.


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## Alexander (Mar 12, 2009)

38 years on me. 2 years keeping a couple hives. You people seem to imply that I am not a young beekeeper.
Can't say it was something I would have gotten into during the last couple of decades of moving to a new apartment annually.


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## Gregg (Dec 22, 2003)

Just turned 46; sideliner with 700 hives, been keeping bees since 1992.


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## Foleybees (Apr 4, 2010)

55. Hard to believe but only been doing bees...1 year.


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