# Hello from NE Alabama!!



## lutz1223 (Aug 2, 2016)

Hello from NE Alabama!!! My name is Keith and I'm 32, I have a wife and three amazing children and we live on Camelot Farms at the base of Lookout Mountain in NE Alabama. After serving 8 years in the United States Marine Corps and going through 4 deployments I have settled down with my family on a thousand acre farm. The farm is actually my wife's family farm and I became the Farm Manager about three years ago running it all by myself for the most part. I've always been fascinated with honey bees and started researching pretty heavily for about 5 years ago. After delaying and deferring my beginning into the industry, it quite literally fell in my lap. I was out cutting down an enormous red oak on the farm one day for firewood and as soon as it hit the ground I knew something was wrong. A branch I found myself in the honey bee hobby pretty quickly, and called a friend who had been managing over 200 hives for about 8 years. He helped me with what I needed and I was off and running. I've learned an enormous amount from websites such as this one and hope to never stop. 

As I said I'm living on a thousand acre farm with cattle, horses, chickens, peacocks, and other animals so we are always busy with something. I could definitely see myself growing in the honey bee industry and making it a career. I should also mention I travel quite a bit as a government contractor still assisting in military training for service members who are preparing to deploy. Lately the contracting has been drying up and I'm faced with a difficult decision and searching for something to help replace the income I'm loosing. I know I'm jumping in fast but I've been learning a ton over the last few years and am very passionate about the outdoors. I'm also currently pursuing an Environmental Science degree at nights online. 

SOOOO, with all that said I'd LOVE to hear from y'all with any advice on this matter. I'm feverishly building a business plan and looking to get going ASAP. I'd love to be able to grow naturally but also know I have an amazing opportunity from a fellow Marine who is in the business to jump right in with some NUCs for next years pollination. I'm very much in need of advice for acquiring capital, whether by loans, grants, or other means. I try and read a lot about this beginning stage and hear a lot of "it's really hard work and you may not make much money". I've tried to give you as much background as I needed to hopefully quell a lot of these comments. I feel as though I'm very successful and have tons of drive and motivation. 

Hope everyone is doing well and I look foreword to hearing and meeting all of you!!


----------



## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome Keith!


----------



## Lappe's Bee Supply (Jun 13, 2016)

Welcome to the forum!


----------



## tech.35058 (Jul 29, 2013)

Greetings Keith, welcome to beesource.


----------



## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


----------



## R_V (Aug 20, 2016)

Welcome to the forum and THANK YOU!! for your service.


----------



## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource from west Alabama.


----------

