# Money Crop



## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

all. A prudent business person would NOT focus on any one facet, but rather all profitable facets.


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## gone2seed (Sep 18, 2011)

There was a saying during the California gold rush."The smart ones were those selling shovels".


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

gone2seed said:


> There was a saying during the California gold rush."The smart ones were those selling shovels".


Ain't that the truth.:thumbsup:

Another Gold rush axiom which is more than appropriate and applicable to the question is" " The gold is where you find it." 

In other words start digging OBZ...... till you find your own niche. 

One will never be both happy and rich riding on the back of the guy who rode the horse before him.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

OrganicBeez said:


> What is the most profitable business angle?


Finding a life style and work that is satisfying, meaningful and beneficial to society.
Find a job that you love and you will never have to WORK another day.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Amen, Harry. In answer to the original Post. Sell beekeepers what they need, equipment. Amen to the second Post too. If you want to make money w/ what you have it should always be fore sale. I know a guy who says he has sold his own outfit 4 times in his life time and everything is always for sale at the right price. He doesn't sell cheap either. Set a profitable price and stick to it and don't care whether you sell or not, because you are still going to make money w/ what you have through honey sales, hive and super sales, nuc sales, wax sales, and pollination.

Honey is the biggest portion of my total annual income. Pollination income is growing.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>There was a saying during the California gold rush."The smart ones were those selling shovels". 

I used to think that... until I bought the mansion one of those miners built here in Nebraska after he hit it big in the California gold rush...


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Write books and give lectures?


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## MNbees (May 27, 2013)

honey is the big money maker. Our goal is to survive on honey alone. and anything else(queens, nucs, almonds, apples, wax) is extra. Does not always work that way because I spill so much honey on the floor!

I think the domestic honey market is really great right now and more and more people are eating good honey.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Whether they are eating it or not, they are paying more for what they buy. Fer sure.


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## dsegrest (May 15, 2014)

That's the way real estate investment works too.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> Whether they are eating it or not, they are paying more for what they buy. Fer sure.


Not just with Honey. That is true for all products and especially true about food products.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

Finding out something you love doing, then figuring out a way to make money doing it!


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## jdmidwest (Jul 9, 2012)

YOU CAN MAKE MONEY DOING THIS?

Shucks, I do it for the fun.


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## Davidnewbeeboxbuilder (Oct 6, 2012)

If I could quit thinking about bees I could quit spending money on them but until I can get off of it I'm going for a semi load worth and five drawn deeps for each for honey. It all depends on your area. What u can supply and what there is a demand for.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

HarryVanderpool said:


> Find a job that you love and you will never have to WORK another day.


oh there are days I don't love this job... its the commitment that keeps the long lasting beekeepers in this job


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Ian, it's the weather that makes one have those days. Like a couple days ago when hail wiped us out and most everyone in my area. It happens and we get over it. My neighbor to the east of me didn't have hail insurance because they haven't had hail in forty years. Now he will have to sell some of that mustard he has been hoarding.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Haraga said:


> Ian, it's the weather that makes one have those days.


you hit the nail right on the head Haraga... 

fun? yesterday we pulled honey through mist and drizzle... I have a committed and motivated staff this year! Why did we? because we had to. Sunshine flowers and happy thoughts are times that are appreciated on this farm because the flip side is plain old miserable... and we work through miserable on this farm too!


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Miserable? Your glass is half empty. 

Just think how lucky you are not to be in a hot drought situation. Drizzling sounds like perfect weather to me. Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, terrential downpours. Those days are miserable!


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

BMAC said:


> Miserable?
> 
> Just think how lucky you are not to be in a hot drought situation. Drizzling sounds like perfect weather to me. Tornadoes, hurricanes, hail, terrential downpours. Those days are miserable!


No BMAC, being stuck in an office for a third of ones life, that that would be miserable.


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

Haraga said:


> No BMAC, being stuck in an office for a third of ones life, that that would be miserable.


I know that feeling... And it really SUCKS! 

Thank god for my lovely bees to keep me sane these days


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

You probably don't have enough bees if they are keeping you sane. Get more hives drlonzo.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

jean-marc said:


> You probably don't have enough bees if they are keeping you sane. Get more hives drlonzo.


lol, exactly


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

jean-marc said:


> You probably don't have enough bees if they are keeping you sane. Get more hives drlonzo.


According to most people I speak to in daily life, I've already lost my mind. lol.. However, I do think it's going to take many more hives to actually push me over the edge, I'm thinking somewhere around 400 should do the trick.. lol


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Another "Area under the curve" application: 

It may be the number of hives times the number of years you've been "under the influence" , that determines how crazy you are, but what would I know?

Crazy Roland
5th gen beekeeper
Linden Apiary, est. 1852


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

all I know is this business is hard... but Im also farming and ranching along side this beekeeping op

my strategy is to survive to do this "craziness" next year... lol


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## jean-marc (Jan 13, 2005)

Ian:

Ian: In your opinion is farming, ranching or beekeeping the hardest?

We do well selling bees. The difficulty is it is very unpredictable. We do not have many standing orders where a business says "We would like 200 nucs every year. Can you supply?"

That being said we always manage to sell all we can produce.

Looking from the outside it would appear as if honey production would be good with today's prices, assuming you are in a good area. Management trumps good area. 

Jean-Marc


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

jean-marc said:


> Ian:
> 
> Ian: In your opinion is farming, ranching or beekeeping the hardest?


If I can keep my bees alive, Im making a profit... but after these last two springs we have been having trouble keeping our bees going. Strictly a weather issue. 
Crops is a numbers game, hard to keep on the right side of the ledger but with the appreciation of land values, bankers are lending more than taking. lol
The cattle industry has just started to recover from BSE, where we had 10 years of depression... 

I was accused of being the glass is half empty guy, well, if you actually read what I type on beesource here, its the opposite. I might be reflecting a bit of frustration here, as we are having a hard time bringing in a big grain crop. Its all there, and its just about to be taken away... Anyone knows how that feels knows that fun has nothing to do with this business, whether is beekeeping, cropping or cattle farming! If your in it for the fun, you might as well keep it a hobby


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Ian, harvest in full swing here and rain coming tonight. About 35 mm worth. That should drop it another grade.
PS, my day started at 2:00 am. A person can sleep tomorrow while its raining.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

lol, gota love GPS and iphone!


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Haraga, this afternoon I watched our neighbours get hailed out from the seat of my combine cab... and we kept the machines going in the sun all afternoon...


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Ian that sucks for your neighbors. No rain here yet and that means no sleep yet.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

:thumbsup:

My son and I talked about it last night. He figured out he dont like working outside the home so now we are running off into the chicken and hog business.


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## Fishman43 (Sep 26, 2011)

BMAC said:


> He figured out he dont like working outside the home so now we are running off into the chicken and hog business.


Chickens and hogs will make your house stink, better to keep them outside the home


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Is this from personal experience? Quite possible you are doing it wrong!


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## Fishman43 (Sep 26, 2011)

Despite what my wife says, I have never kept the house like a pig sty


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## Santa Caras (Aug 14, 2013)

I just read that dollar value per gram of product....that bee venom is the most expensive item derived from bees even beating out Royal Jelly. Really intresting how it's collected and the bees dont die! 
Who da thunk it!!!


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I think the market on Bee venom is nill and the collectors are cost prohibitive. I also think that even as little as 1 gram of bee venom you need to treat and store with precautions.


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## Redbug (Feb 8, 2014)

I missed out on the ostrich and emu pyramid scheme. But, I am getting in on the bee keeping pyramid scheme...


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## Santa Caras (Aug 14, 2013)

BMAC said:


> I think the market on Bee venom is nill and the collectors are cost prohibitive. I also think that even as little as 1 gram of bee venom you need to treat and store with precautions.


One would think that medical or pharma companies would need it to process the medicines used. Just like there are snake handles that milk the snake venom. Heck ....still waitin on my first super of honey so what do I know? (not much!)


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## dleemc1 (Dec 31, 2012)

bmac- your glass is half empty. my glass is half full.--- but it`s the same glass, how ever we see it. have a great day !!!!


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Elaborate please.


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