Bee Swarm/Removal Business?

[spencer]

Hello. I was just wondering if there was any way to make this a business that I could make a living from. I've been laid off for a month now and just looking at all of my options. I did do a few swarm calls for free last year and charged a car dealership $50. Plus I got a few calls for bee removal too so I do think there is a demand for this type of service in my area.

[Michael Bush]

I'd check into your local and state laws on permits and lisences required. I doubt you can make a living, but you might supplement your income.

[db_land]

I made about $3000 last year doing removals - mostly weekends and sometimes in the evening after work. A good way to pay for some bee stuff and increase your hives, but I doubt one could make a living doing bee removals. Here are some of the problems I see:
1) Mostly hard work and sometimes a little dangerous (like working from a ladder).
2) Not enough calls to work full time plus competition from other beekeeps.
3) Some beekeeps do it for FREE - hard to compete against free.
There may be some state regulations/controls, especially if the pest control companies want the business.

I think you would be better off building up your bee colonies to a 1000 or so and making $500 (profit) per colony selling honey retail, etc, doing pollination.... :cool:

[Kieck]

I figured someone else would respond to your post almost immediately, but so far no one has jumped in.

I don't want to be discouraging, but, honestly, I don't know if such a specialized type of work could be profitable. I'll try to connect my thoughts on your idea as best as I can. Remember, I don't know the type of situation you're in as well as you do, so any of my thoughts could be way off base.

The first one that jumps out at me is sheer numbers. Around here, I doubt that any one person would get more than maybe a dozen calls per year for both swarms and removals, if that many. Of course, in SD, more than 30 percent of our beekeepers are migratory, commerical operations, their bees don't come back into the state until summer, and the number of swarms cast by these colonies is much reduced.

But, just for the sake of putting some numbers into it, let's say that you get 20 swarms/cut-outs per year. If you charge $1000 a piece, would $20,000 per year be enough for your salary? Would you want to make more, or would you be content with less?

That brings up the next issue: how much to charge. Personally, I would charge much more for a cut-out than for a swarm removal. The competition will dictate how much you can charge realistically, though. For instance, if you're charging $500 to do a cut-out, and an exterminator is charging $200, you'll lose business to the exterminator. At the same time, if you're charging $50 to remove a swarm, and some other beekeeper offers to take swarms simply so he can get the bees, most people will choose the person who won't charge anything. Somehow, you'll have to fit into the general pricing scheme.

Then, you'll probably have to consider being licensed as a "pest control operator" or "exterminator" or something along those lines. Most states regulate who can or cannot charge to remove or kill pests in other people's homes.

If I were considering it as a business opportunity, I'd try to estimate how many I'd expect to do per year, then figure out how much I could reasonably charge per service, find out the costs of doing business (licenses, taxes, etc.), and try to calculate whether or not I could make a go of it.

I think it could be a great way to make a little extra money and get some more bees. A business along these lines might have a better chance if you were willing to do removals/exterminations of yellowjackets, paper-making wasps, ants, roaches, termites, etc. In other words, actually go into pest control.

Best of luck with your options!

[RAlex]

Another consideration is liability insurance. Are you opening yourself up to being sued if someone near where you are doing a removal gets stung . Just the agravation of litigation is enough to make me think twice about it ...Rick

[BaldyLocks]

Around my home town in PA, I understand there is a guy who makes a living at removing "critters" including bees. He certainly doesn't do bees alone however, but also will get varmits from under houses, bears out of trees, etc. I think it is pretty dangerous and he travels around a lot but he does live off of it and lives ok I think. I imagine it is the bigger, badder stuff where he makes his money though

[spencer]

Ok, here is another question. Would other beekeepers buy the swarms if I caught them?

[Michael Bush]

>Ok, here is another question. Would other beekeepers buy the swarms if I caught them?

On a sliding scale something like this:

May - $2o a pound
June $10 a pound
July - $5 a pound
August - $2.50 a pound
September - Free

I would. smile.gif

[Bill Ruble]

Michael, you forgot witner months! :eek:

[Kieck]

>>Would other beekeepers buy the swarms if I caught them?

I think they might, but you'd have to hope they wouldn't connect the ends and eliminate the middleman, something along the lines of, "I'll take your swarm away for nothing; you don't have to pay that other guy to get it out of here, and I won't have to pay him for these bees." ;)

[Michael Bush]

>Michael, you forgot witner months!

Yes but then you'd have to pay me to take them. smile.gif
How would that make money?

[Jim Fischer]

I think a "bee removal" business model would
work better in an area where AHB had arrived,
and there was sufficient urgency on the part
of the population to be willing to at least
pay what they would pay a repairman who came
to fix their washing machine.

I don't see it working in terms of "making
a living" in a place like Michigan, moreso
in suburban Flint, MI.

[Fernhill]

<would $20,000 per year be enough for your salary?>

Kieck is right. There are a lot easier ways of making $20k per year than doing removals. I've done a couple that were as easy as they could be and they were still a ton of work. I don't charge for the ones I'm willing to do since I'm in it for the bees and the experience.

Mike