Can't remember

[Grant]

I read a really good system of catagorizing beekeepers. It was somewhere in the last nine months, but I can't remember where I read it.

The "old" way was counting your hives, and if you had less than 25 hives you were a "hobby" beekeeper. From 26 to 299 hives you were considered a "sideliner," and anyone over 300 hives was a "commercial."

Now, these numbers are purely abritrary as there is no real distinction from moving from that 25th hive to the 26th hive, but we needed something as a benchmark.

Somewhere, someone came up with new catagories. I thought it was Jim Tew in Bee Culture who defined beekeepers as simply "part-time" or "full-time." I wrote Jim and I'm still awaiting a response, though I'm now guessing it wasn't him.

Somewhere, I read this. But I can't remember. I want to use it, quote it, give the right credits for an upcoming talk to a bee group.

Your help is greatlly appreciated.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[stoweski]

Funny you should write about this. I can't help you with finding your source but I can tell you that in our club's newsletter a fellow beek wrote an article about the same thing.
She said that we shouldn't be called hobbyists but part-timers. She also states that another beek in Maine claimed that her club also changed from the hobbyists to part-timer term.
The breakdown is the same, including sideliners & commercial with the numbers you mention but, of course, they list part-timer as the new hobbyist.

Maybe this will persuade you to change too!

Keith, a part-timer

[BULLSEYE BILL]

You may be remembering a poll that was posted here not long ago.

In my mind a full time beekeeper is one that is commercial and makes a living on beekeeping.

A sideline beekeeper, like me, has a lot of hives but does not rely on beekeeping for a living.

Anyone with a few hives for entertainment and spare change is a hobbyist.

The number of hives is subjective.

[dbest]

That is the system that the American Beekeeping Federation uses to determine how much you should pay in dues. I believe the next level they have is "presidents club" for people with 1000+ .

[Michael Palmer]

Somewhere, someone came up with new catagories. I thought it was Jim Tew in Bee Culture who defined beekeepers as simply "part-time" or "full-time." I wrote Jim and I'm still awaiting a response, though I'm now guessing it wasn't him.

I first heard this at the EAS meeting in Delaware...2007. Mares and I got to the meeting late Monday, and walked into a discussion group...Tew, Connor, Caron, et al. They were discussing just this...calling beekeepers either "part time/full time." I believe it was Tew who proposed the change.

In the recent SABA (Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association) newsletter, Anne Frey wrote a bit about the change. She attributed the terms to Dennis vanEngelsdorp, as he brought it up at the spring SABA seminar in Albany. The EAS meeting pre-dates the SABA meeting. I think Dennis heard it at EAS.

[BjornBee]

And for what benefit, marketing, or added value, is this change needed?

I can't see why a person who has two hives, would be considered or why it would be needed to even waste time thinking about whether they should be called a hobbyist or a part-timer. Are we looking for an ego-boosting, type thing here? Or something else I do not understand.

[Ravenseye]

I read an article not too long ago suggesting that all of us, no matter how many hives we keep, are "Beekeepers".....period. We all contribute in a notable way. Trying to clarify the job may reduce its perception. A Beekeeper is an important component of our world. So are farmers and carpenters, etc. I'm a "Do It Yourself-er" but I certainly don't call myself a hobbyist woodworker and I don't know too many farmers who call themselves "sideliners". Their efforts and output may shape what we think of their operation but their contributions are important, regardless of volume. I'm a Beekeeper.

[Grant]

Thanks, Bjorn. A good comment for clarity. I think I'm just responding to a cultural sensitivity as to how one is classified, by comparison, and the more I think about it, the number of hives I keep is really quite irrelevant.

And I'm always asked how many hives I keep...and I'm always confused if I count mating nucs from locally raised queens, the recently hives swarm that won't produce until next year, the dink that won't amount to anything this year. So I just say, "bout a hundred."

I was thinking numbers gave us some kind of level of intensity, but even some beekeepers with two hives are very intense and serious about their bees. While I consider myself passionate about my bees, my self-labeling of being a "sideliner" let's people know I do other things for my livelihood. And both hobbyist and commercial labels carry their own respective baggage. My wife continues to call my venture a "hobby on steroids."

And I continue to hear echoes from the late Geo Imirie's derogatory insinuations about those who are "bee-havers" because they can never really and actually "keep" their bees alive and well.

Thanks for some great feedback, all of you.

Grant, the beekeeper, period.
Jackson, MO