What are some of your cost-saving methods?

[Adam Foster Collins]

I thank those of you who have been contributing to the topic of the thread.

I think efficiency is really key to anyone who is interested in beekeeping beyond a few hives. I am thinking of growth, and the most pressing questions to me revolve around what I want my overall approach to be. I hate to waste time, money, materials - and bees on bad ideas, or poorly thought-out inventions.

Mike Palmer, how do you weigh your hives? What kind of scale do you use in the field?

Thanks,

ADam

[Rader Sidetrack]

It's not a tanker and it isn't an open deck trailer, it's a box trailer.

More specifically, the dry part indicates that it is not a refrigerated trailer (reefer), but of course is a box trailer. Aside from the refrigeration unit, reefers have thicker walls, so their cubic capacity is lower than a dry van.

[Bubbles]

The species in question is this one - http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=JUMO the One Seed Juniper. Others may work too, but this is the one traditionally used.

This is the other plant used - http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LATRT the Creosote Bush.

May not help you guys in Florida much. I hear there are some other plants that may have an affect too. These treatments were first popularized here by Les Crowder, ex NM head bee inspector.

We don't have your kind of juniper in Northwestern Missouri. Do you know if Juniper horizontalis 'Bar Harbor' would work just as well or not at all?

[sqkcrk]

More specifically, the dry part indicates that it is not a refrigerated trailer (reefer), but of course is a box trailer. Aside from the refrigeration unit, reefers have thicker walls, so their cubic capacity is lower than a dry van.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[jim lyon]

Well Jim you are talking about scale. If your father handed you a thriving business you can just keep the flywheel rolling pretty easy. If you had to start from scratch then you pretty much started as chief cook and bottle washer with a broom handle stuck up your butt to sweep the floors. Not to belittle your ability but money breads money. It is a lot harder when you come from the geto.

Your statement is laughable in its ignorance of not only of our families finances of which of course you know nothing but an even greater ignorance of the cyclical nature of keeping bees through the years. Are you even aware that only five years ago raw honey prices were at ,80 per pound and not long before that almond pollination rates were under $40? I won't even attempt to try to understand where this type of anger comes from its just too bad they you choose to disrupt this forum and express it on here,

[waynesgarden]

Most things I do, I try to do efficiently. Planning and maintaining my handful of yards is one area. Working efficiently in my wood shop to produce all my woodenware is another. A third is in obtaining information. Using the ignore button on a certain pest plaguing this forum has improved my efficiency in the information department.

Wayne

[Ian]

he he, Im actually using a reefer, but the refrigeration unit has been removed, so Im using it as a dry van. You can buy them saftied for a bargain because the old refrigeration units are out of date to a lot of environmental regs (California). Instead of retro fitting new units on these old clunky trailers they just send them for sale to fellows like me $5000 picked up

More specifically, the dry part indicates that it is not a refrigerated trailer (reefer), but of course is a box trailer. Aside from the refrigeration unit, reefers have thicker walls, so their cubic capacity is lower than a dry van.

[Ian]

>>poorly thought-out inventions.

Adam, I have a stack of ideas, and I also have (had) a pile of well thought out inventions
don't ignore those "what if" ideas, its what keeps this business fun

[BeeGhost]

But Wayne, your missing out on the humorous part of each thread due to the ignore button!

Yes, it would be easy and cheap to just starve my bees and just catch more swarms in the spring, but I really like my genetics and demeanor of the stock I have right now and want to try and keep that. Plus, is it the bees fault that there was a large dearth this year? They did the best they could with what resources they had available. I think we as beekeepers should do our best to sustain the colonies we are keeping, after all we ARE beekeepers, right Acebird?

[BeeGhost]

Well Jim you are talking about scale. If your father handed you a thriving business you can just keep the flywheel rolling pretty easy. If you had to start from scratch then you pretty much started as chief cook and bottle washer with a broom handle stuck up your butt to sweep the floors. Not to belittle your ability but money breads money. It is a lot harder when you come from the geto.

Acebird,

Just because someone is handed a business doesnt mean it will continue to become successful. Times change and so do the hurdles that must be overcome. Sure, maybe the commercial guys might be making a bit more these days on the honey and pollination than they used to, but things like fuel, insurance, machinery and labor also cost a lot more, not to mention that commercial guys have to deal with a lot more "hiccups" like varroa mite and other pests that were not around 20 years ago.

Ive seen a few construction companies that got handed down through generations only to either downsize substantially or close up shop completely due to the economy.

There is nothing guaranteed these days except higher gas prices and death.

And just think Ace, a lot of these commercial/sideliner keepers actually feed their bees, at around $4 a gallon.............if they only fed one gallon per hive and fed 1500 hives, how much is that?? Now try feeding them 4 gallons per hive or more. Unlike you, who doesnt feed your bees because they are expendable and you dont rely on them for a living, those guys have to keep their bees in top shape in order to be ready for almonds in February so they can collect a paycheck. Thats the difference between the hobbiest and commercial guy. Maybe someday when you open your eyes you will actually read whats in the book and not just look at the cover and complain that the book is not hardbound and wont last. In other words, miss the obvious points of peoples stories.

[Michael Palmer]

[QUOTE=Acebird;858315]

You asked so I will answer. Bees are insects that have survived as a species for millions of years without my help or yours. If they haven't collected enough stores for their survival do I want them? NO.

Dollars and cents-if I don't feed it cost me nothing.

If you want to label me as a bee-haver I am OK with that. If you feed your bees and I don't I think I have a better cost-saving method than you do. Do you pay your bees to work, I don't? It is like managing slaves. Isn't it how our for fathers did it? They acquired great wealth.

We can learn from our elders...

Ace, think about it...you're allowing a colony to die because you refuse to feed them. You seem to think that this is going to, in some way, improving the genetics of your bees. In your ignorance, you take nothing into account but the bottom line. Sometimes, a colony without enough feed for winter has nothing to do with genetics. Sometimes, it's all about the weather...too much rain and cold, too hot and dry. If there's no nectar in the flowers, there's no honey in the hive.

If you don't feed, it doesn't cost you anything...except the replacement of the dead colony. So let 'em die...and buy nucs from me! But then again...you could split your remaining colonies by walk-away method. It still costs in lost honey production...but then again, you don't care about honey production...you're just a bee-haver. Feeding them would have been a better cost-saving method...in the long run. And as I said, you could raise queens from the heavy colonies and requeen the colonies that needed feeding. That's what real bee-keepers do.

Slaves? Ace, give me a break.

You seem to want to argue, just for the sake of arguing. Home life must be a real challenge. Think re-queen!

[ralittlefield]

My biggest cost savings comes from mating two hobbies, Beekeeping and woodworking. Now I need to find a way to justify buying a bandsaw mill so I can saw my own lumber! (Hope my wife is not reading this!)

[MichaBees]

I believe that the God Evil of all bees has sent a bird into the hive, in order to diminish the enormous teaching and learning ability of this commune. The bird needs and thrives in attention -no matter the cost, in a way talking about his pour and unsatisfied life. “He who talks bad about others, talks bad about himself”, my old man used to say. He also used to say; “It is better for people to believe you are a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”. Like “The Bird” said before, the forefathers had great wisdom –mine did.
Bird, although your ignorant constant criticism and arrogant statements are somehow entertaining, your lack of confidence and hollow life peculating on your thinking is not. Please allow those of us that sit on the background in order to learn from the great people that share good knowledge here, by expanding your wings and flying far into your great world of ignorance. You had our attention for so long, and I am grateful I have been able to taste the simplicity and brutal reality, of your artificial reasoning, synthetic knowledge and painful indulgence of your bottomless need for attention; but I had enough feathers on this soup.
Go grow some tomatoes and let the bees fly.

[Acebird]

Topic:What are some of your cost-saving methods?

Don't buy bees, don't feed and above all don't buy chemicals.

I wouldn't expect everyone to agree but I know others that are doing this.

[Keith Jarrett]

[QUOTE=BeeGhost;858426] There is nothing guaranteed these days except higher gas prices and death.

BG don't forget TAXES.

[Adam Foster Collins]

>sigh<

...another thread sinks into a murky pool of responses aimed at Acebird.

I need some beekeeping information.Guess I'll resort to PM's.

Thanks again to those of you you responded to the OP.

Adam

[sqkcrk]

Overall the responses have been good and useful ones. I for one am glad this Thread got started. I have enjoyed reading about the things others do to save time and money.

[Adam Foster Collins]

>>poorly thought-out inventions.

Adam, I have a stack of ideas, and I also have (had) a pile of well thought out inventions
don't ignore those "what if" ideas, its what keeps this business fun

Oh no, don't get me wrong. I'm a designer myself, so I'm all for inventions. It's just that those inventions need (for me) to be based on sound thinking, and informed foresight, so that they fit in with the overall picture. I hate to be making something to deal with a problem, only to find out after that it really doesn't work well and I've used a bunch of material to do it.

Unavoidable to some extent, but I just really try to keep the "big misses" to a minimum.

Adam

[Ian]

Terms are being thrown around here, bee haver, beekeeper,

I have bees, and I keep them, so what does that make me? Bee haver or a bee keeper? I think Im both.

One of the most interesting things about having, or keeping bees is that there are so many different approaches to managing them. Some without intervention, others totally about manipulating them. Neither approach is wrong, yet we seem to criticize differing approaches as being wrong.
If there is one thing that i have learnt in this business it is that Im always able to improve on my management methods. And being a commercial beekeeper, I still listen to what beekeepers like Acebird (if that is really his name?) is saying even if it sound impractical.

[Ian]

what beekeeper does not think they rely on bought bees too much?
what beekeeper does not think they rely on syrup too much?
what beekeeper does not think they rely on medications too much?

I think most beekeepers think this, and thats one point that Acey is trying to make, right?