I am in the same boat, she who will never see this post *Whew* is not aware of what I have paid out already. My original post was really to get an idea of potential income to off set expenses, replacements and possible expansion. Of course the most important reason of starting bee keeping is to get my own honey.....nah not even, but I don't look at retiring but just getting a couple of beer tokens once in a while.
NZBF: Honey prices
- Thread starter NZDan
- Start date
Look at it this way. Most hobbies cost. You take up fishing, it costs. Golf, it costs.
Beekeeping there is an initial cost, then you may or may not get it back, dependent on how far you develop your skills and knowledge.
Eventually, you will see better pollination of any flowering fruit you may have. You will get honey, the food of love. And beeswax to make the purest burning candles that exist, for those intimate evenings when the kids are having a sleepover at their friends.
And back to practical reality, never be too ready to buy the latest thing. Be minimalist. The bee supply shop is full of interesting and useful looking gadgets, that you don't need.
Beekeeping there is an initial cost, then you may or may not get it back, dependent on how far you develop your skills and knowledge.
Eventually, you will see better pollination of any flowering fruit you may have. You will get honey, the food of love. And beeswax to make the purest burning candles that exist, for those intimate evenings when the kids are having a sleepover at their friends.
And back to practical reality, never be too ready to buy the latest thing. Be minimalist. The bee supply shop is full of interesting and useful looking gadgets, that you don't need.
The only way you are going to realistically recoup costs is if you can pack your honey to standard to sell it locally, then your looking at around $8 for a 500gm jar.
It can be done on a small scale where you might be able to move a bit and pay for the costs of 1-3 hives, but if you extrapolate that out to 10-30 hives it’s a whole different ball game and your in a race to the bottom with everyone else.
Things are bad out there.
If I was looking for a way to make a quick buck at the moment I would be trying to figure out how to import and tissue culture rare houseplants. The last thing I would be doing would be getting into bees.
If you don’t love it, don’t do it.
Well it’s true 🤷♀️🤣
Crazy crazy money is being paid for houseplants by millennials near you
It is crazy.
I used to have lots of house plants .
I got sick of looking after them and put them all outside.
They either died or thrived and are on the nz noxious weed list .
I had a large varigated monsteria that I killed .
An albo Monstera cutting is worth about $1000 a node, and that’s being conservative
No, but I have theories.
Plants make people happy.
I think it’s ‘cool’ to have rare plants, the rarer and more expensive the cooler you are.
Used to have to be good looking in your underpants to be ‘cool’, now you just have to have a kickass indoor garden.
I don’t really care about being cool, but I literally live in a shoebox with a postage stamp for a yard, so being trapped in my house over lockdown was particularly confronting, coupled with the fact that house prices have more than doubled where I live so I’m looking at a million dollars for a 4 bedroom house, it makes my house much more palatable for me when I look around and I see beautiful green.
Plus, I’m a stay at home mum so hobbies are limited to things I can do with my kids, indoor plants is pretty much my ideal hobby.
If I wanted to I could make good money selling plants, I occasionally sell at markets but it’s very much a hobby.
Some people treat them as an investment, a risky investment but can be very profitable.
This might be the trap that gets people trying commercial bee keeping.
At $8 to $10 per 500g and say 20kg a hive I figure my hive is worth $800 income, not including wax, propolis etc.
Outlay $60 in apivar, sugar etc then it's a good return. So why not have 50 hives and start an income.
But then work hours, truck, travel, marketing, compliance, kick in and instead of bee to jar yourself you onsell to packers etc.
Then $4 per kg and you're stuffed.
At the bee keeping course we were told about 30kg per hive of honey or even 40 - 50kg. $300 for propolis matt. Pollen traps and wax to sell at $20 or more per kg . Turn it to candles and make even more.
I was wondering why everyone isnt doing it.
Now I know. Being here is a good education. Sincerely. My thanks to you all.
So talking about hipsters. Underground farms are becoming a thing. I wonder how bees would go in pink lights, underground :b
www.sharednation.org
Underground Farms: The future of urban agriculture
An alternative to traditional farms in the face of rising global temperatures
www.sharednation.org
I think that without social media to drive it along the house plant thing would never have got so big.
It will last until something else replaces it .
I wonder what will happen to all the plants when the craze is over .
I have often wondered that when I have watched docos about artifical growing environments .So talking about hipsters. Underground farms are becoming a thing. I wonder how bees would go in pink lights, underground :b
Underground Farms: The future of urban agriculture
An alternative to traditional farms in the face of rising global temperatures
I also nearly brought 300 bit coins for 80c each in 2011 and I try never to think about that ever.
I spent the money on a kids camp.
And yes I can still look at my kids with love in my heart.
The hoya's are the ones that I can't believe the prices of - just need to put a cutting in a glass or jar of water until the roots are big enough.
Yeah I didn’t understand the fuss about Hoyas and now I have 18 different types.
Such a huge range of interesting foliage and flowers and really easy care.
I have a couple of moderately expensive ones that I’ve been given, but I don’t generally buy expensive plants.
I had a huge monstera in my glasshouse that grew from someone's unwonted houseplant but I had to cut it out in the end because it was just rampant. I tried unsuccessfully to save some of the plant and I have just bought a new one but it will be kept within bounds.
I don't grow them for the looks, I grow them for their fruit which I find exceptional. I am much more into flowering ornamental plants than foliage ones.
I don't grow them for the looks, I grow them for their fruit which I find exceptional. I am much more into flowering ornamental plants than foliage ones.
Sound advice, and yes I know what you mean about gadgets.....stayed away from them so far
