Most beekeepers who lose money with bees are not bad beekeepers. They try to do everything at once: honey, nucs, queens, candles, classes. Each one costs money and time to start, and none of them gets done well. Pick one stream for the next twelve months and build it right. Over the last few weeks we covered honey, feed stores, leasing, nucs, queens, wax, classes, and farm stays. Here is how to choose one and put it on a calendar. Step 1. Pick the stream that fits what you already have: 1. A few hives and no land to spare: honey, sold direct to people you know. 2. Strong colonies and time in spring: nucs. They sell before honey ever comes in. 3. Land or landowners nearby: leasing hives for ag exemption. For reference, we charge $385 per hive per year plus a $200 setup. 4. You like teaching: a class. Ours is $99. Pick one. Write it down. Step 2. Write three numbers for that stream: 1. What you will sell. Jars, nucs, hives placed, or seats filled. 2. What you will charge. Look at what others near you charge. If you are guessing, write "estimate" next to it. 3. What it costs you. Equipment, sugar, jars, labels, fuel, and your hours. Price minus cost, times how many, is your number for the year. If it comes out negative, fix the plan now, not next fall. Step 3. Map the twelve months. For a Texas beekeeper selling nucs it might look like this: - Nov to Jan: keep colonies alive, treat for mites, feed. Take presale orders. - Feb to Mar: build up colonies, order or raise queens, get boxes and frames ready. - Apr to May: make splits and deliver nucs. - Jun to Aug: requeen, rebuild, pull any honey. - Sep to Oct: mite checks, feeding, and set next year's price. Your months will shift with your climate and your stream. The point is that every month has one job. Step 4. Track it. One notebook or one spreadsheet. Every dollar in, every dollar out, every hive lost. At the end of twelve months you will know if this stream is worth growing or if you should switch. Step 5. Add a second stream only after the first one pays. Honey customers become class students. Class students buy nucs. Landowners buy honey. Grow from what already works.

Say hello in a way that helps us help you. Copy this and fill it in: - Where you are (state or region): - Hives right now (zero is fine): - Years keeping bees: - Your stage today: Backyard, Sideliner or Commercial - The one way you want bees to pay you: honey, nucs, queens, leasing, pollination, wax products, classes, swarm removal, or something else - The biggest thing in your way right now: winter losses, mites, selling, startup cost, time, or other I read every intro and reply to each one. Reply to someone else's intro too, especially if you are in the same state or have the same goal. Introductions with numbers in them get the best answers.