Uncle J. is retired now. but there was a time when he owned over 300 honey bee hives. He was the resident guru. If you had a question about bees, just talk to him. He knew his stuff. He was on the cops call list. If anyone had a bee problem, the cops would page my uncle, and he would come and collect the problem bees.
He had a building for processing honey. I heard that he sold 55 gallon drums of it, and observed him sell 5 gallon buckets of honey to people all the time. My cousin, his son, used to help him in the honey operation. they would gather honey each fall.
I asked my cousin one time, "I bet the honey operation keeps you busy. I'm sure it takes up all your time." "Nope", he replied. "We just work on the weekends, about 8 to10 weekends each fall. It really doesn't take all that much time."
Uncle J lived on 4 acres. "Why don't I see hundreds of bee hives here on your property?" My cousin replied that they had bee hives scattered all over the county.... I later read a article about farmers paying to have bee hives set on their property, but I don't know if anyone ever paid uncle J.
I helped my cousin and my uncle a couple of times in the bee yard, and enjoyed it. One day I asked uncle J. how he came to get started in the bee business. He replied,
"I went to a estate auction. There were a couple of bee hives up for auction. Household items were selling cheap. I bid on the hives. It surprised me, but I won with the high bid on the hives.
Now what do I do? I knew absolutely nothing about bees.
I went and purchased a couple of books about bees and read up on them.
I learned as I went.... and slowly added hives."
Did you catch what uncle J. did? He went to the auction not looking for bees. Then suddenly finding himself with them, he didn't fret about what to do. He educated himself. Did he make mistakes? I'm sure he did. But he didn't stop. He learned everything he could about them. Growing his operation slowly, part time, he worked it into a first class operation.
After working with uncle J., I've always carried a interest in honey bees. Two years ago I purchased my first 2 hives. When people heard I had bees, everyone wanted to purchase honey from me.
I think its a fun hobby.
I might just make a couple of bucks too.
and by the way....I've never been stung in the bee yard.
Do you have a hobby that you could turn into a part-time business? Are there any books about your hobby? Finally, don't be afraid. Take it one step at a time. You'll surprise yourself.....
