Effingham 4 frugal beekeeper

Grant F. C. GillardGillard5 @ charter.netwww . Slideshare . .net

Effingham 4The Frugal Beekeeper

Cheap – a minimum expenseTight (wad) – like the bark on a treeStingy - miserly, Scrooge-likePenurious – oppressive wantThrifty – an economy of expenditureThe “Free Lunch” – getting something for nothing.

What is “Frugal?” Misconceptions

“Some people know the price of everything and the

value of nothing.”

Frugal Wisdom --

Best value for the expenditure of time, energy and money.

Think: highest dividends on the investment of a resource.

Think: Efficiency not expediency.

Our Definition Today --

Some people buy up the opportunity while the rest of us are wondering what it

costs.

Frugal Wisdom

Polystyrene Foam Board Covers 17” x 21”1” at $14.99 yields 1o covers = $1.50 eachWind issues, needs weights on the cornersNeed painting with latex paint, UV rays

Hive StandsUsed lumber – one seasonNew pine $2.69 – three seasons*Pressure treated $3.79 – still looking good

*painting with penetrating oil fence stain

Economics

Beekeepers are notoriously cheap.“If I can save some money by not

[insert a sound, proven management technique that costs some money] I’m sure my bees will be just fine.”

Beekeeping is expensive. Where can we save a dollar, and when does being cheap cost us more in the long run?

What’s at stake, why is this important?

Beekeeping is expensive to initiate $400 per hive, and we suggest two

hives$250 for equipment for one hive$150 for bees to stock the hive

$500 for personal equipment$500 for harvesting, extracting

$150 the following year for another set of bees for each hive that died over the winter

What’s at stake, why is this important?

“People who don’t know how to cook should not

buy expensive meat.”

Frugal Wisdom --

Dysfunctional hive – pheromones all out of kilter

Requeen? Replace hive with another. Take LW colony

and shake bees out in the grass, ten feet in front of colony?

Move LW colony out into the grass about ten feet, leave alone. Field bees fly back to adjacent colony. LW dwindles, then move to another bee yard and shake any remaining bees into the grass. Salvage the comb.

Beware of small hive beetles invading LW colony.

Laying Workers --

“Beekeepers often waste way too much time trying to pull a dwindling, dinky

colony or a terminally destitute nuc out of the death spiral. The investment of time and energy has a non-existent dividend.”

Cut your losses and nurture the winners. You’ll be ahead in the long run.

Frugal Wisdom --

Buy them from Kelley, 2016 catalog, 10-frameAssembled – 1 @ $26.95 (5 @ $25.30)Unassembled – 1 @ $21.95 (5 @ $19.55)=

$6Buy a six-foot, 1 x 12” board from Menard’s

Standard $7.09 ($4.99 on sale!)Quality $7.64 ($5.79 on sale!)Select $27.09

Wood working skills? Tools in your garage?Value of therapy, pride in workmanship What’s my time worth, opportunity costs of what

else I might be doing (catching up on Facebook?)Salvage scrap lumber from dumpsters, cull piles

An example: You need some hive bodies

Pay for itHire it done (pre-cut, assembled)Incur out of pocket expensesIdeal for those who have more money than

time and energy

Make it happenDo it yourself (basically pay yourself)Invest sweat equityIdeal for those who have more time and

energy than money

What’s at stake? Economic spectrums

Don’t paint themECO Wood Treatment (Kelley)CopperCoat (copper naphthenate) - MenardsPaint with top quality, exterior house paintPrime first with primer coatBuy mistint paint (when available)Dip or soak in Linseed oil/paraffin

Google: “USDA Forest Service FPL-046”Dip/boil in 1 part gum rosin and 3 parts

paraffin (Mann Lake) 180 – 215 degrees for 15-20 minutes

Example: exterior finish on hives

Out of pocket costs to protect my investment

How many hive bodies will one gallon cover?

Does it need two coats?How much time does it take to apply?Clean up - do I need to buy paint

thinner?Should I hire the neighbor kid to

paint?Do I need to supervise the kid? (my

time)

What’s at stake?

**Real Issue: Longevity of my boxesThink: investment in woodware

and rot**Secondary Issue: Is my choice of

treatment safe for the bees and my honey?

**Longer-term Issue: If I decide to quit keeping bees, can I sell my equipment? Think: What is the value and can I get my investment back?

What’s at stake?

Homemade boxes:

Langstrothdimensions?

21 colonies with bees, haven’t been touched in three years.

5 swarms traps with beesBoxes and hive bodiesRabbet - 7/8” not 5/8”Width - 14” not 13.75” 16.75” not 16.25”

Depth - 20” and 20.5” and 21”Height - 8” not 6.625 10.75 not 9.625

What did I get?

Buying stuff that does not fit conventional Langstroth hives.

(Time to rework to honor bee space?)

A lost opportunity because I’m too cheap.

Discovering I’m a day late, a dollar short.

Money loves speed.

What’s at stake?

New:Needs assembling and paintingQuantity discounts, free shipping

Used:Clean up, wax moths and miceUseful life, does it need repair?

Make your own:Will it fit Langstroth conventions?

Acquiring Equipment --

Retiring beekeepers: Take it all, no cherry picking.Is any of it “home made?”

Auctions: spend all day waiting, only to be outbid by straw bidders (by-bids)

Want ads – “wanted, used beekeeping

equipment”

Acquiring Equipment

If you’re new to beekeeping…Nucs

More expensiveThree weeks ahead of a package

PackagesLess out of pocket cost Issues with queen acceptance

Complete hives – typically been ignored/neglected

A good value for the money $200 - $250

Heavy to move, must be moved at night

Acquiring Bees --

Acquiring Bees --

Acquiring Bees --

Swarm Trapping the Frugal WayGet some old dark stinky comb from a

beekeeper or one of your dead outs.Set up a bee hive right where you want it.

Reduce the entrance to 3” (Tom Seeley)Buy “Swarm Commander” a swarm lure

from Kelley Bee. Follow directions. $30Buy lemongrass essential oil, rub a little

on the entrance every week. $8Wait.

(It’s like fishing, or sitting in a deer stand)

Reverse Split: early spring, or any time

Remove the queen, two frames of brood to a nuc (is that queen marked and easy to find?)

Allow the fully-resourced colony to raise their own queens, “On The Spot” “Coweta”

Extremely efficient requeeningEffortless, stress-freeNucs advocated by Jamie Ellis (U of

FL) and Michael Palmer (Vermont)

Frugal Wisdom -- Your own splits

Marking Queens

If you’re going to make a split with a mail-order queen, you need to find the old queen. Marked queens are easier to find and saves time.

If the colony has capped queen cells, has the old queen left? What’s that other, unmarked queen doing walking around here?

How old is that queen? If the colony is dwindling, are you looking at the old queen or a supersedure queen? Do you need to order a new queen?

How did the queens do from that producer XYZ? Pay the extra $1.25 and order her marked

What’s at stake?

Laundry roomKitchenBasementGarageConverted old greenhouse2-frame, hand-crank, tangential 4-frame, hand-crank, tangential

Harvesting and Extracting Honey

2011: 56’ x 36’ Honey House

No bathrooms, no septic, only gray water

No legally-hired employeesTransfer, straining honey by gravityStill store honey in 5-gallon buckets

(easier to blend, easier to warm up when granulated)

Amenities

Not about what something costs, but what it saves or what it returns as a dividend.

Don’t throw good money after bad. Cut your losses.

“Cheaper in the long run.” -- Useful life

Best value for the investment of time, energy and money.

Being Frugal --