Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: Ben Framed on April 20, 2021, 09:26:21 pm
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I was reading a post by one of our new members who told of a beekeeper an hour drive from him, out in California which may have up to 44,000 hives. I checked the pollination hive rental prices and here is what I found.
An eye opener for me. I found the following. on The Bee Corp.
The Bee Corp
by Wyatt Wells
2020 ALMOND POLLINATION PRICES
Updated: Dec 30, 2020
2020 almond pollination price per hive
This year we asked 9 almond growers what they?re paying per hive. Here are the results:
: Low: $140
: High: $215
: Average: $195
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At first glance that sound like a good way to go broke. I spend more that 200 on mites, beetles, sugar, foundation, boxes and frames. At some point you have to hire someone and ship bees...
But there are more than just almonds. I had a flat bed driver bring me some stuff to instal on a job a couple months ago in Texas. We got to talking bees, as he was a bee hauler primarily. He was just about to start hauling bees to the almonds, then the whatever patch, then the blueberries, then the something else. So, $200/hive every month and a half might turn a profit if you sell honey and some wax.
You can?t pollinate 12 months out of the year and now I need a forklift and a truck with a crane lift...but everything is cheaper in bulk, right?
So is pollinating the income and honey is the gravy, or is honey the income and pollination the gravy? Or don you need both?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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He was just about to start hauling bees to the almonds, then the whatever patch, then the blueberries, then the something else. So, $200/hive every month and a half might turn a profit if you sell honey and some wax.
You can?t pollinate 12 months out of the year and now I need a forklift and a truck with a crane lift...but everything is cheaper in bulk, right?
So is pollinating the income and honey is the gravy, or is honey the income and pollination the gravy? Or don you need both?
I don?t know what the other crops pay for hive rental. I do know by studying, and not by reading books, lol 😊, that Michale Palmer and Bob Binnie, both started out in the pollination direction. I don?t think it would be for me. To many hives involved and only a hobby for me.
I posted this topic for general interest and I appreciate your input and interest.
Their is a smaller beekeeper as compared to the big outfits, from Alabama, (I think he said Alabama), that sends bees to California Almonds yet still gets his bees back in plenty of time for his area flow. A real nice fellow in his videos. (brucebees)
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Almonds in CA are very early. The hives come back heavy and must be harvested. Then, in FL, the hives can sit in wilderness and get the main flow from native flora for at least 2 months.
Or move on to other pollination. The big operations use subcontractors for extracting, shipping.
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Almonds in CA are very early. The hives come back heavy and must be harvested. Then, in FL, the hives can sit in wilderness and get the main flow from native flora for at least 2 months.
Or move on to other pollination. The big operations use subcontractors for extracting, shipping.
Yes Almonds in California are very early, especially when compared to my area as well.
I did not know that contractors did the extracting when moved on to other pollination crops. Thanks for the enlightenment. I really do not know much about pollination except what little I have seen of videos and what Oldvbeave has told us from his personal experiance. I think it is an interesting and important part of beekeeping, one that seems mysterious to me as far as the how to, and what for, (details) are concerned. Thanks for your input FG.
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Ben
A friend of mine brother bees just got back from almonds they did there splits and moved them on apples in Pa, they stage here in Florida and then move to different farms
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Ben,
A friend of mine sent his bees for Almond pollination last year. He was paid $150 per hive. A truck came to his apiary, he loaded them on it, when they were done they were returned to him. He didn?t have to drive or even leave home. It was a pretty good deal.
Jim Altmiller
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Ben,
A friend of mine sent his bees for Almond pollination last year. He was paid $150 per hive. A truck came to his apiary, he loaded them on it, when they were done they were returned to him. He didn?t have to drive or even leave home. It was a pretty good deal.
Jim Altmiller
Yes I agree a very good deal only having to load them up and unload them when back. Jim did he say what length of time they were away?
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Almonds are early and when they finish we go to cherries.
You can also do seed canola which pays the same as cherries.
There is an overlap but some apples and pears are also pollinated.
The new varieties of plum also need pollinating.
Just got to sort out the dates of each crop.
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Almonds are early and when they finish we go to cherries.
You can also do seed canola which pays the same as cherries.
There is an overlap but some apples and pears are also pollinated.
The new varieties of plum also need pollinating.
Just got to sort out the dates of each crop.
Sounds like fun.... Are there many miles of travel difference for you Oldbeavo?
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About 200 miles to almonds, cherries 40 miles and 80 miles, Canola is about 180 miles. Apples and pears 20 miles.
You can't do cherries and canola as their timing clash.
Almonds 1st August to 30 Aug
Canola is 1st Sept to about 10 Oct
Cherries 1st Sept to 5th Oct , also a high altitude cherries 12th Sept to about 20 Oct.
Apples and pears 20 Sept to about 12 Oct
Plums 20 August but usually stay for apples and pears till 12 Oct.
Prices are about $140 - 150 for almonds, $100 for cherries and canola.
Apples and pears are $20 per week
Pollination is about 40% of our income.
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For beekeepers in Florida, they have to travel about 3000 miles. The worst part of the trip is the California bee Inspecters. The bees are held and they better not have any hitch hikers especially ants.
A lot of bees die waiting to be inspected.
Jim Altmiller
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3000 miles would take the edge off the profit, especially my 7 loads of bees.
Doesn't Florida have any local pollination, avocados, plums, melons.
Melons are a source of pollination income, also zucchinis, the misshapen are due to poor pollination.
Also seed vegetables, lettuce, carrot use bees for pollination, they were paying about $130 a hive, mainly in cooler climates.
Where is seed/ hybrid canola seed production done in the US? Sometime you get a bit of honey as well.
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Almond pollination is our highest paying crop. The other ones are for the most part less than $100 a hive from what I hear. Our bees roll around the country from California in the early spring then upper mid west then New England and they over winter in Florida. Not all but a very large percentage.
Jim Altmiller