FlyingMonk said:

How much do you predict a setup like this would run...., and what are the chances of setting one up in Virginia or North Carolina. Good stuff though, RESPECT!

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RogerRabbit said:

FlyingMonk said:

How much do you predict a setup like this would run...., and what are the chances of setting one up in Virginia or North Carolina. Good stuff though, RESPECT!

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We put about $30K into this, not counting 4 months of 12 hour days working to get it all done. A good portion of that was for gas considering the location and how far supplies had to be hauled to get them here.

We DO have the best honey anywhere.  There's no farmland near us, so our bees are not exposed to pesticides.  The nectar and pollen they collect is from wild raspberries, strawberries, thimble berries, plus apple, peach, pear and plum trees, and the millions of flower seeds we've spread around the area. There's also white and red clover in the meadows. Had we not kept all our honey for the bees and ourselves this year, we could have sold it many times over.  We should get at least 1000 pounds of honey next year, but there's a steady stream of locals knocking on the door asking for it.  I doubt we'll need to sell it online.
RR

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RogerRabbit said:

We'd all be a lot healthier and diabetes would be virtually wiped out if people and corporations such as soft drink and cookie/pastry makers would swear off sugar and use honey instead. 

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RogerRabbit said:

I'm taking this thread a bit off-topic, but I fed my bees with spent shiitake blocks last summer, and noticed in the fall when I went to treat for mites, they didn't have any.  I suspect something in the shiitake killed the mites.  Next year, I'll investigate this farther.  It might be the cure for CCD.  I haven't lost a single hive to CCD, although 90% of beekeepers have.
RR

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RogerRabbit said:

We should get at least 1000 pounds of honey next year, but there's a steady stream of locals knocking on the door asking for it.  I doubt we'll need to sell it online.
RR

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Aw, but just because you don't NEED to sell it online, doesn't mean you shouldn't! You could sell small little bottles for like 10x what you charge your neighbors, I'd buy I'm just kidding around, I'm just bitter I won't be getting any home made non-pesticide honey this year

Also, since something like 2/3s of colonies have died recently from CCD, you're in a very good position to fill that 2/3 void in honey production. I wouldn't doubt that small pesticide exposure over many years contributes to CCD somehow, but I'm not a bee keeper or expert by any means. It's like drinking water, sure, the levels of lithium may be 10000x less than a dose, but we've all been drinking it SINCE BIRTH

Also, I had no idea that bees could eat mushrooms. This brings up the interesting prospect of bees eating psilocybes. Would this cause them to subsequently lace their honey with psilocybin? Or maybe they'd be tripping too hard to actually produce honey for the hive You could end up with honey squares, triangles and other geometric patterns instead of honey comb!