Page 137 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

Bee Keeping for Profit

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EORGE JESSUP , Council Bluffs, Iowa, began raising bees as a side line.
Before long, this side line returned enough profits to more than take care of
expenses, and today his income from bee keeping exceeds a thousand dollars
annually. In fact, bees not only pay all his household expenses, but enable
him to put a good round sum in the bank every year.

“Few occupations,” says Jessup, “offer the interest and relaxation bee
keeping affords, and for the office worker it has the additional incentive of
being carried on out of doors. I started with one colony in a large hive, which
I was told would provide ample room for brooding and winter storage,
eliminate swarming, and provide large combs for the queen bee thus making
her more efficient. My initial expenses for bees and equipment ran about
twenty dollars, and my cost of producing honey that year was five dollars.
The colony produced a hundred pounds of honey, all of which I sold locally
to retailers at an average price of sixty cents a bail, a measure which contains
five pounds.

“The second year the colony was increased greatly by a winter brood, so I
split it, and made a second colony, which also came in with a hundred pounds
of honey. That, I found, was about the average yield for each bee colony.
Meanwhile, I was so pleased with the way the bee keeping was going, that I
increased the number of colonies to ten, and sold some of the honey at
wholesale, getting an average of forty-five cents a bail for it. There is, of
course, more work connected with the ten colonies, but not a great deal more
as about all there is to do is gather the honey. Bees do not require much
attention. You can leave them alone for several days and they will feed
themselves and work for you while you are away. Last year, I added fifteen
more colonies, to bring the total number to twenty-five, and my profit
increased proportionately.

“Most of the honey I produce goes to local grocers. Some of it I ship to