> As it is stated it depends on your area.  For me, as I have explained
> before, and we seem to be going over old ground in the past week or so,
> walk
> aways do not work for me.  My experience in my area.  However I would not
> be
> bold enough to recommend that all should do my way.  I would recommend
> requeening annually for those who migrate.  This is also recommended by
> many
> successful beekeepers in our area so it is not a case of my trying to
> boost
> queen sales for my own profit.  The queen lays for 12 months of the year
> and
> in our area there are may pollen deficient flows worked.  From my
> experience, I have left queens in hives past the 12 months, I normally
> requeen in autumn (fall) as that is when I have spare queens for myself.
> In
> spring they do not perform as well as those hives that have been requeened
> in autumn...

Very good comments, and worth repeating, so I have not trimmed much.

>> IMO, at current honey prices, 'good enough' is a lower standard than it
>> was when honey was two or three times the price.
>
> Why accept a lower standard?  Even in the current situation with lower
> prices, it is better to strive for the best and produce more honey with
> less
> effort by keeping your standards high.

As long as the incremental cost in dollars, risk and effort to 'strive for
the best' is not greater than the value of the 'more honey' that can be
reasonably expected, there is no reason to 'accept a lower standard'.
However, the cost of maintaining the 'high standard' must be determined, and
compared to the returns expected from doing so, to know for sure.

All that is assuming that economics matters, as it may not in the case of
someone with trust fund or a hobbyist, but must -- at least somewhat -- in
most cases.

I guess my point is that if the idea is to get maximum profitability with
minimum effort and cost, the expected return from sale of the end product
will have a big  influence on the input decisions, as will the degree of
certainty of receiving that return at some time later than the expenses are
incurred.

When the end product has a high and certain value, simple math justifies
more input expense than when the end product drops to a low or uncertain
value -- assuming the inputs do not also drop in price.

The decision as to how much effort and expense to invest is simply a matter
of determining at which point an additional effort or expense will not
produce enough additional dollars (or yuan) to pay back that additional
expense and produce a profit.

For some, the solution to the equations in the face of declining honey
prices may indicate an increase in per unit expense and output, for others
it may indicate reducing expenses and output.  For some, there may be no
solution to the equations that produces an income, and a quick exit is
indicated, unless there is a another, outside source of support, and a
strong desire to continue, even in the face of apparently unending future
losses.

> Sure you do not get the same price
> but if you produce more for less effort, then you must be ahead
> financially.

This is true in some instances, but, it is also true that if you produce a
little less with a lot less effort, cost and risk, you may also be
financially ahead, and also quite possibly ahead of the guy who produces
'more for less effort' -- especially if his expenses and risks are higher,
and *especially* if you are both losing money, hunkered down, holding out,
and just waiting for things to get better.

Under any given market conditions, migratory beekeepers, pollinators, honey
producers and hobbyists will all have differing expectations, management
systems and profit/loss regimes.  Further, even among beekeepers in each
classification, inputs that may be critically important in one operation may
be much less critical in another, due to the way things are done, and
buffering factors -- intentionally introduced by management or not -- that
reduce dependence on that input.  Thus we see one beekeeper with one brand
new truck, and another doing the same job with one or several older ones,
with each achieving the same result, and possibly the same profitability.

Again, this is, for me, all a matter of optimizing for the circumstances,
and, as we have agreed, these may differ in many ways, as may personal
goals.

Thanks.

allen
http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

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