I have resisted replying to the National Honey Board (NHB) issue till now.
What has changed my mind?  The presense of many relatively new beekeepers
on this list most of whom do not have commercial operations, and who have
no way of ascertaining the merits of the questions being asked.
 
I would suggest that neither Troy Fore, Bob Smith nor anyone else at the
NHB, could answer the types of questions being asked of them on this list.
It would be like asking a contractor who builds skyscrapers to tell us how
he plans and then builds the structure of the building.  It just couldn't
be done.
 
To get the answers to your questions of Troy, it would be necessary for him
to describe all the dynamics involved in international supply and demand,
the principles of national and international marketing, and the vagaries of
consumer buying.  It would also be incumbent on him to study the histories
of other industries who have similar issues in their production sector to
see how they have developed their marketing strategies.  Then he would have
to write a comprehensive paper to cover all the implications and nuances of
the questions being asked.  Having done all this he would still not be able
to answer the comments and questions being asked by these beekeepers
because they would merely change the questions.
 
The NHB has done all this work by hiring companies who have the expertise
in marketing and international market development, and relying on the
numerous studies performed by national and international marketing
companies and universities, upon which to build their marketing goals.
 
I have always wanted to ask the question whether one penny or two will
actually break your bee operation company?  If so, I suggest that it is not
currently on a sound financial basis, and is not likely ever to be so.
Like the beekeeper here who called me being all upset because the industry
was talking about having a $.50 per hive pollination service fee to help
fund their apiary program.  He has 50 hives and was planning to increase to
100 with a goal of becoming a commercial beekeeper.  His fee if he rented
hives, was going to be $50.00.  When he told me what his current income
from his bees is, and we discussed the needed investment to increase to 100
hives it became very plain to him that he wasn't making any money on his
hives and was not likely to do so.  He had never taken the time to
determine if he should invest in increasing his number of hives.
 
It is too bad that few beekeepers have any education in business
management, cost accounting, conducting time and cost studies, and
determining profit or loss.  These same issues come up again in thinking
about operating two queen colonies.
 
James C. Bach
Yakima WA
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