I'm still a little mystified with this commercial beekeeper decline, actually saddened, but I'm increasingly flummoxed with the prediction of the "big outfits" filling the gaps.
 
Who are these big outfits?  And if cheap foreign imports are killing U.S. beekeepers, how will the big outfits compete?
 
And if the hometown beekeeper cannot get family or the next generation to jump into a enterprise that entails "hard work," where do the big outfits expect to get their labor?  What will they have to pay?
 
BTW:  the neighbor kid, 18 years of age, works at Dairy Queen for $9/hour, my 15-year old daughter works as a life guard at the municipal swimming pool for $7.05/hour.  Neither position, in my feeble mind, that counts as "hard" work, but that's what these jobs pay.
 
My apologies, I digress.
 
I'm seeing two fronts in Southeast Missouri.  First, there are several hobby beekeepers entering the brotherhood, some of them sisters.  I imagine 90% of these will wash out in a couple of years.  The other 10% will absorb the hobbyist's equipment and become what Larry Connor has dubbed, the "serious sideliners."
 
BTW:  What, or who is the market for used beekeeping equipment, other than another beekeeper or someone wanting to jump into the business?  I feel sorry for those who have made an incredible investment on a retail level only to sell out at a fire-sale free-for-all.
 
But on another front, I find a minority within the beek community who are looking to expand.  They are positioning themselves for growth, but growth by sustainable splits and intelligent division, without borrowing and the burden of debt.   These beekeepers have "regular" jobs and in most cases, working spouses.  They are not afraid of hard work, and they are incredibly obstinate with vision and passion.  They also want others to succeed.  Collegiality and collaboration has replaced any fear-based competitiveness.

This minority looks to be a commercial (profit making) business, but not in the sense of booking pollination contracts.  Most of these guys are stationary, seasonal beekeepers who market their honey by the bottle rather than the barrel.  The local market is hungering for local honey, not cheap foreign imports.  The locals want a neighborly producer they can trust.   
 
These guys don't have to ship their honey across the country/state or bow down to the great big-box retailer to get a very good price for it.  They market their honey directly to the consumer and sell their honey for an average of $3.00 a pound, and not one of them can fill the demand alone.  And with good consumer education and personal representation, they are not selling honey, they are selling themselves.
 
I sense a shift in our paradigm to what may become the new commercial beekeeper.  He/she is more regional and stationary, smaller and not solely dependent upon beekeeping as the only household income.  I believe there will always be beekeepers, but the decline in the presently-defined, specialized "commercial" beekeeper may be opening an opportunity for a resurgence from the middle tier to rise up, adapt and prosper.
 
Grant
Jackson, MO


      

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