Hello All,

>That .65 price was in Canadian funds as far as I know and is well below  my
cost of production and a lot of others.

Well below?

Cost of production is an interesting term.

A few thoughts about "cost of production" and the following does not pertain
to Irwin and is only general thoughts on "cost of production"

 Many beekeepers have not got a clue what their "cost of production" is.
They go about doing what they do each year and try to get the best price for
their honey crop.

Cost of production is not fixed. Can be improved when price of honey is down
( .65-.75)and not worried about as much when price of honey is up(
$1-$1.50).

Having been in the office of the second largest beekeeping operation in the
world many times I have watched the operation reduce cost of production.

Some ways:

Less feed ( instead of blanket feeding only feed when bees absolutely need
feed )

Less trips to bees ( stay longer and do the chores of two trips on a single
trip)

Use smaller trucks for checking bees. ( I use this method now ALL the time.
I only use the size truck needed for the job)

reduce hive numbers used for honey production. ( common method during times
of poor honey prices and little packer interest)

put off replacing equipment when income is down.
( very common during periods of low honey prices)

Each operation has a different "cost of production" . Irwin knows his which
is a big advantage.

If the beekeeper is in the honey production* only* business then cost of
production is tied directly to pounds produced per hive. In other words if
you reach "cost of prodduction" at a fifty pound per hive  average and the
years production is a 100 pounds then you can make money selling at a lower
price. Cost of production is important to understand.

Maybe others will add ways they try to reduce "cost of production" in times
of low honey prices if selling only bulk wholesale in drums such as Murray
does.


Bob


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