>California beekeepers are overpaid in my opinion if one considers the cost and risk involved with bringing bees from far away areas.

My God, I don't know where to begin.   

How many of you have kept bees in California all year around??  Your licensing, insurance, fuel and living expenses is extremely higher.  Just ask Duane from Mann Lake, who just moved from Minnesota to manage a new store in Woodland, CA.  They told me they would have to sell 3 or 4 ranches in Minnesota just to buy a house in Woodland.  The median house in Woodland is $525,000 and up.  How many mid-west homes in town average that?  If I had to replace my shop and home at today's appraised value, it would be over 1.3 million.  I don't see many mid-west keepers having that obstacle.  All beekeepers, in my opinion, earn 100% of what they bring in.  To say that some are overpaid is a ludicrous statement.

Keith Jarrett
Jackson, California

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