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it actually Honey is probably one of the
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easiest things people like to hear your
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story that's how we started out with uh
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going to events people want it
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they talk to The Beekeeper they get
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comfortable with him his management
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and they know where the food's coming
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I'm Sean hessinger and this is small Biz
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in 15 the show where we bring you small
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business news and tips to make your
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small business better on today's episode
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Charlie vorsic owner of vorsix Backyard
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Bee Farm talks about how to start a
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beekeeping business tell us a little bit
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about just about your business what you
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do how you got into it that kind of
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well the business actually started as uh
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my my daughter's AG project in
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1992. so my my daughter she was in
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eighth or ninth grade and she wanted to
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her brother was in FFA and and I'm
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looking around saying well like
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everybody does Hogs and holsteins
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there's got to be something else you
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know like you can do something different
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I guess that's that's me
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but uh so I we kind of teased the idea
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of a beekeeping I had been
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at the University of Maryland and they
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have an apiary on on the campus and I
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happen to wander into it and was just
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kind of Blown Away by not getting stung
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anyway anyway we started as a high
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school AG project in 92 uh I had two
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daughters back to back that did it as an
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AG project for over nine years I think
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somewhere so 2004 I took it from the
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well I bought it from my last daughter I
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traded her car and uh then uh I got the
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I got whatever equipment she had so then
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I thought I'd do it as a when I retired
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and then I got laid off in 2009 and I'd
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been running a hundred colonies as well
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as working 10-hour days and it was like
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I don't there's Summers that I don't
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even remember because I was just
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like from five till ten and
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and then do it again every day
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uh I got laid off from my my tool and
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die job I'd been in tool and die for 30
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I just thought you know the kids are out
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of school I don't have these commitments
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I can I can I can try and make this go
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Charlie I think he covered my my first
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question in your intro which is what is
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a beekeeper called there's a there's a
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word for it besides beekeeper
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yeah the the technical name would be
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it's it's a it's a Latin term apiary is
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a a yard where you keep bees uh an
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aperist is a person that tends to the
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uh most people just call themselves a
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sometimes we say they're a bee Haver and
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I know that this next question is
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relative but I mean is beekeeping hard
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and I don't mean the business part of it
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the beekeeping you know the raising bees
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well for the most part bees will take
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care of themselves I mean they do out in
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nature so you give them a you give them
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a a home give them a nest nesting site
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and uh they're pretty content with that
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and they can just carry on pretty much
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uh so from that respect
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they can be hands off but hands off
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other other agriculture I mean if you
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actually want to produce something out
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of it you need to manage it and that and
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that's what you know that's what you
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need to do and not only just for if you
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want to produce something out of it but
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just so that you don't become a nuisance
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in the neighborhood having extra bees
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going here and there or when they
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shouldn't be I know you shared with us
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your personal story but in general how
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do you start a beekeeping business I
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mean if somebody wanted to to get
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um what what are some First Steps what
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would you suggest because I know in
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addition to your own story you know
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because of all the you know the
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involvement you've had with other
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beekeepers I'm sure you you've acquired
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a lot of general knowledge about it if
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somebody's just they think this would be
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an interesting thing to start how do you
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do that come on Beyond be straight up
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honest it's not something that you want
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to just jump into without
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and the same as any other Enterprise you
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need to really understand what you're
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working with I mean if you're going to
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sell eggs you know you would need to
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have the chickens to start with and a
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place to keep them and well and there
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there's also laws that we have to have
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to follow be in compliant with and to
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keep bees in Pennsylvania in Most states
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there's a there's an inspection
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program for honeybees and you need to be
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registered with the state because they
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a disease that can go through them and
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you can go through your neighbors it can
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be a it can be an issue so we we
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register with the state
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you also if you're going to sell it
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beyond your your back door
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you need to have uh be in compliant with
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food safety regulations as well
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generally you can sell out your back
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door or you know give it away or
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you don't always you know you don't
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always make honey either
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there you have some good Seasons Bad
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seasons you have losses with your bees
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so uh I don't know I I don't I I started
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to feel comfortable about five years
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into it well and I I'm 30 years along
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they're still it doesn't it seems to
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change every year you're always
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you can Jive into whatever the
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circumstances are but it's it's
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agriculture agriculture is not a hundred
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percent it's not like going to the box
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store and buying something you're really
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dependent on weather and just
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on all nature around you well I guess a
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supplemental question I would ask is
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like what kind of just like on the nuts
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and bolts level if you weren't even
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thinking about the business but just
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starting beekeeping because it sounds
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like you should start beekeeping first
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get it get experience with it and then
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grow it maybe grow it into a business so
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like what do you need just to start
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beekeeping what what sorts of things do
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yeah so that that's a that's a exactly
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response is uh you know start get
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comfortable with it understand it uh
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so I was pulling a few catalog prices
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just to get your boxes the boxes are
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hold your bees plus make some Surplus
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just in that that's before you get the
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bees and before you get your suit
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add a smoker to that but you can you can
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throw 500 at it pretty quick how much do
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beekeepers make or how much can
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beekeepers make and I know that's a
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loaded question but I mean is there a
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way to gauge that out to give people a
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uh yardstick I keep all my um
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all my bookkeeping I keep on QuickBooks
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I can I can I can do spreadsheets and I
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can do a lot of things but it's still
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you know you amortize something they're
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using over a long period of time and it
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gets difficult but at the end of the day
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I'm probably retaining 25 to 30 percent
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of my gross I try to sell mostly retail
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uh retail is where you're going to get
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100 of you know your return
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as soon as you but you can't you can't
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sell enough retail without a lot of time
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on the ground and which takes you away
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from the management so
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we do some Wholesales you know stores
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local stores want to sell it but you
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have to give them a margin you have to
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give them a margin to sell
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so you you drop it you know 30 maybe 40
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percent off your retail price
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uh and that's what you're wholesaling at
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but I think statistically the way it's
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working because we have a roadside stand
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events about I would say
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70 percent of our 60 to 70 percent of
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and that the rest is wholesale so we do
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the majority at retail and that's
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you know and everybody will tell you you
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know that just retail is where you stay
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closest to your dollar
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how do you get started selling honey I
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mean you mentioned everything from
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selling out your back door to when you
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have to worry about food regulation and
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and selling it it stands in wholesale I
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how do you break into that is there a
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best way to ease into that once once you
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have these and you're talking to your
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co-workers and people around you your
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neighborhoods and they that they're
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they're the first ones that say oh can I
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buy some honey from you so it it almost
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regulates itself as you expand So you
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you're you're close friends and
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relatives and work people you work with
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they're they're going to be your first
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customers and then uh you know maybe
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there will be a a flea market you can go
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to a flea market go to an event I found
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from uh from being a high school project
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to I actually put it on QuickBooks and I
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started running a quote business
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at 30 percent a year
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without even trying it's just like boom
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boom boom it was like whoa I'm gonna
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throw the brakes on here pretty soon
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because I I can't I can't you know you
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only have a a finite amount of stock so
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come to a point where it's okay this is
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where I have to stop I can't uh take on
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any more vendors and you know I only
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sell this size you know I don't sell
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see it actually Honey is probably one of
11:36
the easiest things people like to hear
11:38
your story that's how we started out
11:39
with uh going to events people want it
11:44
they talk to The Beekeeper they get
11:46
comfortable with him his management
11:52
and they know where their food's coming
11:53
from here's here's a question that I
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found a lot online so I felt I had to
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ask it even though it probably should be
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obvious especially for those of us back
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in my day in the newspaper business I
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actually went to see a couple of
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beekeepers so but here's the question
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how do beekeepers not get stung
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well we do get stung but we we don't not
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so there's a couple of things I mean
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initially as as you start as a beekeeper
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you're going to buy the veil you're
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going to buy a full suit
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um we we did all that I remember we used
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to count how many times we got stung and
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I don't know I over time over time I've
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I've become more tolerant of bee stings
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it's actually to the point where I don't
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you know it still hurts every time it
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happens but but it's you know physically
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it's been positive some people will go
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the other way and and they're they'll
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have more and more reaction each time
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they get stung and I've gotten less and
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uh so but I still suit up I still wear a
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uh I wear Nitro gloves instead of
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actually found that uh well it's more
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it's easier to feel things and do things
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and and even but you can even go as far
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as selecting the the genetic lines of
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honeybees some are more aggressive
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some are less aggressive time of day
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that you're working on them or in the
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weather you know overcast and rainy well
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some bees are pretty tolerant that way
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but uh but yeah and if they're getting
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bothered at night if they got a skunk
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digging at the front door at night
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they're a little cranky in the day and
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uh but there's uh there's some genetic
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lines that we can watch
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yeah but I I also related to so if
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you're a Dairy Farmer
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and you're in your milk and cows you're
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gonna get swatted with a tail you know
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like it's gonna happen
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and and it's not it's not fun it's not
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comfortable but you know it's going to
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happen uh and that's the same with
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beekeeping you're going to get stung now
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and then and uh just know that that's
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part of the business
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well that's it for another episode of
14:31
small business 15. thanks again to
14:34
Charlie vorsic of vorsic's Backyard Bee
14:36
Farm for making this program possible
14:38
please like And subscribe if you enjoyed
14:40
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14:42
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14:44
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