Upscaling #5 - Lessons Learned with Ritchie Schaefer (323)

323 - Upscaling #5: Lessons Learned with Ritchie Schaefer (323)

[music]

Jeff Ott: Welcome to Beekeeping Today Podcast, presented by Betterbee, your source for beekeeping news, information, and entertainment. I'm Jeff Ott.

Becky Masterman: I'm Becky Masterman.

Global Patties: Today's episode is brought to you by the bee nutrition superheroes at Global Patties. Family-operated and buzzing with passion, Global Patties crafts protein-packed patties that will turn your hives into powerhouse production. Picture this: strong colonies, booming brood, and honey flowing like a sweet river. It's super protein for your bees and they love it.

Check out their buffet of patties, tailor-made for your bees in your specific area. Head over to www.globalpatties.com and give your bees the nutrition they deserve.

Jeff: Hey, a quick shout-out to Betterbee and all of our sponsors whose support allows us to bring you this podcast each week without resorting to a fee-based subscription. We don't want that and we know you don't either. Be sure to check out all of our content on the website. There, you can read up on all of our guests, read our blog on the various aspects and observations about beekeeping, search for, download, and listen to over 300 past episodes, read episode transcripts, leave comments and feedback on each episode, and check on podcast specials from our sponsors.

You can find it all at www.beekeepingtoday.com.

[music]

Betterbee: Ready to kick off your 2025 beekeeping season? Make sure you've got everything you need for spring at Betterbee.com. Whether you're just starting out and need a complete hive kit or you're a seasoned beekeeper looking to upgrade, Betterbee has you covered with top-quality gear and expert support. Don't wait until the season's in full swing. Visit Betterbee.com today and get prepped for a successful 2025.

[music]

Bee Smart Design: Spring is almost here. Give your bees the best start with the Bee Smart Universal Insulated Hive System. Designed to reduce losses, support brood building, and boost honey yields, it helps maintain the perfect nest temperature and humidity, all with no extra work from you. At the heart of the system, an insulated cover, insulated inner cover, IPM bottom board, and direct feeder, managing moisture and letting your bees feed right from the nest.

With up to 70% more insulation than poly hives, it keeps colonies warm in winter, cool in summer, and thriving all year long. Bee Smart products fit 8-frame and 10-frame equipment, need no assembly or painting, and are built to last, right here, in the USA, using recycled materials. Ready to upgrade? Visit beesmartdesigns.com. Click Where to Buy and order from your favorite dealer today. Bee Smart Designs. Simply better beekeeping equipment.

[music]

Jeff: Hey, a big shout-out to all of our sponsors who help support us every year, every episode, and through the series of Upscaling a Bee Business. Everybody, welcome to the show. Welcome to this fifth part of our Upscaling Your Bee Business. Today, we have with us Ritchie Schaefer, a beekeeper from Minnesota.

Becky: So exciting. Welcome to the show, Richie.

Ritchie Schaefer: Hey, Becky. Hey, Jeff.

Jeff: We really appreciate you taking the time to join us this afternoon to talk about your experience with the bee business. We've talked to other beekeepers over the last several episodes about how they expanded their bee business, how to expand the numbers of bees, how to manage the increase of equipment, how to build out a honey house, and some of the other business opportunities with bees.

You have some unique experiences because you're going from a hobbyist to a sideline beekeeper, and all these experiences are fresh in your mind. We wanted to talk to you, and you said you were willing to share with us and our listeners some of your experiences. Thank you.

Ritchie: You're welcome, Jeff. I got started in the business in 2018. My parents had let a younger commercial beekeeper host bees at one of our family-owned pieces of land. That young beekeeper, Nolan Majeski, tragically died in a car accident in Texas, in the spring of 2018. We had our good family friends, Chuck and Marjeane Hendrycks, who have been commercial beekeepers since the late 1970s and 80s, they had sold their business to Nolan.

With Nolan's passing, my parents wanted to have bees continue at that farm. The colony collapsed, and bee awareness was at the top of their minds. I was tasked with finding bees out there. I had called a local commercial beekeeper if they were interested in placing bees out there, and they never called me back. I had a rather gruff conversation with my dad, and he said, "Hey, have you found bees to put out there?" I said, "No, I haven't." He said, "Well, what the heck have you been doing?"

[laughter]

I was like, "I'm going to go buy my own." I started out buying just a few, watching some videos, read a couple books on what to do. I've always had an entrepreneurial drive to try to do something. I've always been-- my whole career, I've worked around agriculture. I used to sell GMO corn seed. I used to sell pesticide to kill insects, to kill weeds, or diseases. I thought maybe with my background of understanding agriculture, that would help me in apiculture.

I just changed jobs. At the time, I was selling wholesale fertilizers. I started out with a few hives. I had actually talked to a local brewery in New Ulm, the Schell's Brewery, August Schell Brewing Company. They're the second oldest family-owned brewery in the nation. I went and talked to them to see if they wanted to buy honey for their beer. They said, "No, honey beer's really not our style, but would you be willing to put a couple hives on our property so we can sell honey in the gift shop?

I said, "Sure." They said, "Great. We asked another beekeeper and they didn't want to do that." I thought, "Well, maybe there is something to this. I started naming my company B2B Honey. I joked, I thought, "Okay, I'm going to make this Bees2Beer.

[laughter]

Since then, no one, to my understanding, has made bees with my honey, but I just kept the name. I had met a local Minnesota beekeeper that took his bees to California for the almond pollination. I tagged along with him one year, and it did okay. Good portion of my bees made it through pollination. They all came back here fairly healthy. This beekeeper moved his operation to Iowa, so I had contracted on with another beekeeper to send about 36 hives out to California, just strictly a hobby, a sideliner at the time.

Jeff: How many colonies were you keeping at the time?

Ritchie: There, I was in the 40s. I tried to pick the better good ones. I would have shipped them out in October time frame. This year, I had switched producers. I really didn't hear from him much throughout the winter. I did ask him, "Hey, how's things going?" I really wouldn't get much of a response. He finally called me at the end of February. This was in 2022. He goes, "Hey, yours aren't doing so hot."

I asked him, "Well, what did it take you to tell me this now?" He said, "Well, you got eight hives that are doing better than anything I have. Where did you get these queen genetics from?" I asked him which hives they were. I do number my hives, just for a little bit of record keeping and housekeeping, from that regard. I asked which ones they were, and he told me, and I told him what genetics I got them from at the time.

Then they got back to Minnesota in May, but again, reached out to them, really struggled to get a hold of them. I had said, "Do you have these bees yet? Where are they? Do I have to call the sheriff to get them?" He said, "Whoa, no need to do that. I'm a busy guy."

[laughter]

He had sent me a GPS pin of where they were up by the Twin Cities. I went up there with a regular pickup and a smoker. I brought along a mite wash kit, because at this time, it was June 18th of 2022. I went through-- all my equipment was there. Some of it was damaged with a forklift. I had went through and started doing mite washes. Out of 300 bees, I saw mite washes as high as the teens. I really struggled to keep mites out of there that year.

I had re-cleaned them, so then, that next year, I didn't have a good luck in California again. I went back with the same producer who had since moved his operation to Iowa. By the time I got him back, I had to buy quite a few nucs just to keep all my equipment clean and keep bees in some of these yards. That really opened up my eyes to-- I had done mite washes. I had done different mite treatments, and I thought, I really need to step up my game to continue in this business.

At the time, I was selling wholesale fertilizer across a few US states and Canada. I had a little more travel requirements, but at the time, I didn't have a lot of fertilizer to sell. We were coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic with supply chain challenges. I had a really good honey crop in 2021. I started selling at a local farmer's market because I had time during the week. I had started the honey sales aspect of things a little bit more in-depth, and that really helped me out, getting some revenue to invest in some better equipment.

Had to switch out some frames that were probably a little older, so help on the disease aspect. I had bought a different oxalic vaporizer at the time. Just help with overall cash flow. At the time, there were two beekeepers at the Mankato Farmers' Market, selling honey. One of them had announced their retirement, so I was able to take their place at the Mankato Farmers' Market.

That's really helped me move my product. I did some outdoor wintering last year, had very good luck. This year, I have transitioned to indoor wintering. Right now, I've got just under a hundred colonies, an indoor wintering unit here in Minnesota. Most of them are doing pretty well. I'll end up checking on them here today, just with our mild temperature swings, being sure that the temperature inside that unit is right where I want it.

In the last two years, I've over doubled my hives, going anywhere from in the 40s to over 100. I have not done hardly any wholesale bulk honey. I've done more direct-to-consumer, worked with some local food co-ops, worked with a lot of restaurants, couple distilleries, and higher-end pubs and taverns that use honey in craft cocktails.

Becky: Can I ask about the wintering? Is this your facility?

Ritchie: I rent the farm place for storage. My original plan was to take a old pig barn, with an all-concrete floor, was going to put it up with insulation and fans to try to keep everything right at about 38 degrees. In September, in a windstorm, the roof flew off, so I had to switch buildings on the property. A little bit different design. It's a little harder to get some of the ventilation, but right now, 85% of what I put in there in October is alive.

I've got some moisture challenges with the wild swings in temperature here in Minnesota. We've seen some in the negative, we've seen some below zero with windshield, and currently today, here, on the 29th of January, it's 40 degrees and sunny.

Becky: Oh, and it's going to be even warmer tomorrow, I bet.

Ritchie: I know. I want to get out there today, be sure there's ample sugar on. I've seen a lot of moisture in these boxes, so I've been adding sugar and adjusting-- I've got a couple fans in there pulling air in, pulling air out. I'm going to add another one today. Fortunately, I've got some space in this building where I can add a fan just to try ventilation.

Becky: Well, that's interesting. I remember you talking about that, so you made it happen. That's pretty exciting.

Ritchie: Becky, you and I had a great conversation at Farm Fest in Minnesota, talking to different Minnesota farmers and landowners about the Minnesota honey producers. I know you had shared some research that the state of Minnesota has had great luck with proving that bees can winter outside. I chose indoor wintering because I feel it's a little bit easier for me.

I do work full-time as an agronomist for a family farm here in Southern Minnesota, managing water and crop nutrients. I feel that the indoor wintering unit is easier for me to help manage the bees versus going and wrapping and insulating hives at a dozen different locations in Southern Minnesota.

Becky: Much easier, I think. If you can figure out the humidity, temperature, and controlling the conditions, then it's easier on the bees too.

Jeff: Let's take this opportunity to take a quick break and hear from our sponsors and we'll be right back with Ritchie Schaefer. We're going to look a little bit closer into some of the pollination experiences he's had, and how he's marketing some of his honey. We'll be right back.

[music]

Dalan Animal Health: Are you dedicated to keeping your hives healthy and thriving? Give your bees an extra layer of protection with queen bees inoculated with Dalan Animal Health's oral AFB vaccine. Our colonies face threats from parasites, predators, pesticides, and diseases like American foulbrood. AFB is particularly devastating, but there's hope. Dalan's vaccine is the first USDA-CVB-licensed biologic to combat AFB. It's safe, chemical-free, and suitable for organic agriculture.

Vaccinating your bees is a crucial step in responsible beekeeping. Visit dalan.com, D-A-L-A-N.com, to find certified retailers and get your AFB vaccinated queens today. Protect your hives and ensure a thriving future for your bees.

[music]

Strong Microbials: Strong Microbials presents an exciting new product. SuperFuel, the probiotic fondant that serves as nectar on demand for our honeybees. SuperFuel is powered by three remarkable bacteria, known as bacilli, supporting bees in breaking down complex substances for easy digestion and nutrient absorption. This special energy source provides all the essential amino acids, nutrients, polyphenols, and bioflavonoids, just like natural flower nectar.

Vital for the bees' nutrition and overall health, SuperFuel is the optimal feed for dearth periods, overwinter survival, or whenever supplemental feeding is needed. The big plus is the patties do not get hive beetle larvae, so it offers all bioavailable nutrients without any waste. Visit strongmicrobials.com now to discover more about SuperFuel and get your probiotic fondant today.

[music]

Becky: It sounds like, Ritchie, you have transitioned to indoor wintering in Minnesota. Have you given up pollination, either all the way to the almonds, or do you do any pollination services in Minnesota?

Ritchie: Yes, I do some apple pollination in the spring and I am looking to continue, if not grow that. I'm taking a pause on the California almond pollination because I don't feel it works best for me with my work schedule. I am, this year, going to go down to Texas in March, to work for a commercial beekeeper. The goal is to get paid in bees.

Becky: Oh, that's exciting.

Ritchie: Yes. No, I very much am excited. I've talked with my employer, and getting everything ready to be down there for 10-plus days. I always go back to my roots in agriculture. Both my parents grew up on row crop operations here around Mankato, New Ulm, Minnesota. My grandpa on my dad's side actually had bees in the '80s as a bit of a side business.

As I've networked with other people in Minnesota, with my honey customers or with my other college friends, I found out that there was quite a few people back in the '80s and '90s that had bees, when it was a lot less challenging to run a few colonies. We don't have to worry about the mites, and maybe habitat was easier to be around. I still actually have my grandpa's old smoker.

I still use it at least once a year. It's been great from that regard, but I'm taking a break from the pollination for right now. I don't think that's going to fit for me here, in the next couple years, but as I've scaled out, and as I've networked with-- whether that's other commercial beekeepers or whether that's other landowners, I have developed a great working relationship with a handful of landowners that are very big on the regenerative ag movement.

They want to see that biodiversity in their soil, they want to see that diversity on their farms. My largest fields of buckwheat are actually two hours away from where my house and where my main bee yard and shop are. I had started networking him through a college friend and I asked, "Hey, does anyone put bees on your buckwheat?" He goes, "No." I go, "Can I do that next year?" He goes, "Heck yes, come on out."

Becky: Excellent.

Ritchie: I moved a few hives out there and they just did fantastic. They had a great honey yield. The bee health out of those handful of hives I had on buckwheat was, hands down, better than anything I had around Mankato, Waseca, St. Peter, Minnesota, right about an hour and a half southwest of Minneapolis, St. Paul. Last year, in 2024, the weather threw us for a little bit of a loop, and this farmer didn't get his buckwheat planted until July. I didn't move the bees out there until end of July.

I was fortunate enough, I had a great basswood crop here, in the river valleys around Mankato. The basswood flow was phenomenal this year, and I found out, a couple years in, that the comb honey market, people go absolutely wild for good comb honey. When it comes down to scaling my business, I had taken a calculator and a spreadsheet, looking at what size of extractor do you need to run 40, 50 hives, and if you do a percentage of your hives on comb honey, that's less you have to run through an extractor, and have to figure out how to melt the wax cappings, et cetera.

I run, I feel, a large percentage of my hives each year on comb honey production.

Jeff: For our listeners who are considering that, because I know a lot of beekeepers are sideliners, or people who are getting into sideliner, say, "Well I could throw some of my bees on with a commercial guy going out to California for the almonds," and you've done it for a couple years. Can you give us some of your lessons learned, and what would you tell another beekeeper?

Ritchie: Jeff, I would recommend not to send hives for almond pollination unless you are okay with the unknowingness of how those hives are going to do, or if those hives die during the time they're in California. I would encourage younger beekeepers to manage their risk, to manage their business. I've found out that there is no room for error when it comes to bee health. Once a hive is not healthy, it is so hard to get it back, especially food diversity and nectar dearth can just decimate a good quality hive.

Jeff: That's good to know. Actually, I've never heard that stated so well, thank you for sharing that.

Becky: I'm writing it down. I don't know if it's a t-shirt, a bumper sticker, or-

Jeff: Or both.

Becky: -something I'm going to put on my next PowerPoint presentation and give Ritchie credit for saying it, but it's just so well said. There's no room for error in bee health. Huh. Beautiful. Lesson learned, unfortunately, you went through it.

Jeff: I am intrigued about your honey marketing and how you found your customers. Did you just go door to door, talk to your restaurants and your bars to find customers, or did you have leads? Did you take samples?

Ritchie: With my sales background, I went to a market that I wanted to get into. I went and told my story and introduced myself to the chefs, the managers, and the owners. I have developed great working relationships with a handful of retail, and restaurant partners ever since. Especially consumers these days, that a lot of them care more so of where their product is coming from.

If you're able to tell your story, regardless if you're selling honey, if you're selling beekeeping equipment or if you're selling a consumer packaged good or maple syrup, it's so important, Becky and Jeff, to be able to tell your story about why you're in this. I didn't necessarily start getting super passionate about bees and honey until I found out what an impact it could have. I never really had a lot of honey growing up. My parents really never bought it.

They were very passionate and they wanted to give beekeepers a chance after all the discussion about colony collapse in the early 2000s. They had wanted beekeepers to put bees on their land, and a lot of beekeepers said no at the time. Not every location is meant for that. Every year, I have to turn down a couple of people from asking me to put bees on there, whether it's harder access to the yard or there's a risk of flood, or it's near another commercial bee yard, or there just isn't enough quality habitat for those bees.

In finding these customers, I've looked for a lot of farm-to-table restaurants. I've looked for a lot of specialty, more boutique stores. A lot of times, when it comes down to business, and sometimes, some of the retail grocery can just be a race to the bottom. For me, I'm planning to run 150 or 180 hives this year, depending on how long I'm in Texas working, or how much capital I want to put back into new hives and equipment, and also how well things split out of my wintering unit.

I don't necessarily want to be the lowest price on a retail store. You go out and you tell your story. I know I've slowly been making more content on my social media pages, that's been a huge investment of time, and I'll likely still continue to do that. Like I mentioned earlier, bee health comes first. Don't miss a mite treatment, if it's a little bit of a dearth and they need a pollen patty or they need a little sugar syrup, or-- oftentimes, too, it's just less bees in a yard.

This last year, I never had more than 16 hives in a yard, running about 100 hives. It's maybe a little bit more driving around, a little bit more hauling equipment with the flatbed truck and a skid steer. Ever since I've started spreading my bees out like that, my losses have gone down. I know it's been a little bit more work, but I've actually had better luck on individual bottom boards versus migratory pallets. It's just been little things like that that have really helped me scale up.

Regardless, if you go work for another beekeeper and are able to get paid in bees or you buy a nuc, you buy a mated queen, or a queen cell, when you start losing a large percentage, you get behind the eight ball and it gets tough to build it back up. My advice to someone else's scaling their business, it may not be what I'm doing. Every Saturday morning, I've got probably six, seven hours dedicated to being at the Mankato Farmers' Market, selling honey, building relationships with customers.

Then it's going back home, getting everything back into storage, and then going back out in the bee yard. Fortunately, a lot of these weekends, we've had decent weather here these past couple years, that I'm able to go in and get my treatments done, and get ready for what's next.

Jeff: When you are visiting with potential customers, are you taking them honey samples?

Ritchie: Yes. The farmers' market that I provide, I can do a sampling stand if I have a hand wash station, but oftentimes, going to some of these bars and restaurants, I'll drop off a couple of samples, have a conversation, ask a couple things about their menu, buy a drink, buy an appetizer, build some rapport with some of these accounts as well.

Jeff: Are the restaurants buying in bulk? They're not buying a five-gallon pail or 60-pound bucket?

Ritchie: Oh, Jeff, I got all kinds.

Jeff: Oh, okay.

Ritchie: Yes. I've got some that prefer them in a gallon jar. Actually, some of my longest-term accounts, I'm actually refilling some higher-end restaurant squeeze bottles with caps for them. Instead of using a single-use plastic, I'm able to keep their cost down a little bit, and they're able to still keep a good standard, everything's washed and sanitized. I do have some accounts, whether they're buying it in a gallon jug, they're buying a five-gallon pail, or they're buying cases of private label 12-ounce bears or 16-pound [unintelligible 00:28:15].

Jeff: You're just doing whatever the market is demanding at that time.

Ritchie: Yes. Certain times of the year, Black Frost Distilling is a great partner of mine. It's hot [unintelligible 00:28:27] season right now, so they're doing some of that, and actually, shout out to one of your sponsors, Betterbee. I did purchase a honey creaming machine. That's been nice as another product to add to my portfolio. Also just some value-added products, it's pretty simple to put honey in a bottle and just sell it.

If you do some marketing behind it, do a value-added honey, or a creamed honey, for example, I'll do a batch of cinnamon creamed honey for the Minnesota State Fair at the Minnesota Honey Producers.

Jeff: Your hot honey is very popular.

Ritchie: Hot honey has been very popular, I think overall, over the last few years. I joke, some people used to think ketchup is spicy, but overall, as the spice trend continues, I think the hot sauce market has grown. At first, when people had heard, like, "What's hot honey?" They try it, and it has been very popular. It didn't grow in 2024 like it did in 2022 and 2023, but if people like a certain thing, they're going to continue purchasing it.

Jeff: You stated you were experimenting with the comb honey, or you produce some comb honey? How are you finding the sale of comb honey?

Ritchie: I sold more in June and July of last year than I did in all of 2023. Whether it's just trendy or whether it just had people-- whether they've never had it before, or-- I think as I tell my story, people listen to it and referrals have been-- actually, referrals, the last three, four months have done very well for me. I have stopped doing online advertising.

I would say pre-COVID pandemic, finding some of these customers, the search engine optimization, and Facebook, Instagram ads had worked very well for me. I think in 2023, I really started looking at my statistics, and a lot of my new inquiries, whether it's from restaurants, customers, or online sales, it's all just been from-- whether it's a referral or they've mentioned another customer's name, where they were given a bottle or heard about my good honey.

I will say, going back to your sample question, Jeff, when you do have a beekeeper that is able to sample their honey, whether it would be from a certain variety, like if you're a good basswood honey from the Midwest, sourwood from the southeast, or just another regional honey, so many people really haven't had good quality honey, that they're amazed by the taste of it, and I've also experienced this firsthand at the Minnesota State Fair, with running the tasting booth.

Somebody gets a spoonful of honey, and-- That's actually why I haul my bees two hours away for acres of buckwheat, because it's the closest buckwheat I can find. There isn't a lot of buckwheat in Minnesota, and especially, I'm on the southern end, I found some on the southwest portion. I know there's other beekeepers near the North Dakota border where buckwheat grows better, up there, with the soil, but I'll never forget the first spoonful of buckwheat honey I had.

I thought, "This is amazing." Oftentimes, people would ask me what my favorite honey was. It's buckwheat honey. I felt a little weird, Jeff and Becky, that I wasn't raising my favorite honey. I have searched out some landowners, that they're very passionate about the biodiversity. They want our pollinators to be successful. I'm happy to place bees on their property, where they provide great forage for us.

Becky: You brought them there, and then you brought them back to your storage facility, correct?

Ritchie: Yes. This past year, I moved them out in July. The buckwheat really bloomed from the end of July, and the nectar flow really dropped off the first week in September. I had a good crop off of that buckwheat. The average was down from the year before, but the year before, the farmer planted the buckwheat in late May. It started blooming in about late June. It really blooms for about two months.

Mankato, Minnesota, out to these buckwheat fields, is over two and a half hours. What I've actually got set in place, I've got yards in southwest Minnesota that I'm going to move the bees to, whether they're out of the wintering shed or right off the truck from Texas, whether it's ones I've purchased or ones that I've earned from labor, from another beekeeper. I'm going to move all these bees out.

I'm going to move-- my goal is between 40 and 60, out to this area, that I can put, whether it's a good sweet clover-- they've got ample forage before the buckwheat starts blooming, whenever this farmer's got to plant it. Whether I have to move the bees at night, 10 or 12 miles to the buckwheat fields, it's better than 120 miles.

Becky: That's good math. [laughs] I know the last time I talked to you, you were doing, I think, all of this yourself. Are you still a one-person operation?

Ritchie: Mostly. I have a little bit of part-time help, as needed. Whether it's some family members or some friends, they're making deliveries when I'm not able to be there. I did switch jobs here in March. I thought it'd be a little bit more beekeeper-friendly, besides the fall. During the fall time, it's a little crazy. There's times I'm working 16 to 18-hour days for my main job. Can't always dedicate some time to the bees then, so I got a little bit behind on feeding.

I do have some help with some honey harvest and some production. A couple of our family friends, as their families get older, their kids are going to be looking for jobs, so they're helping me with bottling, labeling, and deliveries, is the main thing, as I can teach them that. I do have a couple of friends that I've taken out to the bee yards to help me pull honey. I don't have any current full-time or part-time.

Becky: You don't sleep, so that helps. Right?

Ritchie: That is true. There's some days where I'm happy to get three, four hours, so--

Jeff: Oh, my gosh.

Becky: [laughs] I'm going to add one more thing. I've had the pleasure of tabling for the honey producers with Ritchie in two different locations, in Farm Fest, in the Redwood Falls areas of Minnesota, and then also at the state fair in the Twin Cities area. There was one commonality between those two experiences, and that is, Ritchie knows everybody. He's very well connected and you couldn't go five minutes without somebody walking by the table without Ritchie knowing them.

I think that says a lot about your personality and your ability to do that in networking in sales. I'm right, right, Ritchie? [laughs]

Ritchie: I will say, I don't know everyone, but I've had the privilege, throughout my life, to volunteer for a few different organizations and to try a couple of different jobs. If you really focus on meeting people-- I was also recruitment chair for two years in my college fraternity, and one of the stats that always was near and dear to me is, you can make more friends by showing interest and asking questions with people than you can trying to get other people interested in you.

[laughter]

I've always tried to keep a good list of who I haven't talked to in a couple years, and just try to reach out, reconnect, and build and maintain relationships. A lot of that comes from my experience in sales and agriculture.

Jeff: Besides the fundamentals of taking care of bees and focusing on the bee health to be successful, what you're really driving and building on is the relationships you've developed over the years, and purposely for the business, restaurants, your bars, farmers' market, you're constantly meeting people and helping them discover honey for the first time, perhaps, besides the supermarket shelf honey.

Ritchie: I focused on that. I'm currently working on-- actually, this is something that I developed with the bartenders at one of my local bars here in Mankato. I started marketing a craft honey cocktail kit. I've worked with the bartenders on finding a couple of craft cocktails and also mocktails. I know there's been a big movement there. There's been a little less alcohol consumed.

They're being a little bit more health conscious, so they're choosing not to drink alcohol. You can still make a tasty beverage without alcohol. That's why we call it a mocktail. I've developed a recipe, had a recipe card printed, and that kit includes a bottle of honey, an empty Tennessee liquor bottle. It could be used for making honey syrups or different fruit syrups, and then also includes a recipe card. I had just launched that here right before the holiday season, and that's gone over pretty well.

Jeff: I can imagine it did. Ritchie, we're coming up at the end of our time. For our listeners who are out there, it's in March, they're looking at the season, and they're still weighing the idea of, maybe they should expand a little bit more, get their foot into the more of a sideliner or business approach. Do you have one or two words of wisdom for them to focus on, or help them out?

Ritchie: Well, I would say if you don't do it this year, if you do it next year, you'll be one year older.

[laughter]

Becky: Wait, is he looking at us?

[laughter]

Ritchie: I encourage people to take strategic risks. Look at the pros and cons, whether it's expansion, or whether there's somebody listening to this podcast that doesn't have bees. They've never owned a beehive yet. I encourage people to take a look at it. One thing that has really helped me, Jeff, is I write a list of pro and cons for making a decision. I take a look at everything, and if the pros outweigh the cons, I make that decision, and then I move on.

At that time, I made the decision with the best interest, and with the best information that I had. It's very easy to look back and say, "Hindsight is 20/20, I should have done this different." Make a decision and move on. Whether that's gone from 5 or 6 hives up to 10 or 12, take a look at the risk, take a look at the opportunity, take a look at the downside. I do not have any kids, I am not married, so I'm able to spend a lot more of my free time with my bees.

Whether that's someone that-- maybe they can get a family member, grandson, or child to help them, and maybe bees are a great hobby to spend time with each other.

Jeff: It sure is. Ritchie, I really appreciate you taking the time to help us bring this series on upscaling the bee business from hobbyist to sideliner, and we're putting a nice little cap on it. We're going to continue this series with an occasional episode throughout the year. Folks can listen. Go to our website, look at the How-To series that we have out there. We'll just keep adding to it.

Becky: Ritchie, thank you so much for being here.

Ritchie: Yes. Awesome. Thank you, Jeff and Becky. Thanks for inviting me.

Jeff: Have a great season.

Ritchie: Yes. Thank you. You as well.

Jeff: Well, that about wraps it up for this episode. Before we go, I want to encourage our listeners to follow us and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you download and stream the show. Even better, write a review and let other beekeepers looking for a new podcast know what you'd like. You can get there directly from our website by clicking on the reviews tab along the top of any web page.

We want to thank Betterbee and our regular long-time sponsors, Global Patties, Strong Microbials, and Northern Bee Books, for their generous support. Finally, and most importantly, we want to thank you, the Beekeeping Today Podcast listener, for joining us on this show. Feel free to leave us questions and comments on our website. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks a lot, everybody.

[00:42:12] [END OF AUDIO]