Cappings turn into candles, wraps, balm, or plain bricks. Some of those sell. Some just use up evenings. Which wax product have you made, and did it pay for the hours you put in? If you have never melted wax, which one would you try first and why? Share a rough price if you sell any. Examples only if you do not know your exact cost yet. @Jim Flach @Justin McAdams @Tommy Gan have any of you tried making something with your wax yet?

Most small beekeepers cannot tell you if they made money last year. They know they sold some honey and bought some sugar, but not the number at the end. If you do not write it down, you are guessing. Records are the most boring part of this business and one of the most useful. You do not need software. One notebook or one spreadsheet works. Here is what to track. 1. Every dollar out. Equipment, frames, foundation, sugar, pollen sub, mite treatments, jars, labels, queens, fuel, market fees. Keep the receipt or snap a photo of it the same day. Write the date, what it was, and what it cost. 2. Every dollar in. Jars sold, nucs sold, queens sold, class seats, lease fees, swarm calls. Write the date, what sold, how many, and the price. If you sell at a market, write down what sold first and what came home. 3. Hive count, every month. How many colonies you started the month with, how many you ended with, and why any were lost: mites, queen failure, starvation, robbing, weather. Losses are a cost. A dead hive means replacing bees, and that money comes out of your profit. 4. Every inspection, short. Date, hive number, queen seen or eggs seen, mite count if you did one, food stores, and what you did. Number your hives so you can follow one colony across the year. This is how you find out which hives pay and which ones you keep feeding for nothing. 5. Your hours. Most people skip this one. Write down roughly how long each yard visit, extraction day, or market day took. At the end of the year divide your profit by your hours. That is what you really earned per hour, and it tells you which stream is worth growing. A few practical notes: - Keep bee money separate from household money. A separate account or even a separate envelope makes the year-end math much easier. - - Once a month, total it up. Ten minutes. Money in, money out, hives alive. - - If you lease hives to landowners for ag exemption, they may need records from you for the appraisal district, so keep placement dates, hive counts, and inspection dates for every property. Rules vary by county, so check with your appraisal district. - - For taxes, ask a tax professional what applies to you. Good records make that conversation short and cheap.