Remember that one article I wrote now almost 4 years ago about how different I am to most people around me? Yeah, this is another one of those stories, but I promise you: it’s worth it.

Honestly I don’t remember when exactly this happened but I do know how my interest in bees was triggered. It happened at some point during the year 2015 (I think), where somehow, by some miracle I was introduced to a (relatively) new TV show called Elementary, which was a modern-day interpretation of the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. The show starred Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson respectively and ran for 7 full seasons with a total of 154 episodes, which is quite the accomplishment.

Despite being loosely based on the novels, it being in a different era of history and all, it should come as no surprise that some of the elements in the original story made it into the TV series as well, albeit with a little twist every now and again. One of these elements was the bees. In the original books, Sherlock Holmes does indeed become an avid beekeeper after retiring from detective work. This is only briefly discussed in the final novel but in the series, the character is an active beekeeper with several breathtaking observation hives that are occasionally featured in the show. I only saw them once, and I was hooked.

Observation hives in "Elementary". Property of CBS

Not long after laying eyes on these magnificent hives for the first time, I dug into the subject and came into contact with the wonderful world of beekeeping. I have to admit I have no idea what attracted me to it specifically, or what drew my attention to the subject but not long after that I signed up for a course and in early 2016 I “graduated” (if you can to call it that) as a certified beekeeper. My first hive had arrived shortly before that, on the 14th of February of that year and together with my cousin I took my first steps into the unknown.

Now at this point in time I was merely doing this as a hobby at had no specific plans or ambitions for this whatsoever. Sadly though, I never managed to put my full focus on it, being a cash-strapped single parent who is limited in time as well as funds - and as it turns out, these little critters are quite the drain on funds if you want to do it properly. After about 2 meddling years I said farewell to the practice because I simply had too much going on at the time and focused on other things.

Fast forward to 2021. After some positive events in my life, I decide to return to beekeeping and do it properly from now on. The fact remained that beekeeping was still pretty expensive (even more so after COVID hit) and me being the financially responsible business owner that I am, will always be looking for methods to “optimize” my financial situation. As it turned out, for various reasons unrelated, I was right in the middle of restructuring my company from a limited partnership (“commanditaire vennootschap” in Dutch) to a limited liability company (“besloten vennootschap” or “BV” in Dutch). This may not seem relevant at first, but it turns out it really, really is. And this gave me the perfect opportunity to combine two things that I love into the one thing that I needed.

You see, whenever you set up a company, one of the things you need to provide is a list of “professional activities” that your company will be engaged it. These terms are deliberately vague because they are meant as an indicator for the type of business that you are, and there is some room for interpretation as to which actual services fall within these activities. For example, one of the activities I originally listed when I started my company was “computer consultancy activities” and “designing and implementation of computer programs”. Both of these categories are incredibly broad and allow any business such as mine to provide a whole range of services, from hosting to web development to online courses and so much more.

Since it should be possible for every single type of business to define their professional activities, there are over 500 different codes to choose from, if not more. Most people, whenever they set up their company, choose up to 10 activities that match closely to their skill set or to the type of services that they intend to provide to their clients. Although this might make perfect sense at first glance, this is a mistake (or perhaps more a lost opportunity) for two important reasons:

1. No business stays the same all throughout its lifecycle, and neither does the person operating it. By adding additional categories to this list, you give yourself some space to expand operations into different areas of the professional landscape and explore new opportunities. This includes new sources of revenue - but also different kinds of expenses you can make.
2. As a business owner, you do not need to provide any form of proof that you possess the right skills, knowledge, tools, certification or any kind of relevant experience before adding an activity to your business. There are some obvious exceptions to this of course (e.g. doctors) and this also does not mean that the services you provide will not be subject to laws and strict criteria (e.g. food related services) but generally speaking, nobody will ever verify if you have even the slightest idea of what you’re talking about when you set up your own company. For example, you can start a software development company without any kind of degree or knowing how to write a single line of code and you can also start a horse ranch even if the closest you’ve ever been to a horse is the “fields of Pelennor” scene from Lord Of The Rings (bonus points if you didn’t have to look that one up).

The clever people amongst you might have already surmised the underlying nugget of wisdom in this story. When I originally started my company back in 2013 however, I was completely oblivious to the potential that was in front of me and I did what most people do: I stayed within my lane and added half a dozen computer and IT related activity codes to my application and sent it away. Without surprises, the list was approved, the company was registered and I went on my merry way. For close to 8 years I continued my activities without any regrets or consideration and I have to admit: it all worked out.

But then in 2021, when the renewal of my beekeeping activities and the (legally required) transformation of my business entity came across my desk at roughly the same time, it clicked in my head and I finally made the connection that I should have made a long time ago. I honestly cannot tell you what it was, maybe it was an epiphany, maybe it was someone who explained it to me or maybe I read about this somewhere but suddenly I saw the perfect opportunity to bring my hobby and my professional life together: why not become a professional beekeeper?

At first it seemed crazy since it literally made no sense to me. After all, I had only meddled with beekeeping for a couple of years and never managed to get even a single hive to survive throughout the winter - not exactly a success story. But then I realized something: being a "professional beekeeper” does not mean you need to be a “professional”, i.e. an expert in the field that knows everything and does everything right. It only means that you practice this skill/service as part of the activities that are offered by a business entity that you own and operate. This basically means that, even if you’re total shit at it, even if it doesn’t generate any significant kind of revenue, even if you can never compete with other (real) experts in the field, you are perfectly able and allowed to provide this service to potential clients in the market, thereby generating revenue for your business and thus creating the required conditions for making business expenses while doing so. This. Is. Huge.

Naturally I wanted to make sure that all of this is legal so I checked the NACEBEL activity code registry and sure enough I found 2 codes related to beekeeping: “Beekeeping and production of honey and other related products” and “Production of tools and furniture related to beekeeping and agriculture”. I also checked with my accountant, who promptly confirmed my assessment so I did the only thing that made sense at this point: I amended my founding documents and included beekeeping (as well as several other potentially interesting activities, which may or may not become useful in the future) as core activities of my company. And from that point on, I am now a professional beekeeper.

The benefits of this new setup are many. First and foremost is the ability to expense all the equipment I could possibly need and pay for anything related to beekeeping with my company. This is huge for two reasons: I can deduct the VAT, which is refunded to me by the government because my business is a VAT liable legal entity and my company taxes are calculated after my expenses are deducted from my revenue, which is not the case if you’re a private citizen. This saves me a ton of money in taxes as well as saving me money in my personal life which I can now spend on my house, my kids, my garden or whatever else I see fit.

Beekeeping has also offered me with opportunities that I never would have gotten otherwise. For example, I recently purchased a van as a company expense, which I was justified because I need a way to transport several beehives from one location to another and my personal vehicle could only carry a limited amount, with a lot of hassle. It also allows me to carry bees in an enclosed space (which is safer for me) and allows me to carry a large ladder which I need when I need to capture a swarm at a large height like a tree. Could I have done without this expense? I probably could have, but this makes my life a lot easier, both personally as well as professionally. Could I have justified this expense without my beekeeping activities? Absolutely not, for good reason. And this is just one example of many where I have been able to optimize my life thanks to my bees, and there are many more to come.

Now all of this requires revenue, which I have plenty of as an IT consultant. I make money from my beekeeping activities by selling honey, giving lectures, pollinating orchards, selling bees and much more. I will not deny that the revenue from beekeeping is absolutely dwarfed by the revenue from my IT consulting activities, it’s not even in the same ball park. It is worth pointing out though that certain revenue streams related to beekeeping are heavily dependent on the weather. For example, this year has been a terrible year for honey production because of the immense rainfall we have had to endure during the spring and early summer. That said, it was never my intention to replace my IT consulting revenue with beekeeping, but I might focus on beekeeping more in the future. For now though, this current setup serves my purposes just fine.

Honey from my apiary

On top of that, I have personally gained so much more from this setup than just financial optimizations. In the past 4 years, I have learned so much about bees and nature, I have shared my knowledge extensively with all kinds of people, I have inspired students using metaphors of bees, I’ve made so many people happy with a simple jar of honey and I’ve made significant contributions to the protection of our ecosystem by providing both information and physical means to fight invasive species like the Asian hornets. On top of that, taking care of bees has given me an excuse to leave the confines of my office and spend some more time outside in nature, on my 2 feet and away from a monitor and the incessant buzzing of internet notifications. If anything, it has strengthened my resolve to spend even more time with my bees and try to find new sources of revenue related to the bees so that maybe, I could someday leave the IT world for good.

It’s too soon to tell where all of this will lead or how long I will continue along this path. For now though, I feel like I’m in a good place and would not want to trade my situation for anything. This current setup allows me to enjoy the best of bost worlds and give me the opportunity to give back to nature, to the people around me and the society that I live in. Most importantly it allows me to balance myself, to keep me sane and to keep me going in this never ending, constantly evolving digital landscape. And that is why I keep bees as a freelance PHP web developer.