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“Bee”ware: The real cost of beekeeping & how to save money

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So, you wanna start beekeeping? But first, you need bees. And then you need a house in which they can live. And then you need tools to help you work the bees without getting stung. And then you need equipment to extract the honey from the hives. And then…

The list seems to go on and on until you are left wondering if you should even bother keeping bees at all. What is the real cost of beekeeping?

Is it possible to start beekeeping without spending a massive amount of money?

Yes and no…

You may be able to get started for about $200 if you build your own hive, snag a wild swarm of bees and buy the cheapest bee suit and the bare minimum amount of equipment.

Otherwise, you could spend up to $1,500 if you’re starting with 2 hives as is recommended by many beekeeping associations.

The goods news is there are many ways to cut costs, which I will share later in this post. But before I do so, I have one last warning – bees die.

I lost a hive when the lid on my sugar-water feeder leaked. Then I lost another newly-split hive because the bees would not accept their new queen despite trying twice with two different queens. They just wouldn’t accept either of them…even after ensuring there was plenty of brood.

Since honeybees are tropical/semitropical insects, it is also very easy to lose a hive over the long, cold winter. In the fact, the average annual winter loss in the United States is 38.7%! (This is another reason beginners should invest in more than one hive).

And just like with any other living thing, your bees can get sick. Bees face so many challenges in our polluted world. They have to fight off poisonous pesticides sprayed onto their food sources and they often lack proper nutrition due to field after field of monocrops. “It is estimated that 30 to 40 percent of colonies die from viruses, poor nutrition, and/or pesticides,” according to the book The Backyard Beekeeper, 4th Edition.

Now, I hope I haven’t discouraged you from beekeeping. I just wanted to be upfront about the cost of beekeeping, prepare you for the challenges you’ll face, and hopefully prevent you from beating yourself up if you do lose a hive. It happens to the very best beekeepers.

So, let’s move on to the numbers, shall we?

The Cost of Beekeeping in Canada

As with all things, there is more than one way to get started in beekeeping. I’m going to assume you are a small, backyard beekeeper like me. In this case, you obviously won’t be starting out with a hundred hives. So, let’s look at the cost of one hive.

The cost of bees

If you think you can catch a wild swarm (a large number of bees that leave a hive together to form a new colony elsewhere), your bees could be free. You may be really lucky and snag another local beekeeper’s bees if they happen to swarm in the spring. You can read about my experience catching a swarm here.

But I would recommend beginners purchase a nucleus colony (nuc) versus a package of bees or trying to catch a wild swarm.

A nuc is a small starter colony containing a laying queen and worker bees, as well as open and sealed brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae of honeybees), honey, and pollen. It usually contains four to six frames. 

A nuc is the most expensive option of the three (nuc, package, or swarm), but the colony will have a higher chance of establishing itself the first season and surviving through winter compared to packaged bees. And a nuc is definitely easier than trying to catch a wild swarm especially if you’ve never even handled bees before.

Total cost of bees: $0 (catching a swarm) to $200 (purchasing a nuc)

Two beehives

The cost of a beehive

The costs in this category will fluctuate depending on which type of hive you decide to build/purchase. Here are my six secrets to choosing the best beehive for beginners.

A typical hive including a stand, frames, 3 boxes, roof, inner cover, screened bottom board and a couple of entrance reducers will set you back about $300 if you buy everything.

My hive is slightly more expensive at $377. I recommend you read my post about my beehive setup for an explanation of the hive parts and why I chose this type of hive. Here is the breakdown of the cost of the hive I use:

  • 3 medium boxes ($25.35 each)
  • Pre-assembled frames ($3.50 each)
  • quilt box ($22.00)
  • roof ($54.95)
  • screened bottom board ($39.50)
  • slatted rack ($24.95)
  • hive stand (16.95)
  • 2 entrance reducers ($4.75 each)

Total cost of beehives: $80 (if you build your own) to $327.90 (without tax)

BUYER BEWARE: You may be tempted to save money by buying used hives. But unless you know the beekeeper, are comfortable with their beekeeping practices, and can be sure the equipment is not contaminated with disease, this is not recommended. For example, American foulbrood (AFB), which has no cure, is the most serious and damaging brood disease of honey bees. It is caused by a spore-forming bacteria and it can contaminate beekeeping equipment. In order to prevent the spread to additional colonies, the equipment has to be destroyed.

Beekeeper's toolbox

The cost of beekeeping equipment (one-time costs)

Your one-time costs may be significantly less than what you see below. The majority of the money I spent in this category was on a full-body, bee suit. Why didn’t a buy a much cheaper veil or jacket? Simply because if I didn’t feel safe beekeeping, then I knew I wasn’t going to be keeping bees for very long. I feel completely protected in my suit. I would advise you to choose whatever option you feel safe in.

If you’re wondering what equipment you should purchase, check out my post – 7 must-have beekeeping tools.

– Smoker ($29.95)
– Bee suit ($235.75) or hat and veil combo ($27.95) or a bee jacket ($120)
– Hive tool ($12.95)
– Gloves ($32.95)
– Feeders ($15 each)

Total cost of beekeeping equipment: $118.80 to $326.60 (without tax)

Should you buy a honey extractor?

I didn’t include the price of a honey extractor in my one-time costs. I would suggest delaying this purchase. There is a good chance your bees won’t produce extra honey in your first year. And, even if they do, it likely won’t be enough to justify the cost of spending thousands of dollars on an extractor.

Instead, there are lots of tutorials on how to manually extract honey. You can also use foundationless frames and cut-out honeycomb. You basically cut the honeycomb from its frame and then into smaller pieces. Or you could ask to borrow another beekeeper’s equipment as I did.

The total cost of beekeeping:

The grand total (including a hive, bees, and supplies) is $200 (if you can catch a free swarm of bees and build your own hive) to $854.5 (without tax).

What is the start-up cost of beekeeping?

BUT WAIT! THAT’S NOT ALL!

Now, you probably won’t want to hear this, but I am going to tell you to spend even more money and buy two hives instead of one. Every beekeeping book and website I have ever read or visited has said the same thing and after beekeeping for 5 years, I agree with the experts. It is nice to have a second hive to compare to when you aren’t sure what is normal bee behavior or what the inside of a hive is supposed to look like.

So, if you do decide to purchase two hives, the total cost of beekeeping (if you buy everything) will now be between $1,100 to $1,400 (without tax).

Why you need to budget extra

Finally, with all this in mind, I want to warn you that extra expenses will creep up. For example, you will need to replace parts (frames get damaged). You may need to requeen, you may lose a hive tool in the grass and you will have to feed and at the very minimum treat your bees for those pesky Varroa Mites (tick-sized parasites that feed on bee blood).

Bee prepared and budget extra.

Yikes! That is a lot of money because…

YOUR FIRST YEAR
As mentioned above, your hive will likely not produce enough honey to share in its first year. At least not in my Canadian climate. So, you have just spent roughly $1,000 with no return. Your first year of beekeeping will be a rough one for your bank account.

YOUR SECOND YEAR
In your second year, your bees will likely produce a surplus of honey. In addition, you may be able to split your hives in two, creating nucs that you can keep if you have room in your bee yard and can afford to purchase more hives.

You can also decide to sell the extra nucs and earn a couple of hundred dollars from each. Although you will need to invest in a queen bee for each nuc (about $20 to $40 each).

So, what did I do to save money and lower the cost of beekeeping?

Beekeeping on a budget: Top 10 money-saving tips

The cost of beekeeping in Canada.

Make your own hives

If you’re handy, try making your own hives. My dad made all my hives for me. The cost savings is huge! Instead of spending $300, you may only spend $80. I still buy pre-assembled frames as there is not much savings in making your own and it is a time-consuming job. Here are my actual start-up costs for one hive.

One beehive – $78.23
One nuc – $144.73
My one-time costs (smoker, full-body bee suit, gloves, hive tool, feeders) – $326
TOTAL: $548.96

Start small

You don’t have to invest in dozens of beehives. Start with two and get a feel for beekeeping and whether it will be something you enjoy before investing tonnes of money into it.

Don’t invest in an extractor right away

The first year I started beekeeping, our bees didn’t produce enough excess honey to extract anything. The second year, our two hives each produced a box of honey. Still not enough to warrant the cost of an extractor. A friend was kind enough to let us borrow a hand-crank machine, which did the trick.

There are lots of tutorials on how to manually extract honey. You can also use foundationless frames and cut-out honeycomb. You basically cut the honeycomb from its frame and then into smaller pieces. Or you could ask to borrow another beekeeper’s equipment as I did.

Buy a used extractor

I began my beekeeping adventures with a borrowed, hand crank extractor, and let me tell you…that got pretty unexciting very quickly. It was a sticky, messy job. And with my bee yard expanding every year, I knew I needed a better machine.

In the end, I decided to purchase a 20-frame radial extractor with a bottler. A radial machine extracts honey from both sides of your frames at once so you don’t have to turn them. Yes, I am a bit lazy and you may be thinking: what a waste of money! But trust me, once you’ve tried extracting honey the old-fashioned way, you’ll want to invest in this piece of equipment too.

A new machine would have cost us over $6,000 plus shipping. We scored this used machine on Kijiji for $2,000 from a woman who had only used it twice. It is basically a brand new extractor. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a place prepared to house said machine so it has been sitting in our living room all winter. A honey house is still on the project list. Sigh.

Split your hives

If your bees make it through winter in great numbers, you can split them in the spring! You can either keep them to grow your bee business or sell your newly established nucs for roughly $200 apiece. You will, of course, need to invest in a queen (roughly $20 to $40).

Buy only what you need

Don’t be lured into purchasing 10,000 extra beekeeping “essentials”. Know the items you will really need and use. Check out my list of essential equipment here.

DIY beehive insulation

DIY Beehive Insulation

Last year, we saved money on insulating our hives by using free maple leaves to keep our bees toasty warm throughout the winter. Check out my post here.

Make money from your bees

Many commercial beekeepers make a profit by selling not only honey but other bee products: propolis, royal jelly, wax, pollen, and even venom, or by renting out their bee colonies for crop pollination. Still, others specialize in the breeding and sale of queens and replacement stock. Eventually, you could also offer beekeeping classes or educational tours.

Hint: If you’re looking to make money from your bees, there is likely more profit in selling bees, queens, and nucleus colonies, as opposed to selling honey.

Read, read, and then read some more

Learn as much as you can about bees and beekeeping. You can save yourself hundreds of dollars by learning from other people’s mistakes. So read the beekeeping catalogs, several of which are free, as well as the many great beekeeping books available at your library.

Out of all the beekeeping books I’ve read, Kim Flottom’s are my favourites. No, not because we share the same first name. Because he is not only incredibly knowledgeable, but he includes the wisdom of many, many other beekeepers making his books a real treasure trove of information. Check out his many titles starting with “The Backyard Beekeeper” if you are a beginner. I also own “The Beekeeper’s Journal” and I just bought “In Business with Bees“.

But don’t just read…

Join your local beekeeping association/club and find a bee buddy

What are you going to do when your hive swarms (this can happen in your first year as it did to me)? Are you going to be able to identify a queen bee from a drone bee? Who are you are going to call to walk you through your first hive inspection? This is where your local beekeeping association and mentor step in. They will help you become successful!

You can learn so much more from beekeepers who have been keeping bees much longer than I have and who have hundreds of more colonies. Offer to help them in the bee yard in exchange for some mentoring. Just like any other farming endeavor, the knowledge, experience, and assistance of an experienced beekeeper will save you from making many mistakes.

So, now that you know the cost of beekeeping, will you still take up the craft? Let me know what you think and if you found this helpful.

PIN IT FOR LATER – THE REAL COST OF BEEKEEPING

What is the cost of beekeeping?

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Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Thank you for your support!  You can find the full disclosure here.

Filed Under: Farm Animals Tagged With: beekeeping costs, beekeeping start-up costs, cost of beekeeping in Canada

The best FREE DIY Beehive Insulation

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Using leaves as beehive insulation

There must be a better way! That is my husband’s motto.

Sounds great, right? But this kind of thinking usually ends with our projects taking five million times longer to complete and me pulling my hair out exasperatedly and wondering…why the heck can’t we just do things the way everyone else does?

But today I’m eating my words. Because this cheap, DIY beehive insulation is genius – leaves. Last year, we used free maple leaves to keep our bees toasty warm throughout the winter and they SURVIVED.

This will be the second winter we will be trialing leaves as our beehive insulation and we will update this page as we continue our test.

Why do honeybees need protection from the cold?

Not all do. It depends on where you live. Honeybees originate from Africa. Although they spread north over time to some of the colder regions of Europe and Asia, they have not genetically adapted to the long, cold Canadian -40 degree C winters. So, as their caretakers, it is our solemn duty to protect them and I take this seriously.  

Except for last year. I failed two of my newly split hives that I kept at my parent’s house. I still feel guilty and ashamed. Although I protected the outsides like all the rest of my hives, I forgot to place the insulation in the top cover. I couldn’t understand why two brand new hives with plenty of winter stores would perish in the cold. Until I looked inside the cover. Stupid! Yup, still kicking myself in the butt.

Three beehives and bags of leaves

Do leaves really insulate?

What does Mother Nature use to insulate? Leaves. A thick blanket of leaves protects plants from the winter cold. But what you may not have realized is that they can also be used to protect your bees from the frigid winter temperatures. Last year, we experimented with using leaves around four of our beehives with excellent results.  

The R-Value of fresh leaves (I couldn’t find one for dried) is about 0.54 (per inch) using the calculations from this study. To increase the thermal resistance, we made a thick, 1.5-foot wall of leaves, which results in an R-Value of about 9.65.

But leaves have an even greater superpower. They have a high heat capacity or thermal mass (similar to that of water), according to this study from the Journal of Biotechnology. This means they are able to buffer the bees from extreme temperature changes. Leaves hold onto heat, whether generated by the sun or from the bees flexing their wing muscles inside the hive to keep warm throughout the winter. The leaves hold onto this heat and slowly release it. Some heat may also be generated from the ground where we observed some decomposition.

Although there are many other methods you can use to successfully insulate your hives, we are really impressed with leaves for two reasons:

1. They are free.
2. They are compostable and sustainable.

How to use leaves as beehive insulation

Step 1

Ensure you don’t have any open cracks and crevices in your hives and that they are properly ventilated. If warm, moist air can’t escape from your hive, it will condense on the bottom side of the inner cover and drip cold water onto your bees. We use both an upper entrance and a quilt box on all our hives. You can read more about our beehive set up here.

It’s also beneficial to have some sort of windbreak – this could be a fence, bushes, or plastic sheet.

Using leaves as beehive insulation

Step 2

Surround your hives with several wooden stakes. Hammer them into the ground about 1.5 feet from the hives.

Step 3

Staple Tyvek building wrap to the stakes.

Step 4

Fill the area between the hives and the Tyvek wrap with dry leaves (you do not want to use wet leaves that will mat together). Although we used whole leaves, shredded leaves may work even better to create fluffier, air-filled layers.

WARNING: The leaves will settle over time so make sure to add about a foot extra and then check on the hives every so often to ensure they remain covered.

Step 5

Ensure the bees can get in and out of the hive by extending the bee’s entrance. We used a piece of wood as the base and then covered it with wire mesh to make a tunnel.

Using leaves as beehive insulation
We experimented with insulating three of our 6 hives with leaves last year.

Step 6

Cover the top of the hives with a plastic sheet to ensure the leaves don’t get wet. We used a clear, plastic sheet, but would like to try a black plastic to help absorb more of the sun’s heat.

Don’t forget about spring feedings

If you have to emergency feed in early spring, you have to be able to take your insulation apart. Be prepared for this by ensuring you can easily remove the plastic sheet on top of the hives and remove your hive rooves.

So, what do you think of this idea? Will you try using leaves as beehive insulation? Let me know in the comments.

Read more about bees:

Six Secrets to Choosing the Best Beehive for Beginners
The Bees are Coming…
Why You’d Make a Great Beekeeper (and the benefits of beekeeping)
How to Catch a Swarm of Honeybees…
How to Find the Queen Bee…
Healing Honey Hand Salve (and how to render beeswax)
The 7 Must-Have Hive Tools

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A thick layer of leaves not only protects plants from the winter cold but bees too. Here's how to use free leaves as your beehive insulation.

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Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Thank you for your support!  You can find the full disclosure here.

Filed Under: Farm Animals Tagged With: beehive insulation for winter, winterizing beehives

Top 10 Surprising Benefits of Beekeeping: Why You’d Make a Great Beekeeper

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Benefits of beekeeping

Benefits of beekeeping

Do you like to eat?

Yes? I knew it. You were meant to be a beekeeper. Loving food is a sure sign that you should keep bees.

What? You don’t agree? Well, without bees to pollinate our crops, a third of our food would disappear.

And let’s be honest. Who wants to eat nachos without salsa or toast without jam? That would be tragic, right? And that’s why we desperately need bees and people who love food to be beekeepers.

Still not convinced? Here are my top 10 benefits of beekeeping and why you should keep bees or have a beekeeper like myself install a hive in your backyard.

Top 10 Benefits of Beekeeping

Benefits of beekeeping

Happiness

Do you like to be happy? Aha! I’ve found another reason you’d be a great beekeeper. We’ve all heard that “more stuff” doesn’t bring happiness (at least after you’ve met your basic needs). So, what will really make you smile? Experiences. Interesting experiences will boost your happiness and bring more meaning to your life. That’s right. Bees will do all this for you. Because I can’t think of a more amazing and mind-expanding experience than opening a hive of bees and watching thousands of these important pollinators at work. I can guarantee it will be an experience unlike any you’ve had before.

Stress Relief

Feeling a little stressed out? It seems that every time I turn around someone is touting the benefits of mediation from reducing stress to improving sleep and increasing happiness.  So, of course, I tried it. And guess what? It doesn’t work for me. But that’s ok. I can do something just as good for my health – open a hive. If that doesn’t force you to live in the moment, I don’t know what will. So, you want to be more mindful? You want to focus? You want to achieve mental clarity and stay calm? Open a hive containing 60,000 bees. Trust me. You won’t be able to focus on anything except your every movement, the busy hum of the bees and the intoxicating smell of honey and beeswax.

In my opinion, there is no better way to be in the here and now, fully engaged in the activity at hand. And it all ends with honey. Now that is my kind of meditation. We homesteaders don’t have time to waste. We like our meditation to be productive. So, take a deep breath, centre yourself and get a hive of bees.

Benefits of beekeeping

Fun

Can you think of anything more fun and exciting than dressing up like an alien and watching bees dance? Ok, maybe you can. But beekeeping is a lot of fun. Really! Once you get over the fear of being stung, you will realize that bees are actually very gentle, curious and fascinating creatures. In fact, the more I study them, the more I am amazed. In case you are curious, yes, bees can dance. This is one of the ways they communicate to other bees where and how far a source of nectar is located.

Honey

Honey…and lots of friends

You thought this was going to be first on my list of the benefits of beekeeping, didn’t you? But here’s a little secret of mine. I actually don’t like honey. That’s right. I have seven hives with plans to expand even more this spring and I’m not crazy about honey. But I do like to bake with it. Honey is the special ingredient that makes the most delicious and moist breads, cakes, muffins, pies and jam.

But it turns out that most people do love this liquid gold and are eager to get their hands on a jar of local, raw honey. In fact, you will be excited to discover that honey from your own hives actually tastes different and much more delicious in my humble opinion than what you can buy in the store. Just like the veggies that come from your own garden. So, don’t be surprised when your extended family, friends and neighbours suddenly take new interest in you.

Bonus: This sweet treat is one of the only foods that never spoils. A pot of honey found in an ancient Egyptian tomb was proved to be as wholesome as fresh honey.

Of course, honey has many other uses than just as a food, which brings us to the next benefit of beekeeping:

Your Health

Having local, raw honey is like having your own secret superpower. Do you have a cough or sore throat? Honey can help treat it. Do you have a cut? Honey can help heal it faster. Do you suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms? Honey can help reduce your symptoms.  Honey is a powerful remedy.

That being said, I wouldn’t advise eating jars of it unless you are Winnie the Pooh. Honey is still sugar. But it is healthier and easier to digest than cane sugar. It contains high levels of antioxidants that fight oxidative stress and inflammation as well as trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, enzymes, amino acids and flavonoids. To be honest, I have no idea what a flavonoid is, but apparently honey has it, and it’s good for you. So, go ahead and add a heaping spoonful to your cup of tea.

Caution: Honey is not suitable for children under the age of one.

Honey Wine (Mead)

Did you know you can ferment your own sweet honey-based wine using raw honey? I didn’t. I had never even heard of mead until I went to speak at a Mother Earth News Fair. Jereme Zimmerman gave a talk on using wild yeast to create wild-fermented mead and my mind was blown. Check out his book, Make Mead Like a Viking. Or better yet, visit him at one of the upcoming fairs and try your hand at making mead during one of his workshops.

Beeswax

Beeswax

Forget about commercial products! You can make your own cosmetics, salves, creams, lotions and lip balms with wax from your own bees. Of course, you can also make candles, beeswax wraps, deodorant, soap and so much more. If you are a DIY like me, having your own source of beeswax is a must and a huge benefit of beekeeping.

A Productive Garden

Are you a gardener? Then raise your hand if you like having a productive vegetable garden? A backyard beehive is your answer to a great harvest. Bees pollinate blooms within a five-mile radius of their hive. Without them, your garden may look healthy and lush, but you won’t be harvesting basketfuls of your favourite veggies. And if you happen to have a fruit tree or a berry patch, the more bees that visit your plants, the better the size and amount of fruit they will produce.

Bees are the easiest livestock to keep

So far, my bees have been the easiest livestock to care for on the homestead. I don’t have to feed and water them every day. I don’t have to clean up after them. I don’t have to trim their hooves or keep them contained. And for several months of the year, I don’t have to do anything at all. Most of the work is done in the early spring when you are first getting set up or splitting hives and requeening. During the summer, most of the work is simply ensuring the bees have enough room to expand and that there are no diseases in the hive. Work picks up again in the fall when it is time to harvest honey and close up the hives for the winter.

Bees are a great conversation starter

Beekeeping is the most popular topic on my blog. It is also a fascinating topic for discussion whenever I first meet people. Let’s be honest. Most people think I’m crazy but they are always eager to learn more about bees and the benefits of beekeeping. And, of course, if I have honey for sale.

There are many, many more benefits of beekeeping. But I’m wrapping this post up because I’m now eager to go outside and check on my own busy bees. How about you? Do you want to venture into the heart of a hive? Are you eager to try beekeeping? Let me know in the comments below or feel free to ask me questions. I’m sure you’d make a great beekeeper!

PS. Beekeeping is not dangerous (unless you have an allergy)

If you have an allergy to bee stings, beekeeping can be dangerous. Fatal reactions are rare but it can happen. One of the first things I suggest you do before getting into beekeeping is to ensure you are not allergic

Otherwise, you will discover that honeybees are not aggressive. They are actually very passive creatures. But they will defend themselves if they feel threatened. So far, I have only been stung twice in four years. Stay tuned for another article on “how not to get stung”.  

Want to read more about bees and the benefits of beekeeping?
Check out some of my previous posts…

The Bees are Coming…
How to Catch a Swarm of Honeybees…
How to Find the Queen Bee…
Healing Honey Hand Salve (and how to render beeswax)

PIN IT FOR LATER!

Why should you keep bees? What are the benefits of beekeeping? Here are the top ten benefits of having a hive in your backyard. You may be surprised - there are many more benefits than just honey!

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Thank you for your support!  You can find the full disclosure here.

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Filed Under: Farm Animals, House poor to life rich - The adventure begins Tagged With: Beekeeping

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