On the other hand, the manager must also be able to relate to the member owners. Very few beekeeping cooperatives seem to have survived for long periods, Mr. Matson said. He suggested that case studies done on those that have longevity would be valuable exercises. To my knowledge, the U.S. beekeeping cooperative that has survived longest is located near Sioux City, Iowa. The association is a cooperative in every sense of the word.
Members own and control the organization through a board of directors elected by members.
Other examples exist in Canada, such as Bee Maid, Canada's largest marketer of consumer packaged honey with distributing centers around the world. A financial profile of the top 100 cooperatives for both 1996 and 1997 is found there. A publication on how to develop a business plan, the first step in forming a cooperative, can be found on the Small Business Administration's site. The latter are enjoying a renewed interest. They integrate farm producers further up the agricultural marketing food processing chain, have closed or limited member policies, and require larger contributions of risk or equity than traditional limited-equity cooperative.