Beekeeping for Profit, Benefits of Beekeeping, Organic Beekeeping, Honey Bee Art, Beekeeping Equipment, Grants for Beekeeping, How to Start a Beekeeping Business, Honey Bee Characteristics, Honey Bee Pictures, Types of Bees, Honey Bee Research, How to process Raw honey at home, Bee Queen Rearing, Honey Bee Management, Honeybee vs. Bumblebee, 10 Amazing Facts, Beekeeping Calendar, Male Bee Mating Story, Beekeeper License (Certificate), Health Benefits of Honey, Bee Stinging and Treatment, Beekeeping Training Online, Beekeeping Suit (Costume), African Killer Bee Facts, 10 Broad Sorts of Honeybee, Beehives Removal, Short History of Beekeeping.
Beekeeping for Profit
Make Money From Beekeeping: There are several ways to earn money from beekeeping, Such as: selling local honey, bee wax, Lip balm, Candles, Soap, Toothpaste, Pollen, Pollination service, Swarm catching, beehive removal service, and so on. All of these may or may not be possible for you, but it is worth knowing about. Learn in detail about the benefits and challenges of beekeeping, and how much money can a beekeeper make each year.
Every beekeeper should know what are the benefit of beekeeping and the challenges they have to face. We have discussed the benefits of beekeeping below. At the end of this page, you’ll see “Grants for Beekeeping | USDA Grants, Agricultural Grants, and Honey Bee Laws.”
Benefits of Beekeeping
We have discussed below the financial benefits of beekeeping. Learn more: Health Benefits of Honey | Honey for Facial and Skin Care, Weight Loss, Acne, and More.
01. Selling honey
The main product of the honey bee project is honey. So, the main revenue comes from the local sale of honey and others as the by-product. You can make lip balm, candles, toothpaste, soap, etc. to use or sell. You have to learn how to make these products. Its price is usually more than the price of the supermarket. It’s more reliable due to locally produce.
So, try to produce good quality honey to get the best return on investment. Selling to a dealer requires less effort with small benefits, but leads you to sell wholesale of large quantities while necessary.
02. Rent to farmers or gardeners
If you have an extra beehive you can rent it to farmers or gardeners. You can get from $30 to $100 per beehive for a few weeks of services. This service starts prior to pollination and continues to the end of pollination. This service is hired by farmers of blueberry, Apple, Almond growers, etc.
Contact farmers to provide pollination services. They often pay beekeepers to set their hives near agro-farms to get better production. Usually, the farms are almond, peach, apple, cherry, and citrus gardens including melon, blueberry, tomato, and other fruit and vegetable crops.
For providing this type of service you may require more employees to move many beehives from one location to another during the blooming season. You can directly contact farmers, or via a broker for safe dealing with farmers to provide these services.
Consider selling all products online. An e-commerce website is now comparatively easy to set up and run. To do credit card transactions online a merchant account will be useful & necessary. A PayPal account will help with an online payment method. Ensure to provide timely delivery and everything available for the shipping process.
03. Make Wax Sheets
You can melt beeswax to make the wax sheet to use as the base of the frame. This helps the bees to make their hive easily and within a short time. Also, you can make candles, soap bars, leap balm, etc. for your own use or for selling. Even some people are making toothpaste also. You can make some dolls, animals, etc. from melted wax.
04. Collect pollen and sell
If you have a pollen collector then you can collect pollen from the bees and sell it in jars as a healthy food. Honey bees collect pollen from the flowers and stored it in the cells for consumption as needed. Remember, pollen is a vitamin for their body. Watch Video: How do the bees collect Pollen from flowers?
Sell pollen, propolis, beeswax, or even excess bees. Also sell other related products made from honey, wax, and royal jelly. Pollen and propolis can be used as health supplements for bees. Candles, Ointments, Creams, and Lip Balms can be produced from wax and sold in high demand. Remember, for collecting pollen you need to use a pollen collector as shown below:
05. Selling excess bees
Also sell queens, package bees, or bees with hives. Commercial beekeepers usually produce excess bees to sell each year during swarming. These excess bees can be sold as package bees or established new hives for selling. Some beekeepers also generate queen bees for sale.
You can sell excess bees as a package @ US$ 60 to 70 for each 3-pound packet. Some beginners may want to buy a complete box with bees at $350 per box. Search those who need it. But for selling extra bees with a box you need to buy an extra beehive (box) which you can buy here: 10-Frame Traditional Complete Hive Kit, Painted Wood-Frames, 9-5/8-Inch by Mann Lake, Model HK170.
06. Catch a swarm of bees
If you are able to catch a swarm of bees then you can provide this service to others with some fees or collect them to build a new hive. Let the local people know your telephone number and call you while they need it. Learn more: Bee Swarm: How To Catch Swarm Of Bees And Install In A Beehive?
07. Beehive Removing Service
Beehive removal service is another great way to make money from beekeeping. You should be able to remove bees from walls, ceilings, trees, garages, or any other places where the customers needed. Learn more: Honey Bee Removal: How Much Does Wasps & Bee Hive Removal Cost? If you are an expert beekeeper, you can share your knowledge and earn money by offering training and advisory services to new beekeepers. Even you can arrange an online training center for people who don’t have time to attend physically.
The average salary for a beekeeper in the United States is $47,899 (£34,552) a year and $23 (£16.60) an hour – According to the Economic Research Institute. A beekeeper’s salary may range from $35,523 to $58,231 (£25,624 to £42,000), per year depending on experience, expertise, and location.
08. Raising, Packaging, and Selling Queen Bee
You can make money by raising, packaging, and selling queen bees. Make money by raising, packaging, and selling queen bees. Sometimes beekeepers lost their queens for many reasons and want to buy them. For starting a new hive they also need a queen bee. Learn more: Bee Queen Rearing, Raising a New Queen, How Do Bee Breeders Make Queen Bee?
09. Make Equipment to sell
If you have some good carpentry skills you can make a beehive, brood chamber, super box, separator, etc., and sell it to other beekeepers. Learn more: Beekeeping Equipment | A List Of Essential Beekeeping Tools and Equipment – How to Use Them?
10. Process Raw Roney from other Beekeepers
Small beekeepers can’t buy processing machines due to their high price. But they can evaporate honey at home without any cost. If you feel the hassle to do it yourself you can buy a power blanket which can cost $100. You can buy it from Mann Lake, Thorne, or Brushy Mountain Bee Farm or online from Amazon: Powerblanket Lite, Model PBL05, 5-Gallon Insulated Pail Heater – Bucket Heater – capacity 5 Gallon = 19 Liter.
But if you already have a large-scale processing machine, you can process raw honey from other beekeepers and charge a fee per Kg. Don’t charge more than your nearest Beekeepers. Check with them, or the beekeeping association how much they are charging for each Kg of raw honey. You can earn a handsome amount in extra time after processing your own honey. Above all the benefits of beekeeping, you can get it if you are serious about it. Learn more: Honey Processing | How to Process Raw Honey at Home?
Recommendations:
Remember, publicity can make your business well recognized and bring a reputation for your business. Publicity is the word of mouth among friends and relatives that do not cost anything but open a new door to earn money and expand your business.
Finally, always be the truth and respect your commitment. Keep in mind that Goodwill is an intangible asset that can be sold at a high price. That’s also valuable and helps you to survive your business for a long time.
How Much Money A Beekeeper Can Make Each Year?
Here we assess the average value of each item. Typically a beehive of 8/10 frames can produce 50 Kg of honey per year. So, if you have 100 boxes then you’ll get 5000 Kg or 5 Ton honey per year. Now raw honey can be sold for $5 per Kg. So, you can get $25,000 as revenue if sold as raw honey.
If you process it and sell it after packaging, you’ll get $10 or more per Kg. Production costs including other expenditures will not be more than 60%. So, the remaining 40% is profit. Also, you’ll get some revenue from other by-products and services as stated above. Now you can calculate roughly how much money can be earned from a farm of 100 beehives. Total revenue per year = 5,000×10 = USD 50,000 (40% of which is USD 20,000).
Remember, the above calculation is for 100 boxes. For fewer boxes, profitability will tend to be downward, and for more boxes upward. If you are a hobbyist, you can enjoy it very well and spend your time with fun. Learn more: Honey Bee Art – Bee Magic – How to Fun With Honey Bees.
Learn more: “Grants for Beekeeping | USDA Grants, Agricultural Grants, and Honey Bee Laws.”
Challenges of Beekeeping
Besides the picture of yearly revenue, you must know the challenges; so that, you can try to overcome them before this happens.
Varroa mites, honeybee diseases, and Colony collapse disorder are big threats to beekeepers. You should know how to tackle these situations. Learn about Honey bee diseases and treatments including varroa mite. You must have a well-organized business model and an effective marketing plan to succeed in this field. Try to be professional and prepared to face any challenges.
Learn more:
01. How to Start a Beekeeping Business?
Beekeeping for Beginners | Easy Steps to Start Beekeeping for Raising Honey Bees.
02. Grants for Beekeeping
Grants For Beekeeping | USDA Grants, Agricultural Grants, And Honey Bee Laws.
03. How to process raw honey at home?
Honey Processing | How To Process Raw Honey At Home (DIY)?
04. Honey Bee Images, Pictures, Photos
Honey Bee Pictures, Images | Apiary Beehives, and Natural Beehives in different Shapes
05. Honey Bee Characteristics
Honey Bee Characteristics, Habitat, Life Cycle, Species, Biology, & Facts
06. Honey Bee Research
Honey Bee Research | What Scientists and Beekeepers Want?
Related Topics
4. How To Process Raw Honey At Home (DIY)?
5. Grants of Raising Honey Bees
Resources of information
National Honey Board,
American Honey Producers Association,
American Bee Journal,
The Pollination Home Page,
Experience of my own beekeeping project.