Bee Farming is Big Business – What Landowners Need To Know

Bee farming for landowners’ personal use is a straightforward proposition. The landowner obtains some beehives, lets the bees do their work, and then harvests some of the finest, most natural sweetener known. Selling home-grown honey can be profitable, and a landowner, if so inclined, can expand a beekeeping operation to include many hives, producing a large amount of honey for sale.

However, like every other agricultural activity, there are some considerations before a landowner should dive into beekeeping. Beekeeping involves considerable expense for equipment. Hives must be located and purchased, and the actual honey processing equipment is quite involved and not cheap. Additionally, beekeeping involves a good bit of heavy lifting and is not suitable for anyone squeamish around insects.

After the honey is processed and bottled, the beekeeper must either sell the honey directly or arrange for retail outlets to sell it. Both sales situations have advantages and disadvantages, but beekeeping for income is a real possibility for a landowner willing to work hard and long at it. By the way, the proper name for a beekeeping operation is an apiary, whether it’s one hive or a thousand.

How Big of a Business is Bee Farming?

A beekeeping operation can be as big as the operator wants it to be. Some beekeeping operations manage thousands of hives and regularly move their hives around the country on semi-trucks to follow the bloom of crops, which the bees use to produce honey. For most home-based beekeeping operations, five or six hives will be plenty for home use and a little bit of honey to sell or give as welcome gifts.

Bee farming can be profitable. A healthy hive can produce 60–200 pounds of honey per season, selling at up to $10 per pound. Additional revenue sources include beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and beekeeping services like pollination. Average profit margins range from 15% to 40%.

Raising and caring for a few hives of bees is a good way for a landowner to benefit from otherwise unproductive space.

Commercial beekeeping is a very labor-intensive business. Even though the bees do the work of making and storing honey, beekeepers must maintain and monitor the hives, collect and process the honey, which can be very hard work, and then arrange for a retail sales arrangement.

An option for landowners who want to invest time and money in a beekeeping operation is to consider renting suitable rural property for large-scale keepers to bring semi-truck loads of beehives and place them on a landowner’s property. We’ll look at this option in another upcoming article.

Is Your Land Right for Bee Farming?

A remarkably wide range of land types can be used for small-scale, personal-use beekeeping operations. Even people who live in suburbs can often have a few beehives in the backyard with no problem. Beehives require a bit of room, a constant source of water, and blooming plants for a food source.

Here are the most important things to consider when starting a beekeeping business:

1. Bee farm location — Find a location with a mild climate and many flowering plants throughout the year. Local regulations may dictate where you can place hives and how many you can have. Check with local authorities about any zoning restrictions or requirements for beekeeping.
2. Licenses and certifications — You may need a few licenses and permits. Depending on the area, you might need a beekeeping license or permit. Many jurisdictions require you to register apiaries (collections of beehives) with local agricultural authorities. For small-scale home operations, this is not a consideration.
3. Pollination contracts — In some agricultural regions and for certain crops, pollination services provided by honeybee colonies can be crucial for successful crop yields. While not mandatory, entering into pollination contracts can be highly beneficial for both beekeepers and farmers. This is a consideration only for large-scale operations.
4. Equipment — Consider investing in hive boxes, protective gear, hive tools, honey extraction equipment, and storage solutions.
5. Register your business — A limited liability company (LLC) is the best legal structure for new businesses because it is fast and simple. Again, for small home-based bee operations, this won’t be necessary.

Once the landowner learns how bees live and work, maintaining the hives is just a matter of routine care and vigilance.

Are There Any Potential Pitfalls to Beekeeping?

Like all kinds of agricultural operations, beekeeping has some elements that can present problems and need to be examined by a potential beekeeper. First, if a neighboring farmer has crops that require heavy pesticide spraying, especially aerial application, beekeeping will probably not work if the spray drifts onto your beekeeping territory.

Here are a few considerations for beekeepers:

• A good apiary design provides a healthy, safe place for the bees and is easy for the beekeeper to access in all weather.
• Almost everything associated with beekeeping is heavy. Place your bee yard in an accessible location.
• You need to be able to get to your hives with a truck or wheelbarrow even in rainy or snowy weather. The more hives you have, the bigger this issue becomes.
• If your city or county practices mosquito spraying by truck, protect your bees by placing the hives farther away from the road.

Are You Allergic to Bee Stings?

When most of us get stung—and you will get stung if you work with bees—swelling around the sting, some redness, and itching is usual. Most beekeepers build up a level of immunity to bee stings after a few stings occur, and the stings are not nearly as painful. However, if after a bee sting, the rest of your body breaks out in hives, sweating, breathing difficulties, and such, there may be a strong allergic reaction to bee stings. If you’re unsure, visit a doctor first. With a blood sample, they can find out one way or the other and advise you accordingly. This goes for your kids and anyone else who might come in contact with your bees.

In conclusion, bee farming offers landowners a unique opportunity to diversify their agricultural activities and make use of otherwise unproductive land. While the initial investment in equipment and maintenance can be significant, the potential returns—from honey sales to pollination services—make it a viable and rewarding venture. However, it requires careful planning, consistent hard work, and awareness of local regulations and environmental factors. Whether a small-scale hobby or a large-scale commercial operation, beekeeping provides a sustainable, profitable avenue for those ready to commit to the craft.