How to make money raising honey bees

This is part one in a 3-part raisihg in which we look at things to consider when starting to keep bees. We think the world would be better off if practically everyone kept bees! We also think that you should understand, as much as possible, the tangibles of cost and time. Keep in mind that you could keep bees with no investment, other than hard work and skills for building what you need, and luck in capturing a swarm. Keeping bees with no initial cash outlay can happen, but rarely. For the majority of us, some purchases will be necessary. Here are the assumptions upon which the rest of this article is based:. There are other options—top bar and Warre hives are becoming increasingly popular. Langstroth though, because of its standardized approach and widespread use, is our recommendation for beginners. Each colony of bees requires its own living structure, called a hive. That price varies by hive type, quantity discounts, shipping expenses, and options. This investment typically includes all the needed boney of a Langstroth hive, such as a top cover, inner cover, bottom board, frames and foundation, although foundation is considered by some as optional.

Starting the colony

Most of the people I know who keep honey bees do it to make money. Many started out looking for something to do, an activity that would benefit the the garden, help the environment, and provide them with a needed activity. But somewhere along the way they found out that they could make money from keeping bees or from bee products. The home brewers got into beekeeping because they wanted their own honey for home-made beer, mead, fruit drinks and even hard stuff. They wanted to produce their own honey to control the quality of the product, and, in theory, to reduce the cost of one of their raw ingredients. Many profit-focused beekeepers find that a challenge, but it is worth a serious discussion and your consideration in the upcoming year. We have discussed the concept of Two and a Half Hives over the past year or so, and this is a major focus of my latest book, Bee-sentials: A Field Guide. In case you are new to this conversation, I advise new beekeepers to start with two hives during their first year, using package, nucleus, swarm or purchased bees. This provides them with a quick fix for many of the problems new beekeepers experience, such as replacing a failing or absent queen, a colony that is weak and needs a frame of brood or a frame of honey. It is a simple way to increase your chances of getting at least one hive through the winter, rather than resting all of your new beekeeping talents on a single hive. From these two colonies, during the first season, you can develop an Increase or Nucleus hive, which I advise you put into a five-frame nucleus colony. Use this small colony to house a queen with genetic resistance, or just as a backup for the two full-sized units. At the end of the season, you may decide to combine the nucleus with the weaker of the two colonies, giving it a boost and requeening it in the process. Or overwinter the nucleus, especially if it is vigorous and has adequate honey or stored syrup reserves. I personally charge more for overwintered nucleus colonies than newly made nucleus units for the simple reason that it has survived the winter. It was a good year for my bees at my backyard city apiary this year. From a single overwintered nucleus just five frames in a polystyrene box , and a purchased package of bees from California, I now have four full-sized colonies and one booming nucleus at the last inspection for the season. The former overwintered nucleus colony is now in three-deep 8-frame brood boxes, and I cannot lift it from the back of the hive because it is crammed with honey. My joy of beekeeping is the fact that bees will grow so well when they have the forage, the weather, and the management that minimizes swarming and maximizes honey production. My frustrations in beekeeping are when I find disease or mite problems, or the weather is very uncooperative, or I am on the road so much that I am not able to take care of the bees. Here is how I see my situation: 1. Value of new colonies book value, as I have not sold them, but could have several times this past season — a. With the extracting help of my son and brother, I have 74, 9-ounce hex jars of honey with the Zip label, promoting the local aspect of the honey. If I were so motivated, I could have removed every frame of honey from each of these colonies and increased my honey production by as much as three or four times more.

This Issue

Do you run a bee keeping business and you bees fund to expand your operation? If YES, here are 7 sources of grants for honey bee keepers and how to get it. Mae are a critical part of farming and the ecosystem as a. This is because bees pollinate up to one-third of all crops that that are used for food in the world. Not only that, but bees are known to produce one of the most nutritious sweeteners in the world today in the form of honey. But the sad fact that has been noticed in recent years is that bee colonies have been declining rapidly.

Scientists are still investigating the reason for this drop, but meanwhile, the government and concerned organizations have been investigating ways they can lift the current abysmal number of bees in the states and the nation at large. It is for this reason that the government and concerned individuals are giving out grants to hos that are interested in farming honey bees in a bid to raise the bee population in the country.

There are several financial aids for raising honey bses available in the United States that you should try to apply to. This program set aside 8 million dollars in incentives for those living in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin joney research revealed raizing more than half of commercially managed honey bees can be found in these mwke.

If you are tl in farming honey bees, but maoe do not have the money to kick off the venture, the good news is that there are several bee raising grants that are available in the United States. We are going to show you some of these grants and teach you how to get.

The federal government is very much interested in the affairs of bees, not momey the sake of the insects, but for the sake of the role they play in raiing. The department has multiple grant programs that can be used to promote bee keeping, covering the education and training for sustainable beekeeping. It should be noted that these grants are aimed for managing bee hives that are used for honey production. Wild, feral honey bees are not eligible are not eligible for farming under this grant.

To proceed any further, bbees need to contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office to learn more about the opportunities available in your state. Aside from the Federal grants offered through USDA, some state also offer bee keeping grants that are used to boost the number of honey bees in their areas. For example, honey bee apiary in Tennessee can apply for a grant that is aimed to ensure the health of the bees by examination tl inspection.

Other states such ot Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and New York have been known to provide financial help in the form of grants to promote bee education and also to help new beekeepers invest in basic start-up supplies.

For you to be eligible for these grants, you have to complete the training that was set aside by the state government. But before you do this, you must first of all check their eligibility requirement to see if you qualify. After the mmoney, you can then apply for the grant.

Other states also provide some kind of assistance, because beekeeping offers many benefits for both the environment and also the agriculture. Another grant you may be qualified to apply for as an intending apiary owner is the Conservation Innovation Grant. Most states offer Conservation Innovation Grant programs aimed at helping small businesses adopt innovative approaches to the environment.

For example, Kansas CIG funds individuals and small, ot businesses for single or multi-year projects including field demonstrations and pilot projects. New Jersey, Alabama and Virginia all offer similar ti, as do a number of other states. Yet another grant you can check if you qualify for is the farmers market grant. This grant is provided by farmers market associations for the sake of boosting agriculture.

As long as the sales are for the mutual benefit of the members, a cooperative apiary business may qualify for the grant. While coming in form of a bond instead of a grant, the Aggie bonds are another form of financing available to bee keepers. An individual starting a rural apiary business qualifies as a first-time farmer, although he will have to repay the loan over time. The businesses can use the grant money to buy and develop land, buildings and equipment.

Starting an apiary can comfortably fit into the funding area of these grants, so you can apply as a bee keeper or an intending one. In the U. If you are a farmer or rancher raosing one of the above mentioned states, then know that you can access this grant program by contacting the Farm Service Agency office for your community, or by logging on to the FSA website. To qualify for this program, you must get approval for your land for inclusion in the Conservation Reserve Program and you should also make an application to the FSA for access to grant funds.

This tl provides funding to domestic agricultural producers, including those in the business of raising honey bees, for the purpose of giving U. Grants from this program are made to benefit only groups of two or more farms or vendors who produce honey for direct sale to consumers. Eligible applicants for this grant include agricultural businesses and cooperatives located in any of the 50 states, including Washington, D. Applications are accepted once per year, and application materials are accessible through the Grants.

Having outline some of the various grants that are available to citizens in the United States that want to go into honey bee keeping, we would now bow to show you how you can access some of the these grants for your business. While going through this article, you should note that the steps mentioned here vary depending on the type of grant you are applying for are the requirements the funding organisation asks. But you should have it in mind that these are the general steps that are applicable to most of the grants.

For someone seeking to get a grant to raise and multiply honey bees, the first step you have to take to make this a reality is to search out grant opportunities that are near you. You can go through google raisinv you can go through the USDA website. Again, most of the grant sites have their own form you have to fill, so you do not need to bother about printing out, unless you are told to do so.

You are advised to use this service to keep beds of grant opportunity postings and updates. This is necessary because grant offers do not come up all the time, so you have to be notified when these grants are available. To determine eligibility, you need to review the eligibility requirements given be the funding institution this is usually found on their website or the offer for grant page. Usually, all funding institutions do not have the sesame eligibility requirements, and these requirements vary based on location, size and objectives of the organisation.

Having gone through the eligibility requirements and finding that you qualify for a number for the grant, the next step you have to take raiising is to take the time to apply for the raiisng. You have to make your application as requested by the funding organisation. Follow the beed instructions and submission requirements provided hlw the application guide.

To be considered for funding, all required forms must be submitted as part of a complete application package. Your application will not be considered if all required forms are not submitted. If you kake done filling you application, you now need to submit it through the link provided in the application form, unless you were instructed to print out and send to a certain address.

If you missed the approved deadline due to a forgivable circumstance, you should review the late application consideration documentation for further information. Honej, the only thing you have to do is wait to see if your application was successful.

Toggle navigation Menu. Author Recent Posts. Cynthia is a writer and editor with a quirky sense of humor. She has a background in journalism with years of experience in freelance writing, copy editing and business research.

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The building process

There is a honey rush on, mostly thanks to an explosion in the returns from manuka honey because of its remarkable antibacterial properties. The result is overseas markets are clamouring for our honey and we are struggling to keep up. There is an explosion in the number of beekeepers. In in the last year or so, beekeeper numbers grew by 70, many of them hobbyists and semi-commercial set-ups. Should you be one too? Bees on your block would be lovely, right? Looking after bees well is complicated, expensive and time-consuming. There is a lot to learn, including all the legal requirements that come with bees. Your bees may still die, or just not prosper. There is an easier way to have bees than to become a beekeeper. Commercial beekeepers always need places for their hives, and there is considerable competition for good apiary sites. This is a basic guide on what to expect when you host the hives of a commercial beekeeper. If you have pip or stone fruit trees, or a large vegetable garden full of cucurbits and other vegetables that how to make money raising honey bees flowers, then fruit, having hives of eager bees nearby will increase your yields. Bees also pollinate clover, and clover is an excellent nitrogen-fixing plant. By pollinating clover you get the significant value of the fertiliser effect of nitrogen, without having to pay for or spread the fertiliser. To give you an example, NZ Lifestyle Block editor Nadene Hall hosts 10 hives on an unused corner of her north Waikato block and in return receives 12kg of different types of honey in 1kg pots. However, if you are running a commercial proposition, you can expect proper compensation. This can be in a few forms, depending on what your site is like and what how to make money raising honey bees beekeeper is using your site. If you have manuka, you would expect between per cent, depending on the quality of the manuka in the area and the quality of the honey ie, the strength of the manuka honey. Each hive will grow to up to boxes by the end of the season. Some beekeepers put their hives on other sites for over-wintering.