For those of us who enjoy the outdoors and have an interest in animals and agriculture, beekeeping can be a
fun and profitable business. Not only do beekeepers sell honey, they can make money marketing wax, royal jelly,
propolis and even bees to other beekeepers.
Since many people participate in beekeeping both as a business and as a hobby, there are several resources
available for you if you are interested in getting started. Learn hands-on from an experienced beekeeper in
your community or join a local beekeepers club to network.
How to Get a Beekeeper's License
The licenses and permits that you need for your business will depend on the city and state in which your
business is located. Not all states require the licensing of beekeepers.
You want to contact your state's Department of Agriculture to find out about getting a beekeeping license
(apiary license). You can start by going to your state's website. Apiaries do
need to be registered in the state and inspected, and this is also done through the Department of
Agriculture.
Beekeeping Courses
Although we don't need a degree to start a beekeeping business, we need to educate ourselves before
investing in hives. For instance, there are different types of bees like the buckfast bee, the caucasian bee,
the italian bee and the russian bee. Each type of bee serves a different purpose, such as pollination, honey
production or bee cultivation. If you want to make and sell honey, you want to get bees specific for that
purpose.
Bee behavior is something that we also need to be aware of. For example, each colony has its own odor, and
different colonies cannot be combined into one hive or they will kill each other. In order to resolve this
issue, beekeepers place a sheet of newspaper between the two colonies, and by the time they have eaten through
the newspaper, they have intermingled and scents have become indistinguishable.
If you want to get a comprehensive hands-on education on beekeeping, you may be able to find a course
offered at your local college, like Cornell University's Master Beekeeper Program.
For a more basic, do-it-yourself approach where you can learn from home, get Beekeeping for Dummies. You
can learn from expert beekeepers how to start and maintain a healthy colony of bees - all the way through
harvesting and selling your honey for cash.
How to Start a Beekeeping
Business
For those interested in learning the trade and turning it into a money-making business, expert Keith Gilbert
offers a program called Beginner Beekeeping (yes, it's
for beginners).
It shows you everything you need to know, including common questions like how and where to set up hives to
handling and controlling your bees. He also has a collection of beekeeping videos that you can
download for free.
Beekeeping Supplies & Equipment
For beekeeping itself, you will need live bees, hives (including frames and components), feeders and bee
feed, pollen collection traps and honey comb supplies. You will also need protective clothing and special hive
tools. If you are starting from scratch and need to purchase all of your equipment, there are complete kits
available that can save you money.
For harvesting and processing the honey, you will need additional items for extracting, heating, filtering
and bottling the honey. Bee Source has list of several beekeeping equipment suppliers, including bee hives for
sale with all the contact information you need.
American Beekeeping Federation
The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) acts on behalf of the beekeeping industry on political and
economic issues.
Apiary Inspectors of America
The AIA provides information for successful honey bee management, researches new methods of pollination and
bee management and promotes better beekeeping conditions in North America.
How to Start a Beekeeping
Business