For many people who are looking to get started in beekeeping for the very first time, one of the things they ask is is beekeeping profitable?
Sure, it might start out as a hobby or something you do for the environmental benefits, but if you can make a little extra money on the side from it as well, what’s not to like?
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as setting up a beehive and then selling the honey. There’s a bit more that has to go into the whole process and more work too.
Nevertheless, beekeeping can be profitable; that’s proven by all of the beekeepers out there who are currently managing to turn a profit.
It is a complex process though and there are many things that need to be considered when deciding how you can make your beekeeping hobby profitable. Read on now to find out all you need to know about this matter.
Reasons To Get Into Beekeeping
First of all, let’s stop to think about some of the reasons why you might want to give beekeeping a try to begin with.
For some people, it’s about the personal aspects and the rewarding and fulfilling experience it delivers you. That’s certainly not a bad reason. For many, it’s an enjoyable experience and being able to look after the bees and knowing you’re doing something positive is an end in itself.
There are also many other external benefits that come from properly looking after bees as a beekeeper though.
For a start, it helps you to play your part in keeping the bee population levels healthy, and that’s something that can’t be overlooked right now.
Wild bee populations are falling and beekeepers are playing a vital role in helping to sustain those vital populations.
Bees are important pollinators as part of the wider ecosystem. So by doing your part to help bees and support their populations, you’re also helping to have a positive impact on the environment at the same time.
In turn, that can help to mitigate or reverse some of the damage done to ecosystems and bee populations by man.
There’s a knock-on effect upon the entire ecosystem and food chain, and that can’t be overlooked. So as you can see, there are no shortage of ways in which beekeeping can bring benefits and plenty of reasons why you might be thinking about taking it up yourself.
What’s Involved In Getting Started
First of all, you’ll need to make sure that you’re getting started in the right way and putting the right resources in place. That means investing in a good beehive to begin with.
That might sound obvious but if you’re going to be a beekeeper, you need to make sure that your beehive is as strong as it can be.
There are lots of other resources and equipment that you’ll need to put in place as well. You should focus on making sure you’ve got the right equipment and protective clothing in place. If you don’t have that, you’re going to really struggle to do the job properly.
Protective clothing is vital unless you want to be stung endlessly.
You’ll also need a smoker to make the bees disperse and move away from you. This is important because it’ll mean that you’ll face less of a chance of getting stung and that’s obviously a concern, even if you are wearing the right protective equipment.
The Costs Involved In Starting As A Beekeeper For The First Time
If you’re going to make money, you’re going to need to plan out the financial side of things. This is not something you can rush into without properly thinking it through if you want to achieve the right outcomes.
It’s vital to ensure you’re doing everything you can to balance the books and manage your money wisely from the first day.
That means being aware of the costs involved in all of this and making sure that you have the money set aside to get things off the ground in those early days. If you find that your costs begin to spiral, making a profit will obviously become a lot harder for you than it might otherwise be.
That’s why you need to take the time to think about the different ways in which you can keep costs down early on.
We’ve already discussed the equipment you need to buy when you’re just getting started with your beekeeping activities. But that doesn’t mean you need to buy new items.
Lots of beginners keep costs low by buying used items from people who have more experience. If you know someone who’s been beekeeping for many years, simply ask them if they have any equipment they don’t need or would be willing to sell.
That way, you’ll know its equipment you can trust and it’ll be a lot more affordable than buying new items too.
Extracting The Honey
If you’re going to be producing honey and selling it to customers for a profit, one of the skills you’re going to need to adopt and get good at as early as possible is the process of extracting the honey from the honeycomb.
Although it’s something that might sound relatively easy on the surface, it’s actually not.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do it, but you shouldn’t underestimate the task. It can be difficult to pick up these skills right away when you’re completely new to it. It’s a good idea talking to someone who has more experience of this than you and asking them to demonstrate.
But to give you an idea of what it involves, you first of all need to make sure that the comb is free of bees.
You don’t want to be doing this while there are still honey bees swarming around it. You then need to use an uncapping comb to uncap the honeycomb. This removes the wax and exposes the honey beneath.
The process of actually removing the honey can be done in one of two ways: either with an automatic electric extractor or a manual hand extractor. If you want the easy option and you don’t mind investing the money, it’s best to simply invest in an electric extractor that can do the job for you.
Finding Ways To Sell The Honey To Buyers
Next, you’ll need to make sure that you have a strategy for how you’re actually going to sell the honey.
Do you know who you’re going to target? Do you know where you’re going to sell? Do you have a strategy for distribution and packaging? All of these things matter a great deal.
If you want people to really buy into your business idea and embrace your honey, you need to take the time to brand it and make it feel special. People love artisan food items that are made by hand, and that’s the angle you should look to play on when it comes to marketing your honey products for sale.
You should make the most of the fact that you’re not selling mass-produced cheap honey, but real honey made by your own team of bees.
There are tons of ways in which you can use that niche angle as part of your marketing efforts, so just try and get creative with it.
In terms of where you sell, you’ll need to think about whether you want to sell at a stall and at food markets.
These places can be great for people who are adept at selling items face to face. Customers will be walking by all the time and you’ll have the chance to appeal to them directly.
But if you’re not so good at face to face sales, it makes much more sense to sell your products online in a dedicated online store.
Other Challenges You May Face
There are lots of challenges that you might face along the way when you’re trying to make your beekeeping profitable. A bad batch of honey can really disrupt your production, for example.
This is a big problem if you don’t have many bees and you don’t have any backup options. One small hiccup like that can really throw your plans off course.
Some people will struggle to find a market right away for their products. Of course, hard work and perseverance should eventually pay off if you have a good product.
But you have to be able to cover yourself financially until you reach the point at which you’re making regular sales and bringing in profits. That can sometimes be a challenge.
There are also all kinds of things that can go wrong with your bees.
And if you don’t have bees, you’re obviously not going to have any honey either. You need to make sure you’re doing everything possible to keep them healthy and to prevent disease from spreading among your bees.
As you can see, there are lots of challenges you might face along the way. But the same is true of starting any kind of business. Nothing is going to be smooth sailing 100% of the time with your startup, and the same will be true for this one as well.
Alternative Ways To Make Money As A Beekeeper
Selling honey is obviously the main way in which most beekeepers make their money, but it’s certainly not the only one. You can use pollen traps to collect and sell the pollen.
You can also sell the bees’ wax that’s a by-product of the honey making process.
There’s a demand for both of those things, so why not make the most of them?
Some beekeepers use their bees to offer pollination services. There are farmers and gardeners that need to increase pollination on their land, and natural pollination by bees is the best way to make that happen.
Renting out your bees as pollinators for hire might, therefore, be a good way for you to make extra money.
When you’ve developed an expertise in the field of beekeeping and you know what it takes to raise healthy bees and produce honey and other bee-related products, you can start to position yourself as an expert.
And when you do that, you can start to offer consulting services and advisory services to people who are new to beekeeping and are just getting started.
You can also charge the public to remove problematic bee hives that have set up in awkward places.
So although making money from beekeeping is mostly about the honey, that doesn’t always necessarily have to be the way. There are lots of options to consider.
So Is It Profitable?
The short answer to this big question is yes, it is profitable and you can make money as a beekeeper.
Of course, when it comes to any business endeavor, there are no shortcuts and there are no guarantees.
But if you take the right approach, brand your honey products correctly and keep a handle on the finances, there’s no reason why this can’t be something that’s profitable for you.
Lots of people are already managing to turn a profit as independent entrepreneurs keeping bees and selling honey.
And as we mentioned briefly above, selling honey is not the only way in which you can make money and be profitable as a beekeeper. So you might also want to explore some of the other options out there.
Start off by making sure that your startup costs are covered and then start to create a plan for making money based on the facts.
Things such as the season will dictate how much honey you can produce and sell, so don’t expect your income from selling honey to be consistent all year round because that’s simply not realistic.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to more experienced beekeepers for tips and advice if you’re just starting out and you’re not yet sure where you should start.
You’re going to make mistakes to begin with, the same way all new hobbyists and entrepreneurs do. But you’ll learn from those mistakes and eventually get better at what you do. And that’s what’s most important.