The beekeeping business, even in times of crisis, is characterized by quick payback and profitability. Honey – the main product of beekeeping, is always in demand due to its taste and healing properties.
Starting as a hobby, the maintenance of an apiary often develops into a full-fledged business that brings a decent income. At the same time, beekeeping remains a specific occupation, not accessible to everyone – not every person can tolerate painful bee stings calmly and without an allergic reaction.
The content of the article
- 1 Benefits of beekeeping
- 2 A little about the correct keeping of bees
- 3 Possible problems
- 4 What can be sold
- 5 On registration and compliance with the law
- 6 Where to sell honey
- 7 Profitability and income
- 8 An example of calculating profitability
Benefits of beekeeping
The apiary as a business always justifies itself. With a careful attitude to the maintenance of bees and accuracy in working with them, the acquisition of hives and bee colonies pays off already in the first year, at least in the second season. The profitability of the apiary reaches 25-30%.
Other indisputable advantages of the apiary are:
Fairly light insect content… Unlike other domestic animals, bees forgive small errors in care, they themselves keep the hives clean and get food for themselves. This gives the beekeeper the opportunity to “get on the road” – to acquire the necessary skills and self-confidence.
Seasonality of work… In winter, late autumn and early spring, the beekeeper can rest, only periodically visiting the winter house.
Business at the initial stage does not require large capital investments… It is a widespread practice to buy an apiary off-hand, when, for whatever reason, the owner sells out the entire inventory and even bee colonies at discounts.
Knowledge of the theoretical base allows you to master the craft in a fairly short time… The necessary experience is gained every day of work – adaptation to new loads and requirements is quick.
Even a beginner beekeeper is capable of keeping from 20 to 50 hives, while receiving tangible profits.
A little about the correct keeping of bees
A beginner in the beekeeping business should pay special attention to the following points.
Correct placement of hives on the site is half the battle… This takes into account the sanitary standards and the characteristics of the vital activity of insects. For example, bee houses are not turned to the north, and the hives themselves are not installed near busy roads and footpaths.
You can read more about the placement of the apiary and all the nuances important for beginners in our separate article: How to properly organize a home apiary from scratch
Another important point that allows you to run a successful business in an apiary is ensuring comfortable wintering.
In the middle and southern lane, bees winter freely outside. If the temperature in the region drops below -10-15 degrees, the hives must be additionally insulated with mats or pillows with natural filler. Alternatively, build protective frames and fill the space between them and the walls of each hive with straw, sawdust. With this content, insects leave wintering early, families are efficient and active, and get sick less.
In the northern regions, the construction of a winter house is required – a special room for hives. This room should be dry, warm enough (from 0 to +2 degrees), an inflow of fresh air is required. Families are monitored regularly throughout the winter.
With a sufficiently large apiary (from about 15-20 hives), the construction of another utility room is required, in which containers with pumped out honey, wax, dry honeycomb, frames, inventory and all necessary equipment will be stored. The use of a separate storage frame is practiced, which simplifies the fight against wax moths and rodents.
Possible problems
Fear of new things and self-doubt often frightens off newcomers to the beekeeping business. In addition, there is an opinion that the modern market is overflowing with honey, and this product has to be sold only in bulk at the lowest price.
Implementation problems undoubtedly exist, but they can be solved by choosing the right tactics. A profitable apiary means:
- entry of the beekeeper into the National Union of Beekeepers (valid for Russia);
- increasing the volume of manufactured products;
- expanding the customer base due to the quality of the product and a system of small bonuses (for example, a plastic container with 100-150 grams of honey in combs can be attached to three liters of purchased honey);
- mastering the skills of working on the Internet – for older villagers this can be a certain difficulty, but it must be remembered that the Internet allows selling the products obtained even on the other side of the country.
Another possible problem is conflict with neighbors. People are afraid of bees and not without reason. The problem can be solved by building a high solid fence around the point (about 1,8-2 m). Insects will gain height immediately after leaving the hives – the likelihood of collision with people and pets will be minimized. In addition, you can treat your neighbors with honey, which will help prevent quarrels.
What can be sold
Income from the apiary is generated not only through the sale of honey… Yes, it is the main product, but other derivatives of the bee’s vital activity can also be sold.
The beekeeper regularly replaces the old honeycomb with fresh foundation – 30% of the frames are renewed annually. The discarded honeycomb goes to remelting. The resulting wax can be taken to special collection points or exchanged for foundation, which reduces the annual cost of keeping bees.
Pollen is another product comparable in quality to honey… To collect it, special pollen traps are used. Penetrating through them into the hive, insects lose the pollen collected on the plants – the pollen will fall into the pallet. After drying, the polish is stored for a year without losing its medicinal properties. By collecting these products, you can increase your income by 30-40%.
With the acquisition of experience, you can additionally sell:
Propolis or bee glueused by insects to seal their houses. Propolis is harvested only in season, and it is undesirable to do this often (glue helps bees to maintain proper sanitary condition of the houses). The collected material is rolled into balls, which are stored in a cool place in bags.
Bee bread or bee bread – obozhka preserved in honeycombs. This substance goes to feed the larvae. Extracting it from the honeycomb is problematic. It is necessary to soak the honeycomb broken into pieces and dry the resulting product. It is stored for only six months.
Royal Jelly – a biologically active substance that represents the secretion of the bee glands. When collected, the product is oxidized within two hours! It must be stored without access to air, in the refrigerator. Harvesting requires compliance with sanitary rules and sufficient experience.
There is also a practice of selling cuttings – young families with queens, thoroughbred queens. This is done by beekeepers who have mastered the breeding of bees well.
On registration and compliance with the law
Any apiary requires registration and obtaining a veterinary and sanitary passport. This allows you to run your business legally.
You can read about obtaining a passport and passing registration here: About obtaining a veterinary and sanitary passport of an apiary
At the initial stage, it is better to register as an individual. This is the best option, provided that the apiary is placed on a personal plot. Such an apiary is considered by the state as a personal subsidiary farm. You do not need to pay taxes on it.
Conditions for attributing an apiary to a personal subsidiary farm:
- lack of hired workers;
- plot size up to five acres.
Further business development requires registration of an individual entrepreneur or the creation of an LLC. When registering with the tax office, you can choose the unified agricultural tax or the “simplified tax”.
Where to sell honey
You can earn money in an apiary by starting with the sale of honey. The natural product is especially popular among the townspeople. The villagers are reluctant to buy honey, as many owners keep several beehives for their own needs.
Usually, newcomers to the beekeeping business with a small number of bee colonies start with selling honey to relatives, colleagues in their main job, and acquaintances.
Selling to buyers at a wholesale price affects the profitability of the farm, but with increasing volumes, this is a good way out. If it is already impossible to sell honey in banks, it is handed over to the buyer. This is a good opportunity to receive revenue in one large amount that can be invested in business development.
When beekeepers are united into a group, it is possible to find a wholesale buyer with the best price. This solution has many advantages: the product will definitely be bought, and transportation costs will be reduced.
With large volumes of production, honey can be sold:
- owners of small shops in the city’s markets;
- online stores (as an option, you can set up implementation through your own store, website or blog);
- factories baking bread and producing confectionery products.
Profitability and income
The biggest expense in beekeeping is the start-up cost. Actually, as in any business, in order to start making good money, you must first invest a certain amount in the business.
On average, the purchase of 50 bee colonies in Russia takes up to half a million rubles. With all the impressive amount, these are small expenses, since no other business will be able to start so cheaply.
If you’re lucky, you can buy an apiary with big discounts in the event of the death of the previous owner or due to problems with his health. There are cases when a discount of up to 30-50% was offered for each family.
In a stationary apiary, you can work independently or involve one employee. This will cost in rural areas about 4-000 per month (up to 5 per season).
After consultation with local beekeepers or a veterinarian, medications are purchased to combat bee diseases. The costs for this item depend on the diseases common in a particular area. In practice, this is no more than 8-000 rubles per year for 10 bee colonies.
From one hive per season, they receive from 25 to 50 kg of marketable honey. The price per kilogram of products depends on the year – calculations should be carried out based on the indicators for the last two or three years. In dry or too rainy summers, bribes decrease and prices rise. The same is observed in late spring, when honey plants suffer from frost.
Note: One liter of honey contains 1,5 kilograms of product.
The next year, you can safely add the proceeds from the sale of wax to the income – this is approximately 25-30% of the total amount of profit received from honey.
An example of calculating profitability
You can calculate the profitability of an apiary as follows (the example shows approximate prices – you must take into account the indicators of the current year in a particular area!):
- the purchase of 20 hives at a price of 3 rubles per piece will cost 000 rubles;
- the acquisition of 20 families at the same price will take another 60 rubles;
- for two sets of overalls – 13 rubles;
- for the necessary inventory and equipment – up to 60 rubles (this includes a smoker, chisels, frames, foundation, honey extractor, pollen catchers, a tool for printing honeycombs, a tool for setting frames, grates and diaphragms for hives, and so on);
- for land lease, if any, – up to 60 rubles.
With the price per kilogram of honey in conditional 490 rubles and receiving 40 kg of products from one hive, the proceeds will amount to 400 rubles. From this amount it is necessary to deduct expenses for utilities, veterinary drugs, obtaining a quality certificate for honey, paying taxes.
Note: Net profit in a successful beekeeping business reaches at least 58-60% of the total revenue.
