Beekeeping can be attributed to almost ideal small business options. The high demand for bee products, environmental friendliness, interesting and creative work — all this makes bee breeding a desirable and profitable business for entrepreneurs.
Not without reason, many famous people are engaged in beekeeping not only as a hobby, but also in terms of obtaining additional income.
Beekeeping has its own characteristics that you need to consider when creating your own business.
And the point is not only that living beings are a source of income, but also in the correct planning of those costs that are associated with breeding bees. First of all, you need to consider that the bees need a sufficient food supply. Bees collect nectar at a distance of several kilometers from the apiary. And, if for a small apiary of 20-30 hives there will be enough honey plants in the immediate environment, then for an apiary of 50-100 or more hives, there will simply not be enough feed sources.
This should be taken into account when planning a large beekeeping farm, foreseeing the costs of creating mobile apiaries in advance.
The second thing to keep in mind is the pronounced seasonality of this type of business.
Bees collect honey to provide food for the bee colony during the winter period. Therefore, part of the collection must inevitably be left to support the life of bee colonies, otherwise they will get sick and die. Some entrepreneurs try to save money by simply buying new bee colonies every spring.
However, such a system often leads to the complete extinction of bees due to diseases.
It seems more correct to gradually develop the business, starting with a small apiary, and moving on to larger activities, annually updating a small part of bee colonies, and creating new mobile apiaries to increase production volumes.
The sale of small volumes of honey and other bee products can be carried out personally or by selling them to retail chains. When increasing production, it makes sense to create your own outlets, increasing the profitability of sales.
The initial costs of starting a bee breeding business depend on the size of the apiary and the form of its activity. It is clear that the cost of creating a small stationary apiary is not so great. The cost of one hive, depending on the design and number of frames, is 3500-5000 dollars. You will also need about $ 2,000 for a bee colony. That is, the cost of 10 hives will be approximately 50-70 thousand dollars. Another 30 thousand will have to be spent on various necessary equipment. That is, it will take about 100 thousand dollars to organize a small apiary. These 10 hives can produce from 200 to 500 kg of honey per season.
However, do not rejoice in quick profits. Part of the honey will have to be left to feed the bee colonies in the winter. In addition, costs will be required for updating families, certification of honey, etc. In addition, it must be taken into account that to accommodate these hives, an area of \u200b\u200bat least 10 square meters is required. meters. However, it is clear that beekeeping is a profitable business, even on a small scale.
Expansion of production will require additional costs for the summer export of bees to the areas of honey plants. However, profits will also increase significantly, including through the sale of by-products of beekeeping (bee bread, propolis, wax, etc.).
You can order exact calculations of the profitability of beekeeping and a detailed business plan on our website.