Your livestock lives in hives not a barn. When you start with bees, you are starting a farm. A bee farm in a city would usually consist of only a few hives. Of course, you would need to check local regulations and have a primary interest in public safety. Some cities have rooftop beehive gardens. If you have enough space for your hives and enough forage in your area for the bees to be healthy. It is possible to have a small apiary or bee farm in the city. Will you have enough money but aside to buy more bees? Your bees may die because of a mistake you make in hive management or in spite of the best care – they are livestock. This is true for any endeavor that involves farming. However, you may be working alone – how many hives can you manage on your own.įinancial risks exist for the small scale beekeeper or a commercial beekeeper with thousands of hives. Your hives will be filled with worker bees that are all helping the colony grow. It is common to under-estimate the amount of work, capital expense and risks associated with any agricultural business. If you are prepared for hard work, a bee farm can be a viable business. You must evaluate your goals and plan with them in mind. The honey harvest takes place during Summer in most locations – it is rewarding but hot work. Suppliers are very busy early in the year – while honey producers work hardest during the harvest. If you want to serve people who buy honey bees, your yearly schedule may be a bit different from a bee farmer only interested in honey production. And yes, some bee farms do grow and sell bees to new beekeepers. Or, you may want to provide bee pollination services for farmers. This can be profitable but it requires space and inventory. Some beekeeping businesses do quite well at selling equipment and supplies to other beekeepers. Your local economy also plays a role. And, it may require just a bit of luck as well, managing beehives for profit has it’s ups and downs. The amount of time and money you are willing to invest is a big part. How much money you make in a beekeeping business depends on several factors. It is possible to have your own bee farm and make a profit? Yes – but it will not happen over night. Okay, now you have been bitten by the honey bee bug! You want a few hives and you want to make some money too! This is a great way to have a beekeeping business on a smaller scale. Perhaps you are interested in selling honey, beeswax and other hive products. Not every bee farmer will actually sell bees. Your apiary can be any size.īee farmers provide a variety of goods and services. Some small scale beekeepers have 50 or less beehives. What is a Bee Farming?īut, bee farming does not have to involve thousands of hives. Read my privacy and affiliate disclosure policy for more info. In our minds, we picture large fields with hundreds of honey bee hives. What does it mean to have a bee farm? Well, that term is used very broadly.