Beekeeping as a business: action plan and stages of organization

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Do you want to devote your time and energy to a worthy and profitable business? Try to consider beekeeping as a business. How do you like this idea?

But let's go in order. Honey can be called one of the he althiest and tastiest foods in the world. Therefore, the beekeeper is a profession not only profitable, but also highly respected.

A little history with geography

Do you know that people have been extracting honey from bees since the Stone Age? In one of the caves of Spain, archaeologists have discovered a rock painting dating back to ancient times. It depicts a man who climbs a tree to a wild beehive for honey. The approximate age of the drawing is about 8000 years.

Beekeeping, for obvious reasons, is developed mainly in the southern regions of our country and neighboring countries. For example, in Moldova, beekeeping and honey as a business is a popular way to generate income.

Capital investments in this case will require about 28,000 rubles. Termpayback is usually no more than a season.

Benefits first

Every year, both professional entrepreneurs and beginner amateurs try their hand in this area. This is due to a considerable number of advantages inherent in this type of activity. What exactly?

1. It is possible to start a business like this with only a few hundred dollars.
2. The profitability of beekeeping as a business, according to experts, is estimated at 40%. This figure is a good enough reason to get down to business.
3. If you do not pretend to be a large-scale enterprise, it is realistic to run your own small business alone. This automatically implies the absence of staff salaries. With the number of hives less than 10, the beekeeper is quite capable of doing it on his own - without hiring additional employees.
4. There are no monopolists as such on the honey market. This is due to the fact that the vast majority of consumers prefer to buy honey directly from producers - for example, from familiar beekeepers or in the market (but not in the supermarket).
5. Such an occupation as beekeeping can be the main activity or a pleasant and useful hobby that provides a rather serious extra income in addition to the basic salary.
6. Learning to pump honey is not difficult at all. After a short training, any beginner is able to cope with such an activity. To help him - a huge amount of specialized literature, not to mention Internet pages,dedicated to this specific activity. A ready-made small-scale beekeeping business plan is easy to develop yourself.

Now for the downsides

The most serious of them is that the price of honey has always been and remains quite high. Nowadays, this useful product is not affordable for everyone. That is why there will most likely be difficulties with the formation of an extensive client base.

Another serious drawback is the high level of competition. Indeed, today a huge number of unemployed citizens are looking for application of their forces in all areas, including agriculture (and, as an option, in beekeeping).

What are the nuances of this business?

A novice entrepreneur who decides to devote time and energy to this interesting and profitable occupation should not forget that:

1. The named business will not suit you if you are a resident of a large city, living in an apartment and not owning real estate in a rural area. Of course, legally no one will forbid you to become the owner of the apiary. But, most likely, you will have to entrust someone else to manage it - a person who has the opportunity to constantly be in place, look after the hives and pump honey. Accordingly, your hired worker will require wages, which should be provided for in the beekeeping business plan. The apiary, ideally, should be "at hand".
2. Sometimes in the media there are reports of death in different regions of bee coloniesdue to the use of herbicides by farmers to spray fields. A dead bee family means very significant expenses for the beekeeper, from which none of the businessmen in this area is insured.
3. Any business implies the honest name of the owner. It happens that a beekeeper, in pursuit of profit, tries to organize the sale of a product diluted with sugar syrup instead of real honey. Rumors about poor-quality goods spread very quickly, and in such a case you will instantly be left without customers.
4. Mandatory requirement for self-employment of beekeeping - love for nature, lack of fear of bee stings, as well as allergies to them. Bees may dislike a certain person (there is an opinion that they treat unkind people badly). So think thrice if you are ready to tempt fate.
5. For a good profit from the apiary, the range of your goods should be varied - it is more profitable to sell different varieties of honey (acacia, linden, buckwheat, flower, sunflower, etc.) This will require the transportation of the apiary to different places in order to be collected by bees as as much pollen as possible.

Other highlights

1. Investment in the bee business will be required not only at the start-up stage, but also on a regular basis. After all, expenses will be required for warming the hives, feeding the bees, treating them from parasites, and purchasing the necessary containers. In addition, it is necessary to provide for the cost of transporting both beehives and finished products.
2. Forthe apiary requires regular supervision. It would be reckless to think that it is enough to take the hive to a place suitable for collecting pollen and return, say, a month later for ready-made honey. The state of affairs in the bee houses requires checking at least once every week.
3. Although in the presence of good conditions, the life of the queen bee is up to 5 years, but it is able to produce high-quality offspring within only two years. The uterus is then replaced. This should be considered when drawing up a financial plan for the apiary.
4. Don't try to take all the honey at the final pumping of the season. In order for the bees to eat in winter, they will need to leave at least six to seven kilograms. Greed in this case can turn against you.
5. For all the seeming simplicity of this peaceful occupation, do not forget that it is still entrepreneurship. The plan (calculation) of the beekeeping business will require the preparation of calendar and financial schedules, market research, and acquaintance with the nearest competitors. That is, both theoretical and practical comprehensive preparation for this type of activity will be required.

Beekeeping as a business - where to start?

First of all, let's talk about the place for the apiary. His right choice is the basis of beekeeping as a business. What are the criteria for choosing the best place where your bees can settle?

A true paradise for them can be called the territory where many honey plants grow in the form of acacia, linden, buckwheat and a variety of wildflowers. The territory of the apiary will necessarily require fencing to prevent the invasion of vandals or robbers. The site will require constant supervision.

Ideally, this occupation - beekeeping as a business - requires the purchase of a private house located in close proximity to a meadow or forest where acacias, willows, linden trees grow. The site must be located away from industrial enterprises and highways.

If there is no space

If the territory of your personal plot is large enough, it is possible to set up a large apiary of several dozen hives, which will provide you with a very good income. If you do not have such opportunities, but this business idea - beekeeping - firmly occupies your mind, you can try to negotiate to attach your own hives during the honey collection period to someone who has the right conditions.

You can agree on different conditions with the owner of the territory - pay for the rent of a place for bees with money or directly with honey. Many farmers who are interested in crop yields that bees can provide are ready to provide their own territory to beekeepers with their hives free of charge.

On the importance of an advertising campaign

Of course, it's not advertising if you have only a few hives at your disposal, set up to provide honey to your family, friends and close relatives. But if you started breeding bees as a business, you can’t do without advertising. You will need it in order to ensure the possibility of selling sweetproducts at the best possible prices.

At the same time, the wide opportunities provided by the media are used, as a rule, only in cases where it is planned to establish a mass-scale honey business. In the case of a small apiary, other advertising methods are usually involved:

1. Her outdoor versions (in the form of ads or posters).
2. Using the possibilities of the Internet (for example, your own page on a social network).
3. Through active participation in thematic events - various sales exhibitions, agricultural fairs, etc.

What's Really Happening

The best tool in this type of business was and remains the well-known "word of mouth". What does this mean in practice? If your business is based on the principle of selling quality products at a reasonable price, then you can be calm - very soon you will acquire regular customers without any problems.

At first, don't rely too much on the promotional tools listed above. Requires independent sale of the resulting products on the market. If you cannot do this for any reason (due to lack of strength or free time), then the option of handing over honey for sale is possible. Unfortunately, in such a situation, your revenue will be a smaller amount - after all, the income of distributors is the difference between the purchase price and the one at which honey will be sold at retail.

What is a schedule?

This business is seasonal. ATthe winter months are convenient to spend the so-called preparatory period. Now we are not talking about registration and collection of all documents necessary for entrepreneurial activity. Let's deal directly with the technical side of the matter. It will take you 2-3 months (best in winter) to study theoretical materials, purchase hives, etc. Starting from April (if the weather is right), it is possible to take the hives to the places where the first pollen was collected. Thus, the start of beekeeping is possible in a relatively short time.

Let's repeat - in the middle and end of winter (say, in January-February) you are engaged in theoretical training. By the end of this period, purchase the necessary equipment. And in March you start buying bee colonies.

In April, the hives are taken to the place of honey collection and at the same time the first advertisement of the future sweet harvest is launched. At the same time, you should start registering your case.

On the legal side of the issue

This is done in the case when you do not intend to engage in amateur breeding of bees, but are set up for a serious official business with the prospect of further growth. Then beekeeping is legally formalized, for example, in the form of an individual entrepreneur.

In this case, you will inevitably have to pay taxes. Of all the taxation systems, in this case, the most convenient form of a single tax.

If you do not plan to install a large number of hives and are ready to limit yourself to selling your own products at home, you can avoid such a procedure as obtaining certificatesquality. Without fail, you only need to issue a veterinary passport. This is done in the regional department of the veterinary service at the place of residence.

If you set out to sell the received honey on the market on a regular basis (not to mention cooperation with supermarkets), then you will need the results of laboratory tests that can confirm the quality of the product. This will also incur additional costs that should be foreseen in advance.

Those entrepreneurs whose bee business exists on a large scale can afford to purchase their own laboratories. But if you are just starting a project, this idea should be temporarily forgotten. After all, the cost of such equipment is more than $100,000.

How much money will you need?

So, what kind of finances does beekeeping require as a business? Breeding bees and selling honey is not a start-up that involves huge initial cash injections. A beekeeping business project involves the purchase of beehives, bee colonies, additional equipment, including a special beekeeper suit. You will also need to buy a container designed for pouring honey, as well as invest some money in an advertising company. Don't forget your estimated shipping costs as well.

But the amounts required for all of the above will not be unbearable even for a novice businessman. A beginner can start with the purchase of only five hives (each of them will cost approximately 1,700 rubles, totalfor a total amount of 8500 rubles), stands for them (225 rubles in the amount of 5 pieces) - another 1150 rubles, about 1200 one bee family will cost (total for 5 pieces - about 6000 rubles). Add here 2,500 rubles for a beekeeper's suit with a mask, a set of frames - 100 pieces for 1,200 rubles, about 5 kg of foundation - 280 rubles per kilo - only 1,400 rubles, a honey extractor for 5,000 rubles. and other inventory (chisel, smoker, knife, etc.) Let all this cost also 1100 - 1200 rubles. If we add another 1050 rubles for other expenses, then it is easy to calculate that you will meet the amount indicated at the beginning of the article - 28,000 rubles.

How profitable is beekeeping?

Anyone who is ready to decide to organize an apiary is interested in the most important question. Namely: is beekeeping profitable enough as a business? Reviews of experienced beekeepers are unambiguous - this occupation as a business area is a very, very profitable business.

Experts also estimate the profitability of this type of business very highly. In the case of the right actions and a successful combination of circumstances (when not a single bee family from your hives dies), during the season it is possible to obtain 40 liters of honey or more from one hive.

Having the same 5 hives indicated above, you, respectively, will collect about 200 liters. Net profit in case of full sale of the product received will be at least 30,450 rubles. Some of them, as already mentioned, will go to transportation costs, feeding bees, and so on. But approximately 28,000 rubles will remain on hand.

Thus, all capitalinvestment in the organization of the apiary will pay off during the first season. The next year, with a similar financial situation, will bring you the same $500 net profit. If you have more than five hives and you are ready to invest in the business, the degree of profitability of your beekeeping business will be even higher.