Beekeeping Business Plan

“Beekeeping is a remarkable hobby, a profitable sideline, or a full time occupation, ” according to Jeffrey Harris, Assistant Professor of Entomology at Mississippi State University.

Mississippi hosts roughly 12 full time commercial beekeepers, 35 part-time honey producers, and several hundred hobbyists. This ranks their state twenty-eighth when you look at the country in honey production, with about 2.25 million pounds of honey produced every year.

“The net yearly earnings of Mississippi beekeepers from honey and beeswax production, sale of packaged bees and queens, and pollination charges is projected to-be between $2.1 and $3.1 million, ” stated Harris.

As a value-added product, honey bees subscribe to the pollination of fresh fruits, fruits, veggies, sunflowers, cotton fiber, soybeans, peanuts and wild flowers in Mississippi, totaling $200 million annually (Source: Mississippi division of Agriculture and Commerce).

If you’re interested in bees and possess considered starting a colony (or two) of your, continue reading for many helpful information and check out our website to find out more about beginning and handling a beekeeping business.

How do I get going?

There are numerous options for getting started when you look at the bee company, whether for fun or revenue. You can easily obtain your bees by:

picture by Robyn Dulaney, MSU

• buying bundle bees;
• purchasing a nucleus colony (nuc);
• purchasing set up colonies;
• obtaining swarms (not typically recommended for novice beekeepers); or
• using bees regarding woods and wall space (not typically suitable for novice beekeepers).

Most newbie beekeepers will start with either a bundle or nuc. The disadvantage to buying a nuc or a well established colony is you also might be buying another beekeeper's dilemmas, such as for instance illness.

When is a good time for you to begin a colony?

You could begin a colony basically anytime of the year in Southern, but spring is the recommended period, since it provides the colony really through summertime to have founded. In addition, you’ll have much better opportunities within the springtime and summer to see your bees and learn their habits.

What number of colonies do I need?

You’ll like to focus on at least two colonies of bees, in case some thing goes wrong aided by the queen in one of the hives. A frame of eggs and younger larvae through the 2nd hive are fond of the queen-less unit for them to boost a queen.

What equipment am I going to require?

Private gear – at least, you’ll need a veil, hive device and bee cigarette smoker. The veil keeps bees from your head, since stings from the mind could be very painful. You can aquire an unique hat to carry the veil, but a well-fitting wide brimmed hat will do as well. The bee smoker keeps the bees from becoming agitated, allowing the beekeeper to focus in peace.

Recommended accessories feature a bee fit, bee gloves, and large top shoes. Coupled with a veil and hat, a beekeeper can be well protected from bee stings during regular beekeeping businesses.

Beehives – you are able to build a beehive from brand new products, however it is advised purchasing a hive which have had bees on it for about a-year, to reduce the possibility of stressing out of the bees and reducing your potential honey crop. The best time to get bees is within the spring, to make sure that you get a viable hive with a good laying queen.

A standard beehive has actually a bottom board and a hive cover with numerous cardboard boxes in the middle. Each package includes nine or 10 structures of brush in which the bees rear their younger and shop honey and pollen. Typically the bottom two bins are brood cardboard boxes useful for rearing the young and storing honey and pollen for short term and winter use. The most truly effective cardboard boxes are named supers consequently they are always keep the honey crop. Unique "shallow" supers can lessen the loads that really must be lifted.

View plans for a low-cost beehive.

Extracting equipment – To harvest your honey crop, you’ll very first need certainly to separate the combs of honey through the bees (pulling the honey). Making use of a bee brush to sweep the bees from each framework is just one choice, but could come to be labor intensive the more hives you've got. Bee escape panels are accustomed to direct the bees into a single method travel out from the honey supers. You’ll need one escape board for every single hive.

Another option includes making use of chemicals like Bee Go or Bee Robber, which can be placed on underneath of an unique acid board address. The scent drives the bees from the honey super. Finally, a bee blower could be used to blow the bees quickly the frames, out from the super and on the ground at the hive.

Once the honey is pulled, you can extract it yourself or ask a proven beekeeper to extract it available. Honey extractors vary in size from two-frame, hand-powered devices to motor-driven machines that can manage 100 or higher structures. Furthermore, an electrically heated blade are going to be necessary to get rid of the wax limits from the honey brush.

Extracted honey should be strained through cheesecloth or nylon after which kept in a hot place in a high container. This permits the fine impurities to go up into top. The perfect storage space container need an outlet at the bottom so the clean, cozy honey could be attracted through the base into the honey bins.

Wintering equipment – Mississippi is fortunate to possess fairly mild winters, so bees can typically winter outdoors without insulation placed around and within the hives. The answer to wintering your bees will be make sure obtained enough food going into the summer season – usually 30 to 50 pounds.

Various other colder climates, you need to protect your bees. If you’re working with just a couple of hives, bees can winter out-of-doors with insulation put around and within the hives.