The beekeeping business is one of the most profitable businesses in India. Most people are afraid of honey bees, and why not? These tiny stingers make us cry when they sting but did you know these little four-winged creatures are a blessing of nature and produce the best of sweet things called ‘honey’. this business model not only produce honey, but it also gives us lot of product to use for our daily life. let’s Look inside how you can start with the simple steps.
1. How to start a beekeeping business?
Every business starts with some basic knowledge. even if you’re a farmer, you should take information from the Local expert who has to build this business and make a profit. here are few steps you could identify to start your beekeeping businesses with a small startup.
- Gather region-specific knowledge from professional beekeeper associations to help you maintain your bee colony.
- Ask about regional bee diseases, other pests that may affect the bees, and general support information for new beekeepers.
- Inquire about the locations of existing beehives, and the types of honey generally produced in your area.
2. Beekeeping business plan
The first thing first-what you have to do is Evaluate your beekeeping operation after your first harvest. So planning is a very important part of any business model. Here are the steps how you would plan it so you can lay out a successful beekeeping business and you can scale it very drastically.
- Visit your local zoning office to ensure that there are no restrictions on beekeeping within your municipal limits.
- and in the residence homeowners’ association, If it’s a problem with them, get whatever written permissions are required.
- Examine the health of your bees and hives.
- Work with your beekeepers’ association to refine your hive maintenance techniques.
- Compare your expenses against your honey and beeswax income.
- Determine whether you should expand your supply of bees to facilitate further market growth.
Your business growth is heavily dependent on the size of land you’ll work. The more space you have, the more you’re able to tend to and More bees with greater yield.
3. Honey Bee Products and their Average Market Price
With honey, there are various other products you can produce such as Beeswax, Royal Jelly, Propolis or bee glue, Bee Pollen, and bee venom. All these products are very beneficial for humans and highly-priced in the market. So let’s know the market price of each of these so you could know how you’ll make the money out of its various products.
Honey- Some organic honey costs high but mostly available between Rs 699 to Rs 1000.
Bee Venom- Highly medicinal value Bee venom costs from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 a gm in Indian markets.
Bee Wax-Beeswax is a real organic wax created by honey bees. Its average price in the market is Rs 300 to 500 per kg.
and As per the reports, 50 to 60 thousand bees can be kept in a bee Can or Box. With this, honey production up to 1 quintal can be obtained.
4. Where to get honey bees for beekeeping
As you’re going to start the beekeeping business so as a beekeeper without bees, establishing his colony is critical. here a question arises, where to get these bees too. Here are some basic ways to get honey bees.
Purchasing bees is the simplest and most secure approach to begin an apiary.
Buying Package Bees-To get this, You can contact a local beekeeper or nearby beekeeping associations. They will provide you a package containing a queen, several worker bees, and a feeder loaded up with sugar syrup. They will provide you information on installing the package honey bees into their new home.
Buying Nucleus Hive –The best alternative for the beginner is to search for a local beekeeper who can sell his nucleus (nuc) colony of bees. You have to only transfer the frames and bees from the nuc box into your own hive. The nuc contains four to five frames of combs with brood (baby bees) and bees and an actively laying queen.
Catching Wild Bees from the Tree branches-Wild Bees can also be collected from those beehives which are on the tree branches by cutting the branch and gently shaking it inside a container. But it is very risky for beginners, it can only be performed under expert guidelines or you can just catch local experts who are confident to catch the hives and identify queen bees.
5. Loans and subsidies for beekeeping business In India
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare launched a Central Sector Scheme titled ‘Development of Beekeeping for Improving Crop Productivity. The scheme had various components covering Research and Development, production & distribution of honey bee colonies, organizing training and awareness programs, and support for setting up a honey processing plant.
The national bee board (NBB) in association with NABARD has schemes for financing the beekeeper business in India. they also provide assistance for women’s employment in this sector. you can visit the nearest national bee board office or take information from the website.
Now the Good News for beekeepers is the government will provide an 80 to 85% Subsidy on Beekeeping. This is How You can Avail the Benefit to start this business.
6. Registered your Business Prior to the planning Activity
Structuring your beekeeping business is the first and foremost thing. and most importantly, Obtain necessary permits and licenses to start this. Here are the steps to visualize your business model before it gets into its real shape.
- Select a business structure with the help of a Certified Public Accountant experienced with agricultural businesses.
- Consult with a commercial insurance agent with a strong liability background.
- Obtain a business license from your city or county clerk’s office, and inquire about other permits.
- Contact your state Department of Revenue regarding a sales tax license for the sale of your bee-related products and consult an agriculture attorney about state beekeeping laws.
7. Equipment needed for Beekeeping Business
As the beekeeper, You need to Order your beekeeping equipment. And you can use this equipment to maintain the hive and harvest the honey. Beekeeping equipment can be purchased from the town or from your local city.
beekeeper protective equipment-
- light-colored bee suit that doesn’t encourage bees to sting.
- A darker-colored hat and face veil- To reduce sun glare.
- Bee smoker- To blow smoke into the hive to calm the bees so you can work on the hive.
- Bee blower and brush- To move bees away from the honey during harvest time.
- Protecting clothes- Shoes, clothes, Bee vail, Bee suit, Gloves, queen catcher, Feeders.
Other helpful, but non-essential, implements help to feed the honeybees and remove beeswax from the hive.
Here is a list of the protective equipment, If you want to see it- Click HERE!
8. Marketing strategy for beekeeping business
This is the crucial part of this business. Often we try to develop the product and don’t keep attention to the marketing which is the important part of beekeeping processes. Develop markets for your honey and beeswax. Here is this list that you can market your Honey Business
- Selling honey to your friends and family
- Ask health food stores and neighborhood markets to display honey for sale.
- Evaluate the feasibility of making beeswax candles to sell in gift shops and at craft shows.
- Market the beeswax to hardware stores and do-it-yourselfers at craft shows and flea markets.
- Attend local farmers’ markets and flea markets, and take part in local events.
- Visit natural stores and restaurants in your area – many of them will invest in your products for resale and for their own recipes.
- Hire some Local workers to sell your Honey door to door, village to the village, or in the local market.
- Through education, you can aware consumers and let them know the benefits of consuming local honey, instead of buying from the grocery store.
9. Promote your beekeeping business Online
- Defining your brand and creating your logo and the next step is to create a website for your business.
- Getting your business online as soon as possible is not complicate as there are many digital agencies out there to help you. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website or doing promotions online. You’ll need a trusted business expert and development agency just like us- Contact Us!
- Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are very easy to operate and you can spread your business awareness.
- Have a website and publish regular blogs, educating consumers on the benefits of using honey.
- If you consistently offer quality products, you’ll develop loyal followers. word of mouth is often your highest-producing marketing tool, and positive customer experiences speak volumes.
10. Profit Calculator of the beekeeping business
Here you’ll see how this business makes you revenue with little or just extra investment and the profit is huge.
The current price of honey in the market= 500 Rupees (Depends on Various Brands)
Let’s say you’ll get a yield of 1000 Kg per Box, You’ll get= 500000 Rupees (5 lakhs)
Let’s say you build 50 Colonies, The total Income = 25000000 Rupees (2 Crore)
So it’s the average data if you can start even from the few colonies and produce Honey. Within few years of running this business, your earning potential would go to Crores of Rupees very Soon. see How this business model is. and not only that, you’ll recover all your commercial beekeeping expenses.
Learn before Earn
you know! you accept it or now, but every Business needs the knowledge, the information before starting it straight up. for that you’ll need to take knowledge from the Books available here, these books have amazing insights they have to make you guaranteed success in your beekeeping business. Click the link below and purchase any of the books.
Beekeeping Business Book: Book 1 (Read More)
Beekeeping Business Book: Book 2 (Read More)
Beekeeping is a great home-based business to add income to your finances and it really helps the environment.
Honey bees not only produce honey. They also pollinate the crops to get higher yields and a better quality of produce. So beekeeping is the best Agri-Business in current situations, especially for the rural areas, where it can act as a secondary source of extra income. Beekeeping cannot be restricted to honey only, products such as royal jelly, bee wax, pollen, propolis, and bee venom are also marketable at a good price and can help you to enhance your revenue.
similarly, if you want to start the Goat farming business and making a huge profit of even more than 5 lakh in a month, you must read this article – Click here and quick read!
