How Much Does Beekeeping Cost To Get Started

Apiculture has been a great habit for humans since before the Ancient era. However, every beginner who is thinking of getting started with beekeeping, has a common and first consideration, “how much does beekeeping cost?”

If I tell you straight forward you will require 150$ to 1000$ to get started with beekeeping. The amount of beekeeping cost will vary on which region you are living, how you manage bees, no. hives, and other necessary tools to get things started.

Throughout this post, I will try to provide you with a basic idea about beekeeping costs for a beginner. Remember this beekeeping cost calculation is approximate. It will actually depend on the price of each of these things in your region. But you will get to know what are the things you will have to gather to start your first hive.

 

 

 

Is Beekeeping An Expensive Hobby?

If you are smart enough and try to manage some equipment at a low cost, beekeeping won’t be an expensive hobby. If you want to purchase everything to get started with beekeeping it might require around 400$ to get started.

So, it will actually depend on your goal of beekeeping and your beekeeping material management technique. For example first of all you have to learn the basics of beekeeping to get started.

You can either purchase a course or learn it from YouTube or blogs on how to start beekeeping. So, to get a course you will have to pay. If you learn from YouTube, blogs, or beekeeping social media communities it doesn’t require any money.

So, it will totally depend on your approach and how you are managing things around. There are some unavoidable costs like purchasing hive tools, protective gear, etc which you can’t ignore. In conclusion, beekeeping is an average hobby, not too expensive.

 

 

Is It Expensive To Get Started With A Single Hive?

Getting started with a single hive is not expensive as it requires small space and maintenance costs. You will require protective gear, a nuc of bees, a hive, and hive tools. So, the cost won’t be much.

If you can manage well you can even get started with a single hive for as little as around 150$. After the end of this post, you will get some idea of how you can reduce your beekeeping cost. So, if you can follow my tips properly you will be able to reduce your cost of beekeeping.

 

 

 

How Much Does Beekeeping Cost

To get started in beekeeping you may cost somewhat between 100$ and 1000$ depending on various factors. To get started with beekeeping you will require basic knowledge. Also, you have to accumulate some necessary tools. So, you have to purchase them.

 

In some cases, you may be required to purchase land to start an apiary. For small apiaries like 2 hives, you might not be required to purchase land. You can start your apiary in your yards. But you must have to manage the following things to get started in beekeeping.

1. Hive tools.
2. Bee suit and veil.
3. Beekeeping gloves.
4. Nuc Of Bees.
5. Beehive.
6. Bee smoker.

You may need extra equipment like a feeder, winter wraps, etc with time. But the above 6 things you must accumulate to start your first apiary.

 

 

Factors On Which Beekeeping Cost Depends

Beekeeping costs can vary for different people. Your required cost to start with beekeeping depends on the common factors.

• Geographic Location: In different location equipment cost is different. So, the price of beehives, hive tools, bee suits, etc will be different depending on your local region.
• Education: Before starting your first hive, you must learn beekeeping basic and hive maintenance techniques. You can purchase a course. Or learn from YouTube, blogs, online forums, and social media communities free of cost.
• No. Of Hives: If you want to get started with a large no of hives you will require more space and maintenance. So, you will require more cost for beekeeping. selecting the right no. of hives to get started in beekeeping is really important. Per hive, you can expect around 20$ to 250$.
• Type Of Bees: Obviously bees are the must thing for beekeeping. Selecting the right type of bees to get started in beekeeping is also vital. So, a bee nuc cost will vary depending on the type of bee.
• Type Of Beehive: Obviously different types of beehives require different costs. A Langstroth hive price started from 50$ to 250$ on average, and a top bar hive started from 50$ to 150$ on average.
• Mite Treatment: Different regions have different mite infections. Also, the frequency of bee diseases vary for different geographic location. You can contact your local beekeepers to get an idea about mites in your region. So, depending on the risk of mite attack and the type of mites in your region, you have to keep a budget for mite treatment before you get started in beekeeping.
• Honey Extraction: Different honey extraction techniques require different equipment like extractors, filters, jars, etc. For large-scale honey production, you may require a honey warming cabinet to keep your honey safe.
• Your Goal: If you want to keep bees for commercial purposes, obviously you will require more people and maintenance. So, the cost will be higher. To get started as an intent of hobby, you might not require very advanced tools, so the cost will be comparatively lower.
• Feeding Mechanism: Different feeding mechanisms require different costs. In some cases, you might not need to provide sugar syrup. For example, if your hive is inside a crop field, bees will collect pollen as they require on their own. So, you don’t have to feed them in such situations.

So, for beekeepers of different regions, and depending on your goal, your beekeeping cost will be different.

 

There is no exact prediction of beekeeping cost. But we can predict that as a beginner in the United States, you may require 200$ to 1000$ to get started with your first apiary.

 

 

 

Beekeeping Cost Calculation To Get Started With One Hive

I have already discussed with you the factors on which your beekeeping cost depends. Here I am going to give you an idea, of how much cost you will require to get started with a single hive in the United States.

I am considering everything you have to purchase. You have enough land to place your apiary. You have zero knowledge about beekeeping basics.

Here is the cost prediction for you to kick off your beekeeping journey with a single hive.

• Education: You can purchase a beekeeping course online, or purchase a book on beekeeping basics. You can also join a local beekeeping club in your region. There are plenty of other ways to learn beekeeping. So, considering the cost of learning beekeeping is around 50$.
• Beehive: Considering you are going to purchase a Langstroth hive. A good quality 10-frame langstroth hive requires around 130$ to 220$.
• Protective Gear: You have to purchase a bee suit, veil, and beekeeping gloves. These will cost 40$ to 100$.
• Hive Tools: You have to purchase a bee smoker, and other necessary tools at the beginning. On average this will cost 30$. Keep in mind when you are going to extract honey you may require a honey extractor. This may cost around 100$. In the beginning, you can ignore the honey extractor.
• Nuc Of Bees: You have to purchase a new Nuc of Bees first. Then you can transfer the nuc to your beehive. A nuc of honey bees costs 60$ to 250$.
• Feeder: To feed sugar syrup to your bees, you have to purchase a feeder. Bee feeders cost around 20$ each. For a single hive, one bee feeder is quite good enough.

So, these are the things that you must gather for starting beekeeping with a single hive. This will cost 350$ to 500$. So, you need at least around 400$ to get started in beekeeping to start from scratch.

 

It is better to keep some extra money on hand. Because after starting the hive you may be required to spend some extra money for caring your bees. Those may include the following.

• To extract honey you may require a honey extractor.
• You have to winterize your beehive before the winter which may require some extra cost.
• You have to keep some money for mite treatment.
• Sometimes the queen can die. To save the queenless hive you may be required to manually requeen the hive. Sometimes you have to purchase a queen in a cage to requeen a queenless hive.

There are so many other things that beekeepers might have to spend money on. Don’t worry about them. Just get started when you have the mandatory things discussed above. With time you will be able to discover on your own what you actually need to make your beekeeping easier and profitable.

 

 

 

Tips To Reduce Beekeeping Cost

The best way to reduce beekeeping costs is to reuse things over and over and try to gather things as freely as possible. Here are some tips that will reduce your beekeeping cost.

• In your region, some beekeepers may sell their old hives which are totally usable. To purchase an old hive you will require less than half of the price of a new beehive. So, try to purchase old hives to reduce the cost. The same thing goes for other necessary things like purchasing a bee smoker, and other hive tools.
• Plenty of resources are available to learn beekeeping for free. You will get everything you need to start beekeeping for free. But my suggestion is if you have money it is better to take a course where you will learn every necessary thing step by step.
• Use a bee smoker with pallets. Pallets as fuel will save your money and it is also harmless for bees.
• Don’t destroy your abandoned hive. You can reuse an abandoned beehive for a new nuc of bees or for other uses.
• If possible you can also build a Langstroth hive on your own. This will minimize the cost to an absolute minimum.
• If you see bee swarms quite often in your region, you can catch them using a bee swarm trap. You can build your own bee swarm trap at a cost of as little as 5$ only.

 

 

If you are smart enough you will be able to start things with absolutely minimum amount of cost. But make sure the things you manage are absolutely safe and usable. It is not preferred to use risky materials for beekeeping to reduce the cost.

Here is my cost of beekeeping to get things started.

• I purchased an Asian Honey Bee Nuc from an online bee-selling community in my region. I had to pay 40$ for this. Remember my first nuc was brought in 2015. So, the current price of nuc may be higher than that.
• I purchased a bee smoker with pellets and other hive tools at a cost of only 20$ from the local shop.
• My beekeeping suit was prepared by my mother. I only purchased a veil and beekeeping gloves. They cost about 10$.
• I made the Langstroth hive on my own. The plywood and almost every tool required to build the hive I got from our garage. So, the cost of my hive is negligible.

So, you see I have started my beekeeping journey only from 70$ to 100$. Thus the cost of beekeeping depends on your approach and purpose of starting your apiary.

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

So, guys hopefully you have got an idea about how much beekeeping costs to get the thing started. Remember the cost will vary depending on your goal, region, and market situation.

If you have a large apiary you will obviously require a large amount of cost. It is preferred to start from as little as 1 to 2 hives. If you have more money, you can increase the no. of hives with time.

On average for a beginner, the beekeeping cost is 400$ to 600$. If you are tricky enough you will be able to start your beekeeping as little as 200$.

 

 

References & Helpful Research

• Tips to determine how many Brood boxes to use in your hive.
• T. D. Breeze, R. Dean, and S. G. Potts, “The costs of beekeeping for pollination services in the UK – an explorative study,” J. Apic. Res., vol. 56, 2017. Read the research paper.
• M. Miklyaev, G. P. Jenkins, and R. R. Barichello, “Honey production in Ethiopia: A cost-benefit analysis of modern versus traditional beekeeping technologies,” Development Discussion Paper: 2013-17. Download the PDF.
• Deciding on how many hives per apiary for beekeeping.