What is the Cost of Keeping Bees?
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you. 
 
Bees are all the hype. Raw fresh honey? Yes Please! But are you thinking about the cost of that honey? Get the details on what to consider for prices and benefits below. Yes, you can put numbers to each of them to determine if they are actually worth it or what you need to sell your honey for. 
 
First up the bees. There are several options for buying your first bees. You might be able to find a local who wants to downsize and buy and existing hive, but more than likely you will have to buy a nuc or package of bees. Nucs are 5 frames of beehives that are active and have an existing queen and colony ready to grow. Often you can buy a nuc split from local beekeepers. A package bees are ordered through the mail. And placed into a hive. 
 
Next you need a hive. Really you need 2 hives. Starting with 2 hives makes it easier to spot when something is wrong with one of the hives. You can buy a hive new online or find a used hive from local beekeepers looking to downsize. 
 
You also need equipment for you to stay safe when working your bees. A bee suit, hive opener, and fogger are the minimum. These are best to just buy new. 
 
If you live in a cold area, you will need something to feed the bees through the winter with. You can easily make this as it can be as simple as a spacer box, or you can buy your first one, so you have a pattern for later. With this you will also need the sugar to feed them in the winter and early spring as emergency feed. 
 
Varro mites are bound to need to be treated. So, you will have to buy mite treatment yearly. 
 
The final equipment is honey harvest equipment. Yes, you can totally just pull the frames, scrape, and strain. I decided to just buy the spinner expecting my hives to grow and make honey harvest easier, faster, and cleaner. 
 
Now what can bees give you? The obvious one is honey. However, there is more less obvious and harder to price benefits. For instance, pollination services. Having bees helps many garden plants to do better because pollination is better. This gives you a better garden harvest. 
 
Bees can also be entertaining to watch. Even at a distance, you can relax watching them do their thing and feel fascinated by their communication and work.  
Here’s the summery with numbers for a potential apiary in the second year and beyond. 
Expense (2 hives)
 
 
Income (2 hives)
One time
Cost
Life span
Per Year cost
 
 
Bees
$300
20
$15
 
 
Hives
$500
10
$50
 
 
PPE Supplies
$225
15
$15
 
 
Winter Feed box
$55
10
$5.50
 
 
Honey Harvest Equipment
$845
15
$56
 
 
Yearly 
 
 
 
 
 
Sugar
$35
1
$35
Honey (3.75 gal/hive)
$450
Mite treatment
$135
1
$135
Pollination
$330
 
 
 
 
Entertainment
 
Additional w/growth
 
 
 
 
 
Hives
500
10
$50
Hive split
$300
Winter Feed Box
55
10
$5.50
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total 
 
 
$367
 
$1080







 
Yes, you will need to add hives, as you split the hives and your apiary grows, but you will use the hives year after year. To do a true analysis, you will have to split out the life span of the supplies to get the yearly amount. Also note you will probably not have honey the first year. 
 
Happy beekeeping!
 
 
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on amazon below.
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own. 
 
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include gardening, bulk buying, caning/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious, and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision. 
 
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life. 
 
Supporting Your Family Naturally from the Inside Out community!! This community is for Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically, all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years of my journey. We have moved off Facebook, to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly options for providing for your family in the best way possible.
 
Join the FREE Community
 
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
 
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
 
For more on wellness tips click here:
 
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
 
For more simple DIY updates click here:
 

0 Comments

Leave a Comment