How to Start a a Honeybee Farming (Beekeeping) Business

Described here are how an entrepreneur can profitably start a honeybee farming or beekeeping business in Nigeria or other West African countries.

Honey is produced by honey bees and is very beneficial in all way round; it serves both nutritional and medicinal purposes which makes it highly sought after in Nigeria and the other parts of the world. It is one of the farming businesses that are gradually increasing as there is no fear of spoilage in this case.

Do you know that honey is the only food that cannot spoil? Although it can change in terms of aroma and colour which tends to darken and can also become very thick and cloudy (crystallization) over a long period of storage but can still retain its normal colour and original consistency back when it is being heated under low temperature.

•    Unlike most agricultural practices, honey farm business requires a lot of skills and knowledge which will quicken its productions and fetch you more money. So after you must have concluded within yourself to start this kind of farming practice, it is better to work on a honey farm as an employee first or in other training courses which will provide you with the basic knowledge and understanding of what it entails to venture into such practice.

•    Bee farming may not require much capital if you want to start small and some other equipment that is required can be constructed locally in order to reduce cost. Going into such farming business on a large scale in Nigeria will require millions of naira which you will need for mechanized equipment and other facilities that are necessary for bee farming practices such as brood chamber, honey boxes, and containers, overalls, etc.

•    To start small, you may not necessarily need to buy a land unless you have the money, you can rent a farmland or share with another farmer but make sure that the farm has fruits such as pineapple, citrus, and flowers which will serve as a shade for the bees from direct sunlight and can easily attract the bees both as source of their food and for pollination.

•    You can put your hives on such a tree as it will make their source of food easier and will as well help in pollinating the fruits and plants on the farm. While setting the hives, you have to make sure that it is close to the source of clean water too but try as much to avoid placing them in a swampy area as that might affect their normal temperature.
        Note that the kind of honey which the bees produce is dependent on what they eat which, might result in various honey flavors.

•    But make sure that in your choice of land is suitable, in the case of bee farming it is advised to avoid farms that are close to noise areas or road in order not to sting humans, when they are distracted by noise, therefore, finding a farmland in remote areas may be the best option in this case where there is less noise but make sure it has an easy reach to transport.

•    To get the best product out from your bees you have to understand the seasonal cycles associated with beekeeping especially the colony which can occur more than once in tropical regions like Nigeria and in some other sub-tropical areas in order to maintain the hives very well and get the maximum yield of honey as possible.

•    Avoid the spraying of pesticides or insecticides on bee farms because it affects them, why? Remember that bees are insects too so using such will kill the bees which are out for food during such time and they might even take it back to the hive where more bees are thereby infecting them.
        But in such cases where it can’t be avoided, it should be done in the evening time when they do not search for foods but make sure that the pesticides or insecticides are less toxic and can easily decompose as well.

•    To increase your profit and sales, you can as well market your products by letting food stores, pharmacies and other related industries to know about your beekeeping business, there is no need to fear if they will accept because it is better buying from a beekeeper than from the markets and also those in need for honey are way lot more than the supply itself.

Honey production is very lucrative as just one hive can produce as much as 13 liters of honey on an average.  It is not capital intensive per say and can be easily be managed by one person except during the time of extracting the honey when you surely need assistance for effective operation.