Beekeepers
Overview
Introduction
Beekeepers, also known as apiarists, care for and raise honeybees for commercial and agricultural purposes, such as honey production and crop pollination. Their duties might include assembling beehives and other equipment, buying and selling bees, establishing settlements close to pollination-dependent crops, transporting wild beehives to a central location, raising queen bees, and harvesting and selling honey. Beekeepers may work on farms or small plots of land to raise bees to assist in the production of grain and other a...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Earnings for beekeepers vary greatly, even from year to year, as honey prices fluctuate and production from hives changes. Other variables that affect earnings include the number of hives a beekeeper has, the type of honey produced, and the season's weather conditions. Some beekeepers end up with no profits. Commercial beekeepers may only make in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. In September 2019,...
Work Environment
Beekeepers work primarily outdoors. The "in-season" hours (mostly in the spring and summer) can be very long, and the work can be physically challenging. Those who enjoy nature might well be suited for beekeeping. Indoor beekeeping systems have been produced, but they are at best novelties, insufficient for professional beekeeping and risky for the health of the colony.
Outlook
With approximately 1,600 commercial beekeepers currently in operation in the United States and one-third of our food supply dependent on honeybees for pollination, it might seem logical to assume that there will be increasing demand for the services of beekeepers in the future. But foreign competition and an increase in bee diseases are strongly affecting employment opportunities for beekeepers...
