How to Start a Profitable Honey Bee Farm in India?

Table of Contents

• Introduction to Bee Farming
• How to Start a Honeybee Farm?
  • Find a Suitable Location
  • Get Honey Bee Farming Equipment
  • Care & Management of Pollination Bees
  • Protect Honey Bees from Pests & Diseases
  • Harvest & Market Bee Products
• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Honey Beekeeping in India
• Things to Consider Before Starting a Honey Bee Farm

Introduction to Bee Farming in India

Beekeeping is a traditional practice of collecting honey and other bee products in India. Due to the rising demand for honey in both domestic and international markets, honey bee farming has become a booming business. In 2023, the size of the Indian apiculture market increased to INR 25,760.9 million. National Bee Board has registered around 19.34 lakhs honey bee colonies and 12,699 beekeepers. In 2023, the honey production in India was reported to be around 1,33,200 metric tonnes.

Beekeeping is considered a low-investment industry that demands low skill levels. One can enter this business with an investment of just INR 2.25 lakhs. In addition to honey, it produces other high-demand products like bee wax, venom, propolis and royal jelly. Thus, honey bee farming is a lucrative business with high-income potential. It can directly employ lakhs of individuals, mainly tribals, hill dwellers, farmers and unemployed youth.

How to Start a Honeybee Farm?

Before starting a bee farm, you must understand the life cycle of a honey bee. Its egg takes around 21 days to turn into an adult. The entire lifecycle comprises 4 stages: egg, larva (Day 6 – 10), pupa (Day 14 – 18) and adult (Day 21). There are three adult castes in every bee colony: queens, male drones, and female workers. The drones mate with the queen during the mating season so that the queen can lay eggs. Worker bees perform most tasks important for the effective functioning of the hive, including collecting pollen and nectar, wax making, and feeding larvae, drones and the queen.

The different types of honey bees in India include Apis dorsata, Apis florea, Apis cerana indica, Melipona irridipennis and Apis mellifera. If you are considering honey bee farming, you must take apiculture training. You can reach out to the local agricultural university or agriculture department for suitable knowledge and training on honey bee culture.

Central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI) Pune offers training programs to cover key activities like bee botany, beekeeper training, bee pollination and bee chemistry. There are around 15 CBRTI training courses, ranging from 2 hours to 6 months.

Find a Suitable Location

You need to select a place with dry conditions without dampness. Due to high relative humidity (RH), the bee flight may change along with how nectar ripens. You will also need a water source at your bee farm. It does not matter if it is natural or artificial as long as it is clean. Trees perform the action of windbreaks in cooler places.

In addition, hives need to be placed under a shelter for protection from extreme weather conditions. You can provide shade using artificial structures or trees. Bee pasturage includes plants that offer nectar and pollen to bees. Thus, your selected site must have these plants nearby in abundance.

Get Honey Bee Farming Equipment

Local beekeepers can help you select ideal bees for your farm with a high survival rate. Get information about species that are adapted to the climate and other conditions of your region. Also, several tools are needed for commercial bee farming in India. The main components of a hive are floor board, brood chamber, super chamber, hive cover and frames. Other equipment needed for successful honey bee cultivation include:

• Comb foundation sheet
• Embedder
• Drone excluder
• Queen excluder
• Hive tool
• Smoker
• Protective Gear
• Honey extractor

Care & Management of Pollination Bees

The honey making process involves bees obtaining nectar from flowers and turning it into honey. Thus, you are advised to locate the apiary site near fields with flowers so that bees do not have to travel far for nectar. A field with 10% flowering is suitable for bee colonies. If you have Indian bees, you should establish 5 colonies per hectare. It is 3 colonies per hectare for Italian bees.

Proper care must be taken to procure bee colonies or queen bees from reputed apiaries or government authorities like the National Bee Board. Each hive needs a healthy queen bee. 5 – 6 frames of bees with young mated queens and sealed brood make strong colonies. Also, proper space for storing pollen and honey must be ensured. 

Protect Honey Bees from Pests & Diseases

Pests and diseases are a major threat to bee farming as they can easily destroy whole colonies of bees. Common pests that infect bee farming include wax moths, brood mites, bee mites, Varroa destructor, tracheal mites, wasps, ants, etc. Following are the ways to prevent some pests:

• Black ants can be managed by uniting colonies to form strong ones. Chemicals like chlorpyriphos solution and Methyl parathion can be used to eliminate ant nests.
• Bottom boards must be cleaned regularly to control wax beetles.
• Frames can be dusted with micronized sulphur to prevent Varroa destructor. Another method is fumigation with Folbex strips (Bromopropylate).
• Remove any debris present in the crevices of hives to control wax moths.

Many diseases can infect honey bees in India. Adult bees are highly susceptible to Nosema diseases. It can be controlled by an antibiotic called Fumagillin. Bacterial diseases include Americal foulbrood disease (AFB), European foulbrood disease (EFB) and Chalk-brood disease (Ascosphaerosis).

AFB can be controlled by completely destroying diseased colonies. Quarantine and fumigation with ethylene oxide are effective methods to control EFB. The Sac-brood disease is a viral disease infecting honey bee broods. It can be prevented by maintaining the hygiene of bees and hives. You can contact the local agriculture department for more information on preventive and control measures for pests and diseases.

Harvest & Market Bee Products

There are several bee products to be harvested from a bee farm. The harvesting of honey is done when the flowering season ends. A honey extractor is utilized to extract honey from super combs. Combs with ripe honey and a thin layer of beeswax are chosen in top-bar or traditional hives. These combs are generally present near the outer side of the nest. Honey is used in the form of food, medicine and cash crops.

Beeswax is collected from cappings that are obtained when honey is being extracted. Also, it is extracted from old, unfit and damaged combs. Beeswax is used in candle, cosmetic, perfume and pharmaceutical industries. Similarly, specialized procedures are used to obtain other bee products, like venom, propolis, pollen and royal jelly.

You can contact local dealers and established businesses to market bee products. Local confectioners and bakers are a big market for honey. Good-quality honey attracts a high rate in the market. Also, honey has huge export potential, with India exporting around 50% of the total honey produced.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Honey Beekeeping in India

This analysis provides a project report for a bee farm of 100 colonies. Note that some costs have been assumed, keeping market rates under consideration. The costs involved in the analysis may vary in your area. Additional expenditures can also be involved in setting up and operating a bee farm. Also, the rates have been assumed based on historical data. This report will give you a general idea of the expenses and income of a honey bee farm.

So, the net income will be the difference between total income and recurring costs.

= 90500 – 33000

= ₹ 57,500.

The income will increase in the following years as there will be no non-recurring expenses. Along with honey business and bee products, you can gain more income because of increased crop output via pollination services.

Things to Consider Before Starting a Honey Bee Farm

• Make yourself familiar with the local bees and their behaviour with humans. You can take the help of local beekeepers for this purpose.
• Ensure all the technical help and required inputs are available in your area.
• Come up with a practical business plan, including key factors like equipment procurement, product processing, marketing, etc.
• Start with a minimum of 2 hives and increase your capacity over the years.

Honeybee farming in India has the potential to become a highly lucrative business. Follow this guide to open and run a profitable bee farm. With proper care and maintenance, you can easily obtain valuable bee products and take your business to a larger scale in the future.