Image by Salim Virji
Beekeeping in Alphabet City
Question by sally b: is beekeeping financially viable as a small business in the UK?
I’m interested in beekeeping as a hobby but want to know if it at least pays for itself or better still makes a bit of money. I’m looking at selling the by products as candles and soap etc. too.
Does anyone have any advice?
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
Its a very risky business to go into. You’re unlikely to be able to sell your products commercially in any great quantity (supermarkets etc wont buy from you uless you can sell to them really cheap and guarantee a consistently large supply).
You may be able to sell a few at a local market but I doubt that alone would be enough for you to turn a profit and how confident are you in being able to keep up supply?
Geographicaly are you in an area where there is enough pollen to support a beekeeping hobby? What about buying the equipment and bees – do you have the capital or would you need a loan?
Sorry about all the questions but these are all things that you need to consider before starting up.
ps By-products is great idea – try not to waste anything!
Very best of luck to you: I hope it works out.
I’ll buzz off now ha ha.
Ted
November 6, 2011 at 11:41 pm