Beekeeping is it a form of farming. It has a long tradition that dates back to ancient times. Intensive preparation is necessary to get off to a successful start. We'll show you how to proceed.
So how do I start? At the beginning, there is the deliberation whether you have enough capacities because beekeeping is not a weekend hobby, but means a lot of dedication, commitment and investment at the beginning. You should find out in advance what diseases there are, how to prevent them and in case of an allergy to bee venom how you can deal with it.
In the first year your apiary will probably be primarily about gaining experience, and less about a big harvest for a high turnover. You will also deepen your knowledge in the second year. You see, you have to be patient at the beginning. It is best to gather this knowledge before you buy equipment and bee colonies. There are various ways to do this. You can join a beekeeping association and find a mentor or take a beekeeping course. These are usually offered, among others, by beekeeping schools.
The courses not only provide practical knowledge, but also theoretical knowledge. Because for successful beekeeping, it is helpful to know the history of beekeeping and to understand the biology of bees and ecological relationships. How do they live together as a colony, how do I recognize swarming behavior and how do I actually feed my bees correctly? Not with honey from the supermarket, because it can contain germs that are harmful to your bees! Swarm control is important because swarming bees yield less honey. You can prevent it by recognizing it and removing honeycombs with open brood or splitting the colony before they swarm out with a queen.
In addition to theory, practice is also important, which is why guides and tutorials complement learning but cannot completely replace it. The learning process can produce a small harvest in the second year, from the third year on, it becomes more regular and your apiary stabilizes.
Joining a beekeepers association can be useful not least because you can draw on a network of like-minded people and experts. In addition, the membership includes insurance for property and personal damage as well as cases of damage due to storms and storms or theft, as Imkado also writes. In addition, the association can help with legal issues. Because it is essential for you as a beekeeper to know your rights and obligations.
For example, it makes sense to let neighbors know that you will keep bees. Bees are harmless to people, as they only sting when you work on the boxes or they are squeezed, for example when you step on them. Normally, the liability insurance covers the cases when animals damage things or people. Legally, neighbours cannot take action against bees on other properties because bees are no threat or source of disturbance as well as local practice, such as you can read it at Imkado. This is what the Section 906 paragraph 1 sentence 1 BGB.
In addition, a beekeeping association can help you get a bee colony locally, as long transports mean stress for bees.
As for the location, the beehives should face the south or southeast side for anearly exposure to sunlight. In addition, the boxes should protected from wind be set up. In the area, it should flowering plants Give as well as a water source. Because bees are also hungry and thirsty. There should also be enough space to public roads and neighbors. An important point is also the long-term availability of the location where you want to set up the beehives. You should clarify this in advance, as it may not be the case with a rented apartment (roof or balcony).
What do I need?
The basic equipment will cost 600 to 800€, which comprises protective equipment, tools and beehives. In addition, a bee colony costs around 180€ and you will have running costs of 100 to 200€ per year for food, medicines and spare parts, for example for honeycombs and frames. You can also rent the honey extractor. Among others, honey extractors, filling machines and labeling equipment include eligible for funding, but not hives and smokers and other consumables.
You also need enough storage space, such as 1.5 to two square meters per population. You should start with 2 to 3 colonies. Two colonies are better as you are able to compare them. In case one of them dies you still have the second in an emergency. Bees can also share resources. A strong colony can support a weak one with brood honeycombs, for example.
There are 3 options: an offshoot colony, an economic colony or an art swarm.
offshoot colonies have developed 3 to 6 honeycombs with brood, pollen and food. They usually are available from April onif it was created in the previous year. Then it produces a successful harvest even in the first year. Offshoots from May or June of the current year are cheaper and more relaxing for you in the first year to start beekeeping because they don't swarm out as much yet.
economic colonies on the other hand, swarm a lot. swarm controls are necessary and labor-intensive in spring, so it won't be a relaxed first year with your bees, even though you can start spinning honey right away.
You can add a queen to a swarm of bees, which thus creates artificially. What you should avoid is tilling your bees because that means a lot of stress for them. Buying them locally is the better alternative and is possible through beekeeping associations. A queen should be this year or one year old. The The new location must be 3 km away from the old one so that they do not fly back there.
Carnica is the most common breed and is more gentle than the dark bee, which is native to Germany. She has been pushed back and is more likely to sting. It also develops more slowly than Carnica in spring.
You should have a health certificate for your bee colony when you buy it. Be it an offshoot or an economic colony. Because yours You must report beekeeping to the veterinary office. This is because it is responsible for disease control, which includes bee diseases. The local authority must therefore know where and which bee colonies exist. The health certificate proves that your bees are free from diseases such as American fallbrood and the varroa mite are.
A business registration is not required because the apiary is considered an agricultural enterprise. It is only necessary to register a business when more than 50 percent of sales are generated from marketing and delivery, more than a third is purchased or direct marketing is no longer regional (> 100 km) - Similar to a farm shop. You must calculate the profit of third-party products separately.
From a size of 70 peoples, you must also calculate the profit. The profit is then subject to income tax. Honey has 7 percent sales tax if you don't make use of the small business regulation. Accordingly, the Registration with the tax office required. Up to 30 peoples are free of income taxI, everything beyond that is taxed as a lump sum.
In addition to BGB Do you have to in the apiary the Food hygiene regulation And the Food Labeling Ordinance Note as well as the Bee Disease Ordinance And the Bee Protection Ordinance. Because hygiene is also absolutely important in beekeeping as a food business. To do this, you need a HACCP concept. As an amateur beekeeper, however, it is sufficient to follow the good hygiene practice. Because it's about ensuring food safety for consumers. To do this, the Veterinary Office approves your storage facilities and production facilities.
So what do you have to consider for good hygiene practice?
Quality guarantee means that the The natural HMF value of 2 mg per kilo should be maintained as far as possible. The HMF value rises by 2 to 3 mg per year. This value of hydroxymethylfurfural therefore naturally is very low and increases when the sugar in honey is broken down due to heat. Honey can therefore be heat damaged. In fact, naturalness is a main criterion for premium honey, as important flavours and the antibacterial enzymes become wrecked due to heat. This happens over several days even at temperatures of 40 degrees. The value is not uninteresting for your honey. Because you only may identify it as “genuine German honey” of premium quality if the HMF value does not exceed 15 mg/kg. If it is higher than 40 mg, you can only sell the honey as baking honey.
Before honey can be sold, it must be decrystallized, which is via heat supply. For that warm air in a heating chamber or a water bath is ideal. Special devices that melt only a thin layer of honey on a plate are expensive to buy, but they are also very gentle and efficient, as the heat contact is only very brief and does not form HMF in the process. You should make sure that there is no reheat, but actively countercool, and also do not use a microwave and do not heat the honey in a glass afterwards.
HMF formation is also accelerated when honey is stored above 18 degrees, if it is a sour type of honey with a higher pH value or for one with high fructose content or when the water content is high. For premium honey, the water content must not exceed 18%. Honey with a higher water content is susceptible to fermentation. However, fermented honey can still be used for baking and cooking.
Bees bring acid and enzymes into honey. This includes invertase, which breaks down sugar. The Invertase value must be 64 units per kilo. Since it is a heat-sensitive enzyme, its activity is particularly high when the honey is barely heat treated. However, a lower enzyme activity may also be due to the specific sort of honey. The criterion is therefore not clearly indicative of naturalness.
However, consumers assume that honey is a natural product, which is why there must be criteria for its naturalness. Imported honey is often used for cost reasons stretched with invert sugar and is then of course a heavily processed product.
However, it should be pointed out here that, as a natural product, it can also cause allergies. Immunocompromised people, for example, should not eat honey. In addition, just because honey is a natural product it is no healthier than other sugary foods. At the consumer advice center you can find more information.
From June 14, 2026 on, there will be a new hygiene regulation applying. In fact, filtered honey can then only be labelled as baking honey in order to protect consumers better from more processed sorts.
However, the term is misleading because Filtered honey is not automatically worse is — unless the naturalness criterion is central to the evaluation. Rather the line between filtered honey and varieties stretched with sugar syrup is blurred here.
Whether the pollen has been removed is even a less meaningful criterion. What is more important is that honey is not contaminated. Nevertheless, it was previously forbidden, for example, to sell and import ultra-purified, syrupy varieties as baking honey, which is now possible again. Read more about this in the press portal.
In addition, you have to indicate with percentages which countries the honey comes from. Other information that must be on your labels, are the best before date (month/year), which can be up to 24 months. However, the honey is still edible afterwards. The shelf life of water-rich varieties should be stated more briefly. Plus the batch number and other additives.
For foods like honey, you need batch tracing and labels. Other important features include automatic invoicing and the billing of glass deposit as well as flexible payment methods and optimized routes for possible delivery. The keyword here is automatic. Depending on how much effort you make and your customer group, investing in a ERP software worthwhile. FrachtPilot supports your company among other things with:
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In the beginning, expectations should be placed less on turnover and more on experience and knowledge and gain in the practical handling of bees. Smaller harvests are only realistic from the 2nd year and large harvests only in the third.
To find out how worthwhile an apiary is, you can calculate the ROI. Read a detailed explanation of return on investment in our blog. With investments of 1100€, the return on investment (ROI) is achieved after 2.5 years.
Because with 2 to 3 bee colonies, you have 200€ running costs per year with a yield of around 25 kg of honey per year, which you can sell for 8 €/kg.
This results in an annual turnover of 600€ and a profit of 400€. Direct marketing can make for a shorter period of time.
Die Beekeeping requires a lot of patience and dedication and investment in the beginning. Die direct marketing may shorten the break-even point, but may also require a business registration. If you're still looking for a ERP system You are Have a look at usi, Test FrachtPilot for free or get to know us in a free webinar. We're looking forward to seeing you!
