Bee Sharing continued: How much money does one bee bring? The economics of beekeeping.

https://pchelosharing.ru/

In November we wrote about how to “digitize” an apiary and turn it into “bee sharing”. In this article, its author, Artem Zharov, talks about the economics of the project and the change in business model.

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Bees in the hive

Actually, the figure of 40 kopecks per year is not entirely accurate. To begin with, on average, a bee lives for 3-4 weeks, meaning each season sees 4-5 generations of bees working.

The 50,000 bees in a hive is also an average number during the peak cycle of the bee colony’s life. When summer begins, everything is in bloom, and the queen bee produces as many bees as possible.

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“Only bees are better than honey”

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Moreover, not all bees gather honey. Apart from the basic division of bees into the queen, drones (males, needed solely for fertilization), and worker bees, there is also a division based on roles, specifically by age. The bee’s body develops, and along with that development, its functions change. The list is ordered by increasing age:

• Cleaner bees 🧹
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• Builder bees 🏗
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• Nurse bees 🍼
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• Guard bees 💂‍♀
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• Ventilating bees 💨
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• Forager bees (peak of bee development) 🍯
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• Scout bees 🔍
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• Water-carrying bees (old age of the bee) 🪣

But since all roles are necessary for production, we can calculate on average.

Bees can gather from 30 to 100 kg of honey per season depending on conditions. Obtaining 50+ kg is possible with an industrial approach, collecting nectar from agricultural fields.

This is 108% not our option because, at a minimum, we dislike monofloral honey (gathered from a single crop), and pesticides can easily find their way into honey.

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Our bees gather around 40 kg, and half of this honey needs to be left for the bees for autumn, winter, and spring. So, we or the hive owners get a yield of 20-23 kg (last season resulted in 21 kg).

Industrial honey 💩

The cost price of industrial honey is 20-40 ₽ per kilogram.

A kilogram of industrial honey in bulk costs 100-250 rubles.

In small wholesale, it goes up to 300 rubles, and at retail directly from the beekeeper, it can be up to 500 rubles.

At fairs, it can reach up to 700 rubles if purchased in 1-2 kg quantities.

In a store, after processing and packaging in a beautiful (or not so beautiful) jar, it can be around 1000-1200 rubles per kilogram.

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Typical honey packaging is the complete opposite of our vibe.

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The cost price of such honey is around 20-40 rubles per kilogram, depending on the arrangement of the apiary, its size, and most importantly, the yield.

All such apiaries use sugar, do not value the life of bee colonies, and do not hesitate to use industrially produced antibiotics, and so on.

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COG of honey manufacturing.

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If a beekeeper sells bee packages and other beekeeping products besides honey, having 500 bee colonies can generate a net income of up to 4 million ₽ per year. Blood money in the honey business.

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Possible profit in an industrial apiary with 500 bee colonies: 4,000,000 per year.

Homegrown honey and honey from eco-friendly apiaries 🍬

Products like these are rarely sold in large wholesale quantities (several tons) because, with minimal sales skills, they can be sold at a good retail price. Also, there are rarely such large apiaries with such an approach.

Average cost price of homegrown honey: 200 ₽ per kilogram.

Summary of indicators and distinctive features:

• Yield: 30 to 50 kg depending on the region.
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• More work on the apiary.
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• Higher expenses for treatment and prevention.
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• No expenses for fuel, as the apiary is stationary.
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• Average cost price comes out to around 200 ₽ per kilogram.

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COGS of eco-friendly apiary.

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Apiaries that are now joining BeeSharing sell their honey in small wholesale for approximately 600-650 ₽ per kilogram. This often exceeds or equals their retail price. However, unlike retail, they don’t need to deal with:

• Packaging
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• Delivery
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• Marketing
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• Sales

Moreover, this is an expansion of the apiary without additional investments – hive acquisition is covered by us.

Thus, by selling through BeeSharing, adding a hundred hives results in an increase in the net profit of the existing apiary up to 1.6 million ₽.

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1.6 million per year. This is an increase in the profit of an eco-apiary of 100 bee families working through bee sharing.

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Working independently, without our platform, a beekeeper is forced to handle packaging, delivery, find clients, rent sales points at fairs or markets, advertise on platforms like Avito, maintain a blog…

Even if they sell at double the price, at 1200₽/kg (though discounts are common, especially for purchasing larger quantities like a 3L jar), the net profit comes out to roughly the same 650-700₽. Additionally, instead of staying at home with the kids and relaxing, they have to deal with sales.

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Our additional values

We have our own apiary, and the figures above are partly based on it.

However, in addition to the apiary, we are developing a platform for beekeepers and a personal hive account for customers. So, in BeeSharing, apart from apiary costs, there are also the following expenses:

Content: It amounts to almost 350k per year, including:

1) A photographer takes photos and videos for photo reports published in the personal account. On average, 2-3 shoots per month.

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2) A photographer takes photos and videos for photo reports published in the personal account. On average, 2-3 shoots per month.

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Illustrations and design. It costs 250k per year. We create packaging for honey and related items. In our catalog, there are 50+ design templates, and each hive owner chooses how their yield will look as we approach autumn.

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Including, we also create custom designs for clients. For example, here is a sketch of a label for the Cinemapicnic apiary of director Maxim Rusanov. The concept was approved on the first attempt:

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Packaging and dispatch of orders + support — 600K per year. We package honey in St. Petersburg, not in the Krasnodar Krai where the apiary is located. From there, we dispatch parcels to customers using a courier service. Shipments usually reach Moscow within a day, and for St. Petersburg, we often provide same-day delivery.

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New Year’s gifts for the employees of Pasha Molyanov’s “Let’s Do It” agency

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Hosting, services, and such — 50K per year

Office rental — 480K per year. For packaging and for me. I have too many children to work from home 🤯

Communication at the apiary — 36K per year and a one-time (hopefully) 100K for equipment.

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🐝🐝🐝 https://pchelosharing.ru/gift

And also: a discount of 9.99% with the promo code “СКОРО14И23”.

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