The HiveMoney Blog
Straight writing about the business side of beekeeping — what colonies cost, what honey and pollination should be priced at, and how to run the numbers on an apiary.
How to Scale from 50 to 500 Hives: A Commercial Beekeeping Roadmap
Scaling a beekeeping operation from 50 to 500 hives is less about biology and more about business systems. This guide covers the capital requirements, revenue benchmarks, operational milestones, and software tools that separate thriving commercial apiaries from those that stall at the sideline stage.
Read the guideBeekeeping Taxes: Deductions, Records, and Schedule F
Beekeeping is classified as farming by the IRS, which means your income and expenses go on Schedule F — not Schedule C. Here's what you can deduct, how to prove business intent, and what records to keep so you're not leaving money on the table.
August 14, 2026
The Complete Beekeeping Business Plan Template
A beekeeping business plan is more than a document — it's the financial roadmap that separates hobbyists from profitable operations. This guide covers every section you need, with real cost and revenue benchmarks.
August 12, 2026
Is Beekeeping Profitable? An Honest Cost Breakdown
Most beekeeping profitability advice is either wildly optimistic or vague. Here is the actual structure of the math, the cost lines people forget, and the three thresholds where the economics shift.
August 12, 2026
What Does It Actually Cost to Keep a Hive?
Startup cost and annual cost are two very different numbers, and confusing them is why so many beekeepers are surprised in year two. Here is every line that belongs in the model.
August 12, 2026
How to Price Your Honey: Retail, Wholesale, and Bulk
Most beekeepers price honey by looking at what the person at the next market stall charges. Here is how to price it from your own cost base instead.
August 12, 2026
Pollination Contract Rates: How to Price a Placement
A pollination rate is not a price for bees. It is a price for moving, feeding, monitoring, and risking a colony during the most stressful weeks of its year.
August 12, 2026
HiveTracks Alternatives: 5 Options for Beekeepers in 2026
HiveTracks has been around the longest, but it is not the only option. Here is what each alternative actually does, what it costs, and which kind of beekeeper it fits.
August 12, 2026
Best Beekeeping Software for Commercial Operations in 2026
Most beekeeping apps were designed for hobbyists and stretched to fit commercial operations. Here is what to look for when you are running hundreds or thousands of hives as a business.
August 12, 2026
Beekeeping Software Comparison: Features, Pricing, and Fit (2026)
Every beekeeping app does inspection logging. The differences are in what happens after the inspection — financial tracking, voice entry, AI analysis, and how much it costs.
August 12, 2026
Spreadsheets vs. Beekeeping Software: When to Switch
Spreadsheets work surprisingly well for beekeeping records — until they do not. Here is how to know when the switching cost is worth it.
August 12, 2026
Beekeeping Software: A Practical Buyer’s Guide
Most beekeeping software is built to record inspections. Very little of it is built to tell you whether the operation makes money. Here is how to tell the categories apart and pick the right one.
August 12, 2026
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