A producer who maintains honeybee colonies for honey, pollination services, and other hive products.
What beekeepers do
Beekeepers inspect hives, manage pests such as Varroa mites, requeen colonies, harvest honey and wax, and rent colonies for almond, blueberry, and other crop pollination. Commercial beekeepers move thousands of hives by truck to follow bloom across the country.
Training path
Most US beekeepers learn from local beekeeping associations, apprenticeships under experienced beekeepers, and university extension programs. State certifications and master beekeeper programs validate expertise. Many start as hobbyists before scaling up.
Operations
US beekeeping ranges from hobbyists with a few backyard hives to commercial operators running ten thousand or more colonies. Revenue comes from honey, pollination contracts, queen and nucleus sales, beeswax, and increasingly local direct sales of specialty honey.
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Beekeeper starts with B and ends with R. Browse other professions along the same letter.
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