Tending honeybee colonies for honey production, pollination contracts, or hive sales, you manage living livestock at scale — hives placed across farms or apiaries, requiring seasonal inspections, mite-and-disease management, harvest cycles, and the steady stewardship that bee colonies demand.
The year tends to run on the bee calendar — spring buildup, the honey flow, fall preparation, winter stewardship — with each phase carrying distinct work. Apiary visits, hive inspections, queen checks, supering during flow, harvesting and extracting, treating for varroa mites, preparing colonies for winter. Colony survival, honey yield, and pollination-contract delivery shape the visible measures.
The harder part is often colony collapse and disease pressure — varroa mites, foulbrood, pesticide exposure, and weather variability can decimate operations in a single season, and recovery takes years. Variance by scale is sharp: hobbyist beekeepers may run a few hives for personal honey; commercial beekeepers truck thousands of hives across states for pollination contracts (almonds, blueberries, apples).
The work tends to suit folks who carry comfort with stinging insects, biological-system patience, and the physical stamina for hive work in heat and protective gear. Apprenticeship under an established beekeeper anchors the practical knowledge that books don't fully teach. The trade-off is weather and biology risk — a hot summer, a wet spring, or a disease outbreak can erase a year's investment.
Don't know if you want to stay in your job?
Get your career on record. Then decide.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Turn your career record
into a springboard for growth.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Agriculture roles →Tending honeybee colonies for honey production, pollination contracts, or hive sales, you manage living livestock at scale — hives placed across farms or apiaries, requiring seasonal inspections, mite-and-disease management, harvest cycles, and the steady stewardship that bee colonies demand.
Median pay for a Beekeeper is about $62K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $27K to $157K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Management of Personnel Resources, and Speaking.
Most people in this role hold an associate's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 3.15% through 2034, with roughly 41,330 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Aquaculture Director, Plant Manager, and Accredited Farm Afm Coordinator / Accredited Farm Afm Associate.
Do one small thing to grow in your career this week. Pick one of these; each comes with the words to use.
More career advice
We believe careers grow through small steps taken often, more than big leaps. So we’ve collected hundreds of them for you to try.
Browse career adviceTurn your career record
into a springboard for growth.