1. Home: Explore careers
  2. Beekeeper

Beekeeper

Alternative titles for this job include Apiarist, apiculturist

Beekeepers manage colonies of honeybees kept in hives to produce honey, beeswax and royal jelly.

Average salary (a year)

Variable

Typical hours (a week)

37 to 42 variable

You could work

freelance / self-employed managing your own hours

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become a beekeeper

You can get into this job through:

  • a college course
  • starting as a hobby and learning on the job

College

You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills you need to get into beekeeping.

There are short introductory courses for beginners as well as ones that lead to a qualification, like the Level 1 Award in Introduction to Beekeeping.

Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements for this route.

More Information

Other Routes

You can keep bees as a hobby and learn how to successfully set up and manage healthy colonies of honeybees.

You can also join a beekeeping group where you'll learn from experienced beekeepers, and work towards qualifications offered by The British Beekeepers Association.

More Information

Further information

You can find out more about becoming a beekeeper through The British Beekeepers Association and the National Bee Unit.

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • observation and recording skills
  • knowledge of biology
  • the ability to work on your own
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to operate and control equipment
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

As a beekeeper, you'll:

  • build, inspect or repair hives
  • introduce a new colony or look after an existing one
  • check the health of your bees
  • treat your hive and bees to fight disease and pests
  • breed queen bees and set up smaller, starter colonies
  • collect honey from hives
  • prepare and bottle honey
  • market honey and products like beeswax
  • mentor or train new beekeepers

Working environment

You could work on a farm or at a bee yard.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

You could move into training or commercial bee farming and develop more hives over a wider area.

With qualifications in science, you could work in crop production and pollination research.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a beekeeper right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Beekeeping for Beginners

  • Provider: EASTLEIGH COLLEGE
  • Start date: 22 February 2023
  • Location: Eastleigh
Find courses near you

Jobs In the United Kingdom

The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.

Search further careers

Related careers

Skills assessment

Take an assessment to learn more about your skills and the careers that might suit you.

Speak to an adviser

Call 0800 100 900 or use webchat

  • 8am - 8pm Monday - Friday
  • 10am - 5pm Saturday

Is this page useful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you for your feedback. Click here if you'd like to let us know how we can improve the service.