Beekeeper Business Education Retreat

Commodities

Practices

Beekeeping is generally a two-sided operation - keeping bees on one side and sales to support the keeping of bees on the other. I propose an overnight retreat for a small group of beekeepers to learn about different business considerations as they prepare for sales. Bee clubs help their members become better beekeepers, but do very little to help beekeepers succeed in planning, branding, labeling, bottle selection, sales, inventory management, insurances, digital presences, and marketing. 

I produced learning circles for beekeepers in Iowa during 2023 and 2024. Virtual learning circles had 50% attendance to registration ratios, but for the topics of insurance and logos, the rate was over 80%. Bringing business topics to a retreat will be explored before harvesting, bottling, and other decisions need to be made. Using a weekend format will be innovative through its compressed timeline as well as creating accessibility and community by having a small group with on-site experts who will be participants outside of their sessions. Participants will leave with training that can make a business economically viable in a way to sustain and balance the expenses of the beekeeping side of their operation.

Participants will go home with their own digital headshot file and Google business account, information to assess their market and financial readiness, knowledge about insurance products and questions to ask their agent; new or updated social media accounts and other digital presences; knowledge to support sales including storage, bottling, labels, and graphics; a panel with a small, medium, and large producer to demonstrate different challenges and paths to profitability based on size of operation; and networking with each other.