A viable beekeeping unit is about 50 colonies of Apis mellifera. Under the MIDH norms it costs about ₹2.2 lakh (50 colonies at ₹4,000 plus ₹20,000 of equipment), of which the state horticulture mission can pay 40%. With ordinary stationary management, expect very roughly ₹20,000 to ₹1 lakh net a year from honey, depending on forage and on whether bulk honey sells nearer ₹100 or ₹150 per kg; migratory beekeepers who follow mustard, litchi and eucalyptus flows can do better, but they also carry more cost and risk.
Beekeeping also earns through pollination. NBB has approved hiring rates for bee colonies of ₹3,000 per hectare for pigeon pea and ₹2,000 per hectare for mustard, sunflower and niger. This guide sets out the species, equipment, yearly calendar, costs, the subsidy as it really stands, and the quality rules for selling honey.
Which bee and how many colonies
| Bee | Where kept | Honey per colony | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apis mellifera (Italian bee) in Langstroth boxes | Plains and foothills: Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and many southern areas | Commonly quoted national average about 14 kg a year; good migratory operators 30 to 50 kg or more | About 70 to 75% of India's honey; needs flows, feeding in dearth and disease watch |
| Apis cerana (Indian hive bee) in smaller boxes | Hills, North-East, Kerala, Karnataka forests, where it is native | Commonly quoted average about 7 kg a year; 8 to 15 kg in good places | Hardier and less migration, lower yield; often the only option in hills |
| Wild rock bee (A. dorsata) and stingless bees | Forest honey hunting; stingless bees in boxes for small quantities | Very small per colony | Not suitable as a commercial base |
The yield figures above are commonly quoted in secondary summaries; we could not confirm them in an official source, so treat them as planning assumptions. They vary widely by region and year. Use them as a reality check: if a seller promises 40 kg per colony in your district without migration, ask the district horticulture office or beekeeper association for actual local numbers.
NBHM treats 50 colonies of 10-frame hives (with supers) as the minimum viable unit, scalable to 200 colonies. Start with 10 to 20 colonies for one season if you are new, because learning queen and swarm management on 50 at once is expensive.
Equipment and what it costs
MIDH (2025 guidelines, dated 31.12.2024) lists these norms under pollination support through beekeeping:
| Item | Cost norm | Assistance |
|---|---|---|
| One 8-frame bee box with bee colony | ₹4,000 per unit | 40%, limited to 50 colonies per beneficiary |
| Bee hive / box alone | ₹2,000 per hive | 40%, limited to 50 colonies per beneficiary |
| Equipment set: 4-frame honey extractor, 30 kg food-grade container, net, full set of tools | ₹20,000 per set | 40%, one set per beneficiary |
A 50-colony unit at these norms: 50 x ₹4,000 = ₹2,00,000, plus ₹20,000 equipment = ₹2,20,000. At 40%, assistance would be up to ₹88,000, leaving about ₹1,32,000 from your own pocket or a bank loan. You will also need a vehicle or hired transport for migration, a storage room and packing containers, which are outside the norm.
The subsidy picture in 2026: what is verified
- MIDH (through your state horticulture department): 40% as above.
- NBHM (National Beekeeping and Honey Mission): a central sector scheme of ₹500 crore run by the National Bee Board, with three mini-missions (pollination and productivity, post-harvest and marketing, research and technology). Its published pattern is 50% for individuals, societies and firms, 75% for institutions such as SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives, and 90% for everyone in the North-Eastern and Himalayan states. It mostly funds projects (nucleus stock, bee breeders, testing labs, processing units, custom hiring centres) via state governments and agencies, not a cheque per beekeeper. The PIB summary shows 298 registered producers benefitted as of March 2025.
- Timing: the PIB note says NBHM runs to FY 2025-26. We could not confirm from official pages whether it continues after March 2026. Check nbb.gov.in and your state horticulture office before planning around it.
- Claims of 80 to 90% subsidy on bee boxes that you may see on blogs do not match the published patterns outside NE and Himalayan states (where NBHM is 90%). Even there it applies to sanctioned projects. Ask for the sanction letter or scheme notification before you pay a dealer.
Register as a beekeeper on the Madhukranti portal (NBB), which is used for traceability of honey. As of 14 October 2025, about 14,859 beekeepers were registered. Also look at subsidy finder.
Choosing a site
- Within about 2 km of good forage: mustard, sunflower, litchi, eucalyptus, fruit orchards, clover, jamun or wild flora, with clean water nearby.
- Shade in summer, shelter from wind, no waterlogging, and keep away from fields that are heavily sprayed. Insecticide poisoning is a leading cause of colony losses, so tell neighbouring farmers and ask them to spray in the evening.
A simple yearly calendar
- Main flows: mustard in winter in north India, litchi in Bihar in spring, sunflower and eucalyptus in the south and other regions. NBHM notes India exports mustard, eucalyptus, litchi and sunflower honey.
- Dearth (monsoon and peak summer): colonies can starve. Feed sugar syrup (commonly 1:1 sugar and water) only during dearth and never when honey supers are on, or sugar will end up in your honey.
- Before each flow: build colonies to 8 to 10 frames of bees, check the queen, and add supers.
- Multiply: divide strong colonies to add new ones; this is the cheapest way to grow and is how many beekeepers build up from 10 to 50.
Health and pests
Common problems are Varroa mite (mainly in Apis mellifera), wax moth, ants, absconding in dearth, and Thai sacbrood virus in Apis cerana. Keep colonies strong, don't leave empty combs lying around, inspect every 7 to 10 days in season, and use only approved treatments and doses given by the State Horticulture Department or a KVK. NBHM funds disease diagnostic labs and mobile labs, so ask your district office if one is near you.
Honey quality, rules and selling
- Extract only capped, ripe honey. Low moisture protects against fermentation; buyers look for about 20% or less.
- The FSSAI standard limits hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 80 mg per kg. An FSSAI advisory of 7 November 2025 says honey above that limit is classified "substandard", because the safety effects are not established. HMF rises with overheating and long storage, so avoid heating honey and store it cool.
- To sell packed honey you need an FSSAI registration or licence; honey must not contain added sugar syrup.
- India produced about 1.4 lakh tonnes of honey in 2024 and exported about 1.07 lakh tonnes in FY 2023-24, making it the second-largest honey exporter after China. The top producing states are Uttar Pradesh (17%), West Bengal (16%), Punjab (14%), Bihar (12%) and Rajasthan (9%).
- Selling in bulk to processors is easy but low-priced; branding your own honey can fetch much more per kg but needs testing, packaging and marketing effort. Joining an FPO or beekeepers' society helps, and NBHM supports forming such groups.
Income and payback (illustrative)
These are planning numbers. Honey prices of ₹100 and ₹150 per kg are our assumptions for bulk raw honey: trade-price sites in 2026 showed a wholesale supplier price of about US$1.2 per kg (about ₹100) and export prices near ₹157 per kg, and farm-gate prices are usually at the lower end. Get the real local quote from a processor or FPO. Running costs of ₹50,000 (stationary) and ₹1,00,000 (migratory, with transport and labour) are also our assumptions for 50 colonies, covering sugar feed, queens, medicine, containers and transport.
| Case (50 colonies) | Honey per colony (kg, assumed) | Total honey (kg) | Running cost (assumed) | Net at ₹100/kg | Net at ₹150/kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stationary, average | 14 | 700 | ₹50,000 | about ₹20,000 | about ₹55,000 |
| Stationary, good forage | 20 | 1,000 | ₹50,000 | about ₹50,000 | about ₹1,00,000 |
| Migratory, good year | 35 | 1,750 | ₹1,00,000 | about ₹75,000 | about ₹1,62,500 |
On the unsubsidised capital of ₹2.2 lakh, payback ranges from under 2 years in the best case (migratory, ₹150 per kg) to more than 10 years in the weakest (average stationary, ₹100 per kg), which is why low-priced bulk sales alone rarely justify a large unit. With 40% MIDH assistance the out-of-pocket capital falls to about ₹1.32 lakh. Pollination hire income, extra colonies from division and higher prices from packed, branded honey are additional but not included.