Make Money from Home: Home Based Business Idea #1: Apiary

While many home based opportunities today, involve fulfilling the latest niche or selling the newest product. However, many home based entrepreneurs have found more traditional ways just as, if not more, profitable.

As the demand for honey and bee products remains high, people have found themselves making a decent business out of operating an apiary.

So how do you get started in this business? Here's some things to know....

Some of the things you'll need:

• Land or space: Adequate land or space is necessary to operate your apiary because, while being home based, it is not something you can necessarily do right in your home.
• Adequate equipment: Equipment is most essential to this business as it can become very dangerous to the novice beekeeper. Obtain all the proper safety and storage equipment for your business.
• Experience: Before obtaining your bees and equipment, it is very important you know what to do. Get tips from seasoned beekeepers on how to handle bees, store equipment and, importantly, produce your product.

Products/services you can offer with this business:

• Honey: Selling honey can be very profitable as people use it to sweeten their food and to make other products.
• Cosmetics and Body Products: Homemade cosmetics and body products have recently taken a wave of demand in recent years. Much of these products do incorporate bee products such as honey and beeswax. This could be a great opportunity to produce a diverse array of products.
• Supplies: What most people don't realize is that selling supplies to other sellers and hobbyists can be just as successful, if not more, than making finished products. Selling beeswax to soap and candle makers, for example, has been very successful for some.

Pitfalls of the business:

This blog was definitely not intended to give a rose colored view of any business without laying down the pitfalls. This, just like any other business, can have its cons and you should consider these before investing.

• Competition: With the increased demand, there will usually be increased supply. This means you may have to deal with a lot of competition as many large companies distribute bee products from large apiaries at a fairly competitive rate.
• Expense: Keeping bees can be expensive, not just because of the equipment, but because of the labor. Beekeeping can be time consuming as well as waiting for the bees to produce their valuable products. These costs need to be factored into the business.