Bee Bread Production—A New Source of Income for Beekeeping Farms?

Abstract

Bee bread, i.e., floral pollen collected and partially processed by honey bees, is a source of many compounds beneficial for the human health. So far, the level of bee bread production in apiaries has been low due to many factors. However, development of such production may be significant as a new source of income for beekeepers. In spring 2015 a three-year study was started to determine bee bread production scale in honey bee colonies and assess the economic efficiency of such production. The experiment included 28 honey bee colonies each year; the colonies were divided into four groups. Each group tested different brood nest configuration or frames’ placement against the hive entrance for the amount of harvested bee bread. All the costs, including labor input, were related to the process of bee bread production. Depending on the group, it was possible to harvest from 0.51 to 1.23 kg of bee bread from one colony. The average production amounted to 0.7 kg, and the entire apiary gave 20 kg of bee bread annually. Annual costs connected to bee bread production amounted to 679.5 EUR, while the estimated income from sales amounted to 1110 EUR. Thus, the profit was 430.5 EUR, i.e., 21.5 EUR per 1 kg of harvested bee bread. The highest costs were connected to labor and they may potentially comprise a factor limiting the development of bee bread production in apiaries.