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Beekeeping Startup Cost Calculator: What the First Year Costs, Hive by Hive

By Beekeeping Gear ReviewPublished 3 min readHow we research

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Enter how many hives you will start with and the calculator adds the per-hive items (hive kit, bees, extra boxes, feeder, sugar) for each, then the one-time items (suit or jacket, gloves, smoker, tools, extractor) once. With the defaults, two hives come to about $1,112 for the first year, or $556 a hive; one hive is $627, because the gear is bought once either way. Every default is a price we read on October 9, 2026 from a supplier's page or a listing, and the table below names each one so you can swap in your own quotes.

First-year beekeeping startup cost

Oregon State Extension: one to two colonies; the University of Georgia: two.

$

Boxes, frames, bottom board, covers, assembled or not.

$

A 3 lb package or a nuc, from a supplier's price list.

$

A second deep or supers for the first season.

$
$

First-season syrup; see the syrup calculator.

$
$
$
$
$

0 if you will borrow or wait until year two.

First-year total

$1,068

2 hives

Per hive, all in

$534

total divided by hives

One-time gear

$146

per-hive items $461 each

Total = (per-hive items x number of hives) + one-time items. Per hive: hive kit, bees (package or nuc), extra boxes and frames for the first season, a feeder and feeding sugar. One-time: protective gear, smoker, hive tools and, if you buy one in year one, an extractor. The defaults are the prices our guides read on October 9, 2026 (Hoover Hives kit, Mann Lake package bees and top feeder, MayBee medium super, USKeepers jacket, FBSupply gloves, VIVO smoker, KINGLAKE, WEICHUAN and Acostop tools, 25 lb of sugar at the BLS August 2026 average); the page below gives each source. Put in your own quotes.

Where each default comes from

FieldDefaultSource (read October 9, 2026)
Number of hives2Oregon State Extension: begin with one to two colonies; University of Georgia: two established colonies
Hive kit, per hive$155Hoover Hives Gold Standard 10-frame (two deeps, one medium, 30 frames, beeswax dipped), Amazon listing
Bees, per hive$186Mann Lake California Russian-Carniolan package bees with vaccinated queen, $185.95 on Mann Lake's site
Extra boxes and frames, per hive$50MayBee 10-frame medium super with ten frames, $49.99, Amazon listing
Feeder, per hive$44Mann Lake top hive feeder with super, $44.10, Amazon listing
Feeding sugar, per hive$2625 lb of sugar at $1.024 a pound, the BLS U.S. city average for August 2026 (FRED series APU0000715211); see the note below
Suit or jacket and veil$80USKeepers three-layer jacket with two veils and gloves, $79.99, Amazon listing
Gloves$18FBSupply goatskin gloves with long cuffs, $17.95, Amazon listing
Smoker$25VIVO stainless smoker with shield, $24.99, Amazon listing
Hive tool, frame grip, brush$23KINGLAKE J hook $5.49, WEICHUAN frame grip $7.99, Acostop brush $9.99, Amazon listings
Extractor and harvest gear$0Mann Lake's own kit note: supers can take up to two seasons to draw; most clubs lend an extractor. VEVOR's 2/4 manual is $110 if you buy

The sugar figure

Twenty-five pounds a hive is our assumption, built from UNH's 4-H manual recipes: two 5-gallon batches of 1:1 for a package in spring (5 to 8 lb of sugar each) and one batch of 2:1 in fall (9 to 13 lb), about 19 to 29 lb. A package in a poor season takes more; a nuc in a good one takes less. The price is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' average for white sugar, all sizes, August 2026 ($1.024 a pound); a warehouse-club 25 lb bag is usually cheaper. The syrup calculator turns gallons into pounds.

What the defaults leave out

A stand ($23 to $39 in the stand guide), a queen excluder ($33, or included in the Hoover and Honey Lake kits), a bear fence where bears are ($65 to $270 in the fence guide), Varroa monitoring and treatment ($27 for the EasyCheck, $30 to $43 a treatment in the Varroa guide), a bee school, a club membership, and state registration where required. Add them to the extractor field if you want one number.

Why the second hive is cheap

The one-time items (gear, smoker, tools, extractor) are about $146 with the defaults and do not change with hive count; the per-hive items are about $481. So the first hive costs $627 and the second $481, and the all-in figure per hive falls from $627 to $556. That is the arithmetic behind the extension services' advice to start with two (the how-many-hives guide).

Cheaper routes

A nuc from a local beekeeper may cost more or less than Mann Lake's package; Betterbee's packages and nucs are pickup only in upstate New York. A frame feeder ($17, BeeCastle) in place of the top feeder saves $27 a hive. A single-layer suit ($25, VIVO) in place of the jacket saves $55. Borrowing the club's extractor saves $110. The starter kit guide compares the supplier kits that bundle hive and tools.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to start beekeeping?

With our defaults, about $627 for one hive and $1,112 for two in the first year, before a stand, fence, mite treatments or an extractor. The gear (about $146) is bought once; each hive adds about $481 for the kit, bees, a feeder, an extra box and sugar.

Why does the calculator default to two hives?

Oregon State Extension says to begin with one to two colonies and the University of Georgia says two; two lets you compare and rescue. The second hive costs the per-hive items only.

Where do the prices come from?

Each default is a price read on October 9, 2026 from a named source: Hoover Hives on Amazon for the kit, Mann Lake for package bees and the feeder, MayBee for the extra super, USKeepers, FBSupply, VIVO, KINGLAKE, WEICHUAN and Acostop listings for the gear, and the BLS August 2026 sugar average. The table on this page lists them.

How much sugar does a new hive need?

Our default assumes 25 pounds a hive: two 5-gallon batches of 1:1 in spring (5 to 8 lb each, UNH) and one of 2:1 in fall (9 to 13 lb). A package in a poor season takes more.

Do I need to buy an extractor in year one?

Usually not. Mann Lake notes a new colony can take two seasons to draw its supers, and most clubs lend an extractor. The default is $0; VEVOR's 2/4 manual is $110 if you buy.

What is not in the calculator?

A stand, queen excluder, bear fence, Varroa monitoring and treatment, bee school, club membership and state registration. Add them to the extractor field for one total.

Sources

  1. How do I source bees for a new beehive box?, Oregon State University Extension
  2. Getting Started (Honey Bee Program), University of Georgia Honey Bee Program
  3. The Gold Standard (10 Frame), Hoover Hives
  4. California Russian-Carniolan Package Bees with Vaccinated Queen, Mann Lake
  5. Top Hive Feeder with Super, 10 Frame, Mann Lake
  6. Traditional Growing Apiary Kit, 10 Frame, Not Painted, Mann Lake
  7. Average Price: Sugar, White, All Sizes (Cost per Pound) in U.S. City Average (APU0000715211), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED
  8. 4-H Beekeeping Project Manual, University of New Hampshire Extension
  9. Honey Bees For Sale: Bee Nucs, Packages and Queen Bees, Betterbee

Cover photo: Honeybee hive, honey farm, beekeeping by U.S. Department of Agriculture, CC0 1.0, via rawpixel. Cropped.

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