Profitability Analysis of a Family Apiary Farm Business Based on a Case Study

Feketéné Ferenczi, Aliz – Szűcs, István – Vida, Viktória

Keywords: apiary, family farm, model calculation, case study, Q12

Nowadays, the healthy lifestyle plays a key role in the daily lives of households, which in principle is also closely related to honey consumption. Despite this, domestic honey consumption is low. It is important to mention that although beekeeping can be considered a relatively small sector within domestic animal husbandry, it is of outstanding importance in maintaining biodiversity and rural employment. It is therefore a strategic issue for Hungary that the domestic beekeepers continue to increase their bee colonies.
The primary aim of the study is to determine the minimum size of a farm in the case of beekeeping in the form of family farming among Hungarian rural conditions, which stably ensures the livelihood of an average middle-class family living in the countryside. In the analysis, the question is whether beekeeping in a small-scale form, currently not exceeding 150 bee colonies, can form the basis of a rural family with two children, taking into account the expenses of an average household, to what extent can honey production as a livelihood contribute to the population retention capacity of the countryside. The analysis is based on primary data collection, the subject of which is a Hungarian rural family apiary. Data from the 2015-2020 period for family apiaries were processed. This period includes outstanding, average and less good years in terms of both honey yield and income.
Based on the calculations we can conclude that in view of the characteristics of this apiary and based on the period between 2015 and 2020, in order to cover family expenses, the income from the activity can be provided by about 181 bee colonies (Family Income = 8335 thousand HUF/year), with an acceptable level of savings (development fund) without the use of subsidies. In this case, the aspect to be seriously considered in family farming is the implementation of the highest possible degree of technological development and the increase of mechanization. The analysis revealed that with such a farm size, beekeeping as a livelihood could be a realistic perspective with sufficient expertise. It is also essential to strive for the development of a development fund during farming, to apply for subsidies available for beekeepers and to make continuous use of tender opportunities.

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