Free Beehive Equipment Offered to Virginia Residents

Photo byPixabay via Pexels

RICHMOND, Va. – Through its annual Beehive Distribution Program, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is offering equipment for the construction of new beehives directly to eligible individuals.

Recipients of beehive units will be selected at random from qualifying applications. Applications for the program will be accepted August 28, through September 6, 2024.

Honey bees — wild and domestic — perform about 80 percent of all pollination worldwide. A single bee colony can pollinate 300 million flowers each day. Grains are primarily pollinated by the wind, but fruits, nuts and vegetables are pollinated by bees. Seventy out of the top 100 human food crops — which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition — are pollinated by bees.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than one-third of all crop production – 90 crops ranging from nuts to berries to flowering vegetables - requires insect pollination. Honey bee colonies are the primary pollinators, adding at least $15 billion a year by increasing yields and helping to ensure quality harvests.

Honey bees may be some of the hardest workers nature has ever seen, but the number of honey bee hives in the United States has decreased from 6 million in the 1940s to about 2.5 million today.

Losses have primarily been caused by biological and environmental stressors, including drought, pesticides, nutrition deficit, habitat destruction, air pollution and global warming. Americans are encouraged to plant bee-friendly flowers and flowering herbs in their gardens and yards, and where possible, to set up hives.

Photo byTimothy Paule II via Pexels

Virginia residents who are at least 18 years old at the time their application is submitted are eligible to receive up to three (3) beehive units per year through the Beehive Distribution Program.

Equipment received through the program must be assembled and occupied with a colony of honey bees within one (1) year of receiving the equipment. Individuals will be registered as beekeepers with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Honey bees themselves, personal safety equipment and honey processing equipment are not provided through this program.

Applications from individuals who were not selected to receive beehive units last year are encouraged to apply again this year.

Established in 1877, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) promotes the economic growth and development of Virginia agriculture, provides consumer protection and encourages environmental stewardship. The agency is headquartered in Richmond and has several field offices, four regional diagnostic animal health laboratories and a global network of representatives promoting Virginia products internationally.