Honey Cost: An Experimental Approach for Determining the Production Costs of Honey ^†

Abstract

The Honey Cost project, conceived and developed by the CREA Policies and Bioeconomics research center (CREA PB), will develop a methodology and tools for ad hoc data collection and evaluation of the bee and honey sector and sets up a sample survey on it. The determination of the cost of honey production is carried out through a questionnaire, submitted to a sample of 434 farms with an economic size of at least EUR 8,000 of Standard Output. In the methodology adopted, three cost levels are envisaged, with the first level referring only to current expenses, the second level adding other general expenses, and, finally, the third level also adding the cost of family labor. The first survey, carried out in 2023, covered the two-year period of 2021–2022. It emerged that among the variable costs, those incurred for packaging and marketing represent, in percentage, the most important item, followed by nutrition costs, and their incidence varies depending on the farm type and on the economic size. Even among the components of general costs (depreciation and other non-direct expenses), a strong variability was found, and this attenuates when moving from small to large farms. The total production cost stands, as a sample average, at around EUR 9 per kilogram of honey produced. For many farms, this value is well above the price that is recognized by the market for their product.

1. Introduction

For some years the Council for Research in Agriculture and Agricultural Economics Analysis–Centre for Policies and Bioeconomy (CREA-PB) has been studying the environmental, social, and economic dynamics of the bee and honey sector [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. In the analysis of the supply chain, the lack of accurate and reliable information on the determining factors of the production processes emerges, which is due to estimates or approximations, which are not always systematic and supportive of robust analysis. In particular, a difficulty emerges in estimating production costs, which are essential for understanding the economic sustainability of a beekeeping company. The Honey Cost project, conceived and developed by the CREA-PB research center, develops a methodology and tools for ad hoc data collection and evaluation of the bee and honey sector and sets up a sample survey on the sector. The Honey Cost statistical survey on honey production costs aims to deepen our knowledge on economic [10,11,12] and production dynamics and challenges and opportunities related to beekeeping and to determine elements that can help ensure the economic sustainability of a beekeeping company. The survey also aims to respond to the research needs of the institutional, scientific, and economic system, defining in an original and rigorous way a reference information base for a sector that is becoming increasingly important from an economic and environmental point of view [13,14,15,16].

This is useful work for the system as a whole, for farms to better define their strategies, for political decision makers to better design support tools, and for researchers to have the correct information to determine the consistency of and trends in the sector and to build analyses of its evolution and future scenarios.

2. Materials and Methods

The determination of the cost of honey production was carried out through a questionnaire, submitted to a sample of farms that were appropriately chosen from all those listed in the National Beekeeping Database. The theoretical sample consisted of 434 farms, representing the group of approximately 6100 beekeepers that have an economic size of at least EUR 8000 of Standard Output, and the representativeness of the sample was based on region and the economic size class [17,18,19,20].

The data collection takes place through a specific web application (https://honeycost.crea.gov.it/ accessed on 1 April 2025), data entry is facilitated by an online support system, and the technical assistance is provided by CREA. Furthermore, data collection and the processing and dissemination of results take place in full compliance with the rules on the protection of personal data (GDPR) and statistical confidentiality.

The questionnaire is made up of 8 sections: general information on the farm; structural data; forms of marketing; composition of the workforce; size of the farm; production, expenses, and costs of the farm; use of labor; and travel.

In the methodology adopted, 3 cost levels are envisaged: a first level referring only to current expenses; a second level, in which other general expenses are added; and, finally, a third level, to which the cost of family labor is added.

The cost of unpaid labor is determined on the basis of the hours that are worked by the individual members of the family or relatives of the farm manager, the level of professionalism, and the gross hourly rate envisaged for each level (equivalent to general worker or specialized worker) in the national contracts of the agricultural sector.

3. Results

The first Honey Cost survey was carried out in 2023, and data relating to the two-year period of 2021–2022 were collected. The number of respondent farms was 223, about 50% of the sample, but the low coverage in many regions did not allow for an analysis including territorial details. However, the high number of questionnaires that were collected and completed at a national level allowed us to produce a series of analyses of the results by farm type and farming method. In particular, farms were divided into three economic classes (

Table 1. Composition of economic classes of beekeeping farms.

Economic Size	Standard Output	Number of Beehives	Average Number of Beehives in the Sample
SMALL	≤EUR 25,000	Less than 120	65
MEDIUM	EUR 25,000–50,000	120–240	162
LARGE	>EUR 50,000	More than 240	490

) and two farm types: nomadic (farms who move their hives throughout the year in search of more productive locations) and permanent (farms who always keep their hives on the farm).

From the first analysis, it emerges that the honey yields per hive do not differ greatly depending on the economic size but, above all, depending on the farming method. In fact, for farms that practice nomadism, the average yield is around 22 kg of honey per hive and varies between 11 and 52 kg, while for permanent farms, the average honey yield is significantly lower, standing at around 12 kg.

The price of honey does not vary significantly depending on the farming methods: for the two years considered, the average price collected suggests a range of EUR 8.9 to EUR 9.7. Large farms have an average price of around 7.6 EUR/kg, with a variability ranging from 6 to 9 EUR/kg and with peaks of up to 13 EUR/kg in the retail trade.

The production costs of honey are strongly influenced by factors that are external to the management of the farm (climate, parasites, pesticides, air pollution, etc.), and therefore, it is difficult to identify an overall average unit cost which can cover all beekeepers.

Among the variable costs (

Table 2. Production costs of honey (EUR/kg)–first level.

Variable Costs	Nomadic			Permanent
	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large
Travel	1.85	1.43	0.81	0.00	0.00	0.00
Drugs	0.13	0.16	0.11	0.27	0.11	0.26
Nutrition	0.66	0.58	0.57	0.62	0.65	0.94
Insurance and Certification	0.07	0.09	0.03	0.15	0.12	0.02
Packaging and Marketing	1.09	0.99	0.57	1.54	0.76	0.67
Other Expenses	0.32	0.19	0.21	0.35	0.39	0.18
Variable Expenses (production costs, 1st level)	4.44	3.73	2.48	3.39	2.45	2.26
Maximum (third quartile)	8.50	6.25	4.22	5.15	3.81	3.91
Minimum (first quartile)	2.53	2.46	1.65	2.14	1.45	1.34

) (just over 4 EUR/kg), excluding those for transportation, the costs incurred for packaging and marketing represent, in terms of percentage, the most important item (between 25% and 45%), followed by rescue nutrition costs (between 15% and 40%). The importance of these categories of variable costs varies depending on the type of farming and above all on the economic dimension. Large farms have less variability and lower costs than those with less than 120 hives, which is due to the so-called economies of scale. On average, for 8% of farms, the selling price does not cover their variable costs, and the situation varies depending on the type and size.

Even among the components of general costs (

Table 3. Production costs of honey (EUR/kg)–second level.

Variable Costs	Nomadic			Permanent
	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large
Workforce and social changes	1.67	0.84	1.02	1.03	0.75	1.01
Rents and general expenses	1.10	0.57	0.46	1.22	0.81	0.40
Depreciation	1.95	1.00	0.83	2.48	1.27	1.10
Ordinary maintenance	0.12	0.12	0.18	0.22	0.16	0.20
Total fixed costs	4.84	2.53	2.49	4.95	2.99	2.72
Total variable costs (1st level)	4.44	3.73	2.48	3.39	2.45	2.26
Total costs of production (2nd level)	9.29	6.26	4.97	8.35	5.43	4.98

) (depreciation and other non-direct expenses), a strong variability was found, which attenuates when moving from small to large farms (with more than 240 hives). The depreciation item even reaches, in some types of farms, 50% of the fixed costs that are incurred by the farm, especially in medium–small ones. In this case, on average, for 31% of farms, the sales price does not cover the second-level costs. The situation varies depending on the type and size.

The cost of honey production, which also takes into account family work, is on average EUR 13 per kg of honey that is produced (

Table 4. Production costs of honey (EUR/kg)–third level.

Variable Costs	Nomadism			Permanent
	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large	(1) Small	(2) Medium	(3) Large
Total costs of production, 2nd level	9.29	6.26	4.97	8.35	5.43	4.98
Family labor costs	9.89	6.15	3.93	9.09	8.48	7.36
Total costs of production (3rd level)	19.18	12.41	8.90	17.44	13.91	12.34

). This cost varies depending on the typological class.

Even when considering the market conditions and adverse climatic events that occurred in the period to which the collected data refer (2021 and 2022), good economic performance can still be seen. The level of unit productivity of the hives, expressed in terms of the honey yield, compared to the price paid to beekeepers for their product is positioned above the minimum threshold of unit yields that allow for the production costs to be covered.

During 2024, the collection of data relating to the 2023 and 2024 production years will be completed. Honey Cost, in fact, aims to represent a fundamental point of analysis of the sector, ensuring the scientific methodology and punctuality of the collection and offering, even in the years to come, a medium-term reference for the national and international market, examining the determining factors in the formation of costs and identifying a series of variables and risks.