Beekeeping and Pollination Level 3

Who it is for. People who have finished Beekeeping and Pollination Level 2, or who can show the same skills. Ghana's TVET framework has eight levels. National Proficiency II is for mostly routine work under limited supervision. National Certificate I is for "complex and varied activities" under minimum supervision, and National Certificate II adds considerable responsibility and the ability to control or give guidance to others. This module is written at an advanced level, comparable to National Certificate I, reaching toward National Certificate II where you supervise helpers and outgrowers. That is the author's matching, not an official ruling.

Bridge from Level 2: what you already know

Level 2 did not cover queen rearing, a written bee-health programme, honey-house design, honey grading against the Codex limits, moving a whole apiary, hive products such as propolis and pollen, outgrowers, cooperatives, export, registering a bee business, a full set of books or a 12-month forecast. This manual does. For general bookkeeping and venture basics see the hub's Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2; this manual goes deeper for beekeeping only.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. Units 1 to 4 are technical. Units 5 to 7 are about your own business. Money figures in worked examples are labelled example unless a source is named.

Competency standard

Range. A working apiary of at least 10 hives for the practical, and a paper case of 60 hives on two or three sites for the plan. Evidence. Observation; site cards; round plan; move plan; hive register; oral questions.

What "commercial" means here

In this book commercial means 50 or more hives, paid helpers and sales to shops, hotels or farms. The number 50 is the author's choice, not a legal term; no Ghana definition of a commercial apiary was found. At this size you cannot remember each hive. You need paper, a routine and a team.

Sites and capacity

FAO says an apiary in Africa should hold only about 10 hives per square kilometre of forage. So 60 hives need about 6 km² of good forage, spread over two or three sites with at least a few kilometres between them. Not verified for every Ghanaian zone: ask local beekeepers and write down the answer. In dry areas bees need water close by; dense wet forest and very dry savannah both cause problems. Dry-season fires can wipe out an apiary, so cut a fire belt and clear dry leaves and fallen wood.

Fill in a site card for each site: name and letter (A, B, C); owner and written permission; distance from homes, roads and farms that spray; water; shade; forage by month; fire belt; access in the rains; number of hives; nearest clinic. Paint the site letter and hive number on each hive (for example B-14).

The round, the calendar and the scale

A round is one visit to every hive. At 60 hives the round must be planned in blocks. Work in the cooler hours and avoid the worst stinging times: in Ghana stinging was worst in the mornings in the rainy season, in the early morning and late evening in the dry season, and about four times higher in the dry-season honey flow. Work in pairs.

Hive weights. FAO advises weighing hives regularly, about every two weeks in new colonies, because weight shows when a colony has stored its honey. Hang each test hive from a hanging scale, note the weight and record it. A rise that stops and a smell of honey, little pollen coming in, fewer foragers and more aggressive guards are signs that the colony is full and may swarm. FAO notes West African harvesting runs from late October to June, ideally before the harmattan and the first rains. Not verified: the exact flow months for Western Region; build your own calendar from your weights and flower records.

Moving hives safely

Moving bees to cashew, vegetable or other farms or to a better flow is called a migratory move. FAO's guidance for moving colonies for pollination is a good base:

Take hive numbers with you so each hive returns to its own stand. Do not mix hives from different sites on one vehicle without a plan, because disease can travel with combs. Not verified: any Ghana rule on moving bees across districts, or any permit; ask the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Assembly, and write down who said what. Always get written permission from the farm owner (Unit 4).

On a warm bright flowering day, about 100 bees returning to a hive in one minute is a very good sign that the colony is working.

Supervise and protect your team

You are now responsible for other people's safety. Before any helper goes to a hive:

Scrape a sting out sideways with a nail or flat edge; do not pinch it. Cool the spot for 10 to 15 minutes. Difficulty breathing, swollen lips, tongue or throat, a fast or weak pulse, fainting, hives all over the body or vomiting after a sting are signs of anaphylaxis. Call 112 and get to hospital at once; use an adrenaline auto-injector if the person has one. Only a doctor can prescribe one. A person who has had a strong reaction should not do hive work. West African honeybees are known for defensive behaviour, so keep hives away from paths and rate each colony's temper.

The hive register and the apiary log

The hive register is one line per hive. The apiary log is one line per visit. Keep them in a hard-cover book and a copy on your phone.

(Example entries.) Write the temper score (1 calm, 2 nervous, 3 defensive) every visit; you will use it in Unit 2 to choose breeder colonies.

Competency standard

Range. Occupied top-bar hives and nuclei, and a paper case. Evidence. Observation; queen register; health schedule; loss analysis; oral questions.

Why queen rearing is hard here

FAO says commercial queen raising does not yet exist in tropical Africa, that the work is tedious and that African bees tend to abscond when disturbed, so work gently, with light smoke, and never crush bees. Treat queen rearing as a small, careful side job to multiply your own colonies and replace poor queens, not as a business to sell queens. Not verified: any queen-selling market in Ghana, and any Ghana rule on queens.

Workers will turn any female larva younger than three days into a queen when they need one: when the old queen fails (supersedure), is lost (emergency) or the colony prepares to swarm. Poor breeding stock gives poor queens however good your skill is.

Choose the breeder colony

Use your temper scores and weights. Score each candidate out of 20:

(The scoring is the author's tool, not an official method.) Pick the best colony, never the most defensive one. If one colony is far more defensive than the rest, do not split it (Level 2). To replace a bad queen, FAO's advice for genetic faults is to give a capped queen cell, not an already emerged queen.

The nucleus method, step by step

FAO describes this method for top-bar hives. Make small nucleus boxes that take the same top bars and combs as your hives so combs move freely. A nucleus holds five or six bars. Keep bar widths exactly 32 mm (Level 1).

The method needs a strong queen-right colony that lays well, young brood, nurse bees under about 10 days old, older foragers, drones for mating, and food; lose any one and the cycle stops. Insert an empty comb in the warm middle of the queen-right hive; remove it on day 4 when it holds eggs and young larvae. FAO gives no queen-introduction method, and does not describe grafting, so this book does not teach grafting.

The queen register

(Example entries.) Review the register each year: which mother hives gave good daughters?

Multiply colonies

Level 2 gave FAO's rule: divide only strong colonies with nine or more combs, move one comb of capped brood, one of eggs and young larvae (ideally with a queen cell) and combs of honey and pollen, and carry the new box at least three kilometres away. Plan your yearly increase on paper:

Hives at year end = hives at start + successful splits + swarms caught − colonies lost.

Unite weak colonies instead of keeping them alive; a weak colony is the one that wax moth and small hive beetle attack. Never use sugar to cover a poor season; keep it away from honey for sale (Level 2).

A written bee-health programme

Most colony losses come from weak colonies, poison and neglect (Level 2). Your programme is a list of jobs, dates and people. FAO's advice for avoiding spread of disease is to keep the apiary clean, not to move infected combs, to disinfect doubtful equipment, not to accept unknown swarms during an outbreak, not to feed bees honey from doubtful sources, to prevent robbing, to inspect brood regularly and to space hives well so bees do not drift.

Pests. FAO's controls include grease or used oil on stand legs, ash around legs, metal cones about 70 cm up the legs against lizards, hives at least 60 cm above ground against toads, keeping colonies strong and uniting weak ones against wax moth, and clearing dead comb. FAO says there is no known way to eliminate the hive beetle; a strong colony and quick honey processing keep it down. Ghanaian beekeepers name ants, small hive beetle, lizards, wax moth and termites as main pests.

Brood diseases. Know the signs so you can describe them to an officer:

FAO also notes that research on bee diseases in Africa is limited and that you should report new findings.

Varroa. Varroa was first found in Ghana in 2009 and African bees have shown much more tolerance than European bees. A Ghana survey found varroa in 40 of 45 colonies and small hive beetle in 42%. Count it as a fact of life; keep colonies strong.

Poison. If bees die in heaps at the entrance, close the entrances at night, keep honey from that hive off sale until your trainer or an officer has checked it, and note the date, the farm and the crop (Level 2). Pesticides must be registered under the Environmental Protection Act 2025 (Act 1124). Spray when bees are not flying, ideally in the evening.

Quarantine. FAO suggests a quarantine apiary 4 km from the nearest apiary for swarms during an outbreak. Use it for any bought or caught colony until you have checked its brood.

Losses and what they cost

Count losses by cause every quarter: absconded, died, queenless, wax moth, beetle, ants, poison, theft, fire. Losses cost not only the colony but the honey it would have made.

Competency standard

Range. A small honey room or kitchen used as one; honey from top-bar hives. Evidence. Layout drawing; batch records; refractometer readings; label; oral questions.

The layout: one direction, dirty to clean

Plan the room so honey, people and air move one way, from the dirty end (combs arrive) to the clean end (sealed jars leave). Ideas from food-safety guides outside Ghana, which you should adapt and check with the FDA:

Zones, in order: (1) reception and combs, (2) uncapping, crushing or pressing, (3) straining and settling, (4) bottling and weighing, (5) labelling and packing, (6) store for sealed jars, plus a wash-up and a hand-wash station at the door. Staff with a stomach illness, open wounds or dirty clothes do not handle honey. Keep animals out. These staff rules are the author's advice; ask the FDA what its inspectors expect. Not verified: any FDA standard layout for honey houses.

Extract without spoiling it

FAO warns against squeezing combs by hand, which spoils honey within days in coastal areas, and burning combs over fire, which makes honey bitter, smoky and unsellable. Do this instead:

A centrifugal extractor needs combs in frames. FAO calls such extractors unaffordable for the average honey tapper. Not verified: whether soft top-bar combs can be spun without damage; test one before you buy.

Filtering and the Codex rules

Strain out wax and bee parts, but do not filter so finely that you remove the pollen without saying so: Codex says honey filtered to remove significant pollen must be labelled "filtered honey". Codex limits water-insoluble solids to 0.1 g per 100 g of honey, or 0.5 g for pressed honey. Settling and a clean mesh keep you under the limit.

Moisture: test every batch

Honey with too much water can ferment. Codex sets the general limit at 20%. A refractometer with a honey scale is the standard tool. Use it like this (this guide is a retailer's, so check the method in your instrument's manual):

The same guide says to aim below 18% before sealing honey airtight and to dry wetter honey by dehumidifying the room and stirring, at 25–35°C and under 50% humidity. FAO says do not heat honey above 30°C, so keep drying at or below 30°C. Not verified: the best safe drying method for tropical coastal honey; ask a food-science lecturer.

Grading and the Codex limits

Codex lists the main quality limits. The page I read first is a draft revised standard at its last step. I then read the adopted text (Codex Stan 12-1981, Rev. 2, 2001), and the figures in the table below match it; its annex (free acidity, diastase, HMF and conductivity) is for voluntary use by traders, not for governments. Confirm the current text with the FDA or Codex before printing a claim:

You can measure moisture at home. The rest need a laboratory. HMF rises with heat and poor storage (Level 2). In a University of Ghana study of artisanal honey, samples were graded A to D and most were Grade B, with a mean moisture of 19 ± 2% and HMF of 17 ± 6 mg/kg; the abstract did not describe the grading criteria. Sucrose was over the limit in 20 Tema samples, and about 19% of samples had Salmonella, with dirty recycled containers a main cause.

A house grade. Official Ghana grades were not found. The United States has voluntary grades you can borrow as a guide. US Grade A and Grade B honey need at least 81.4% soluble solids (18.6% moisture or less), and Grade C at least 80.0% (20% moisture or less). Graders also score flavour and aroma (50 points), absence of defects such as wax and bee parts (40 points) and clarity (10 points); Grade A needs at least 90 points, Grade B 80 and Grade C 70. Colour is not part of the grade. These are US grades, not Ghana rules, so use them only as a guide. Use a simple rule of your own and say it is yours (the author's suggestion):

Also keep a colour and flavour sample set. A Northern Ghana buyer was given honey samples sorted by colour and grade. Never mix different batches without a new batch record.

Rules: standards, FDA and the EU

Ghana standard. The GSA is Ghana's national standards body. The GSA's 2019 Catalogue of Ghana Standards lists "Sugar and Sugar Products – Specification for Honey" (2015, edition 2, 8 pages), covering honey from honey bees meant for direct eating, not industrial honey. The catalogue prints its number as "GS 11064: 2015", which looks like a misprint for GS 1064; one online guide calls it GS 803:2018, but in the catalogue GS 803 is a cement standard. Buy the standard from the GSA and copy its number and limits from the official copy. Until you have it, use Codex as your reference. A 2026 forum of beekeepers, WACCAD and EU officials called for stronger quality controls, certification and traceability, and a HiveHoney Certification Mark was launched there. Not verified: how to join it.

FDA registration. The FDA's form for local pre-packaged foods (effective 1 June 2020) asks for a business registration certificate, a certificate of analysis for each product, proof of any label claim, samples and the fee, renewed every three years. Cottage industry was GH¢150 per product, small-scale GH¢450, medium GH¢600 and large GH¢900, each for three years. That form is from 2020: ask the FDA for today's fees. The FDA's 2023 Fees and Charges (L.I. 2481) list inspection and licensing fees for food by scale (micro, small, medium, large) but I could not match each amount to its row in the copy I read, so do not quote them. Not verified: whether your honey room needs a premises licence and inspection as a food manufacturer; ask the FDA, and ask the cost of a laboratory certificate of analysis.

The EU. Ghana's honey was removed from the EU import list over concerns about its residue management plan, and talks to restore access continue. Ghana was first added to the EU's approved list for honey in 2011 after it submitted a residue monitoring plan. For you: use no drugs in hives (Unit 2), keep clean records, and do not plan exports to the EU now.

The label and the batch code

An FDA label must show: product name; net weight; ingredients; date of manufacture; best-before date where it applies; batch number; country of origin; the maker's name and full address with plot number or Ghana Post digital address; directions for storage; in English, clear, in ink that does not rub off. Codex adds naming rules: only a product that meets the standard may be called honey; terms such as "extracted", "pressed", "liquid", "crystalline" or "comb honey" describe how it was removed or how it looks; a place name may be used only if the honey was produced entirely there; a plant name only if it comes wholly or mainly from that plant; the country of origin must be shown; and filtered honey must say so. Make no health claims without proof; FDA asks for documents for any health, nutrition or comparative claim.

Batch code. Use the year, month and a number: H-2026-03-02 for the second batch of March 2026. Write the code on the jar or label. In the batch record write: date, hives and sites, weights in and out, moisture, house grade, who did the work, jars filled. Keep one sealed retained jar from each batch. If a customer complains, find the batch, check its record, test the retained jar and, if the honey may be unsafe, stop selling that batch and tell buyers. Keep tax records for at least six years. Keep CTVET assessment evidence for five years.

Competency standard

Range. Wax, one other product, and one real or role-played farm. Evidence. Product samples; costings; contract; service record; oral questions.

Wax: render, mould and sell

Clean wax is easy to sell. FAO's methods: a solar wax melter, a simple wooden box lined with metal under glass or clear plastic, painted black, reaches about 61°C on a sunny day; or a hot-water bath with a pot, a jute sack and a mould, where wax begins to melt at about 59°C. Always put a little water in the pot first, never melt wax in a dry pot or over open flame, melt outdoors, and pour into moulds with smooth rounded insides; the dark residue at the bottom can be sold to shoemakers. Never leave melted wax unattended.

A 2026 Northern Ghana project sold combined wax at GH¢80 per kg. Level 2 gave a retail range of GH¢72 to 127 per kg; neither is a Takoradi price. Not verified: a current Takoradi wax price. Value added needs its own margin: Malawi women learned that every extra step, even a label or a bit of fabric, must carry its own margin.

Balms and creams. Mixtures with oils are cosmetics. In Ghana the FDA also regulates cosmetics (see Soap Making Level 3 in this hub). Not verified: whether a bee balm needs its own registration; ask the FDA. A Utah State University fact sheet gives an ointment of 1 oz beeswax, 8 oz oil and about 2 tablespoons propolis, kept under 130°F; it is only a hobby recipe for another climate.

Propolis, pollen and royal jelly: be honest about the work

Propolis. A Utah fact sheet says an average hive makes about 50 to 100 g of propolis a season and that scraping gives little; a trap (a grid like a queen excluder with small holes, placed under the cover with the cover propped open so light enters) fills faster; chill the full trap so the propolis hardens and breaks off; clean it in cold water; dry it in a cool place out of the sun. Those figures are from another climate and other bees. FAO's guide to bee products gives an average of 10 to 300 g of propolis per colony per year, and says tropical races of the honeybee have been reported to make very little propolis. African bee propolis yields in Ghana have not been measured: weigh what your own traps give. The Utah sheet says propolis is described as having medicinal properties but that clinical trials are limited and that tinctures have not been proven to prevent colds. Do not make health claims on a label. Sell raw clean propolis to a buyer who knows what it is, or ask the FDA first.

Pollen. A pollen trap at the entrance scrapes pellets from the bees' legs. It takes food from the colony. An Indian study found daily trapping reduced brood area by 27.3% at one site, and a Kenyan extension brochure advises using traps for a few days, then removing them for a while so the colony keeps a reserve. The same brochure warns that drying pollen in the sun can cut its potency by as much as half and that it should be processed promptly. In a humid coastal climate, pollen moulds quickly. FAO's guide to bee products says to empty traps daily in humid climates; dry pollen quickly to under 10% moisture (about 5% is better), keeping it no warmer than about 40°C; store it in dark containers out of sunlight; dried pollen keeps for several months at room temperature, at least a year at 5°C, and for many years frozen at -15°C. This is general FAO advice, not a method tested in Takoradi. Not verified: whether FDA would register pollen as a food supplement; ask the FDA. Use pollen traps only on strong, healthy colonies and not at all in dearth.

Royal jelly. Royal jelly comes from grafted queen cups and depends on nurse bees, larval age and harvest time; scientists study how the number of queen cups and the harvest interval change yield. FAO does not describe grafting for Africa. Do not start with royal jelly. It is skilled, small in yield and a food-health product the FDA would examine.

Which crops gain from honeybees?

• Cashew: farms with managed honeybees had far higher yields, two to three times in Ghana and Benin. A hive-per-hectare figure for cashew was not verified.
• Watermelon and other melons: the best-supported hive numbers I found are from Australia, where recommended rates for watermelon are about two to 7.5 hives per hectare, at least two for rockmelon and honeydew, spread in groups of 2 to 4 hives; seedless watermelon needs at least twice as many visits. A Florida paper says estimates range from one to five colonies per acre, average 1.8 per acre (about 4.5 per hectare), and that no standard recommendation exists for Florida. These are foreign figures: treat them as a starting point and monitor flower visits.
• General rule from FAO: about five average colonies of roughly 50,000 bees can pollinate a two-hectare plantation, which is about 2.5 colonies per hectare. FAO also lists leguminous vegetables, cashew, coffee, cola, shea, mango and citrus as crops that need insects, and says cereals, plantain, cocoyam and yam do not.
• Mango: many insects visit the flowers and some studies find native flies carry as much pollen as bees, so do not promise a big gain.
• Cocoa is pollinated mainly by tiny midges and oil palm by a weevil. Do not sell bees to them for pollination.

Colonies must be strong. The Australian brochure asks for hives with at least five frames covered with bees and a good area of brood before they are moved into the crop, and says honey bees may spread plant diseases, so work with the farmer on biosecurity. FAO says rented colonies should be queen-right with at least four brood combs. Most bees visit watermelon in the morning. Watermelon nectar and pollen alone do not feed bees well for long, so bring strong colonies with stores.

The pollination contract

Growers should ideally keep their own bees; those who do not should use a beekeeper, and a simple written contract is advisable. FAO's points to agree on: number and strength of colonies; delivery and removal dates; hive placement; the fee and payment schedule; who owns the honey; the grower's right to check colony strength without opening hives; pesticide restrictions during and before the rental; bush fires; and liability for stings, vandalism, livestock damage and theft. FAO says the fee is negotiable and depends on distance, transport costs, honey yield and risks. No Ghana pollination fee was found: build yours from costs.

A good contract for a Ghana farm also has: the farm, crop and variety; the flowering dates; the hive numbers (A-03, A-04...) and arrival and leave dates; spraying only in the evening and with warning; the products the farmer will use and a no-spray window; a water source; who guards against fire, theft and ants; where visitors may walk; payment (cash, a share of honey, or a free site) and when; emergency numbers; how a dispute is settled; and signatures with a witness. Write it in English and explain it aloud in Fante or Twi. Not verified: any rule making farmers warn beekeepers; agree it in writing.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own planned business in Western Region. Evidence. Registration checklist; start-up budget; funding plan; one-page plan; pitch.

All fees in this unit were read on the official pages on 7 October 2026 unless a tag says "summary only" or "not verified". Fees change: call the office before you pay. See the hub's Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2 and Money Skills Level 2 for the basics of venture ideas, loans and scams; this unit applies them to bees.

Choose the legal form

A late annual return costs GH¢1,000 for 1 to 4 years late and GH¢2,000 for five or more. Most one-person bee businesses start as sole proprietors and move to a company when they hire many staff, sign big contracts or take outside owners (the author's advice).

Register step by step

Tax. Under the Modified Taxation Scheme, a resident whose income is only from business and who is not VAT-registered pays fixed instalments on turnover up to GH¢20,000, and 3% of turnover (or tax on a modified cash basis) between GH¢20,001 and GH¢750,000; pay by *880# or the MTS app. Professionals, owners of several businesses or outlets and partners are excluded. Companies pay corporate income tax at the standard 25% rate, with other rates for some manufacturers and exporters; ask GRA which applies. VAT is 15% plus NHIL 2.5% and GETFund 2.5%, 20% in effect, from 1 January 2026 under the Value Added Tax Act 2025 (Act 1151), and the registration threshold for goods rose from GH¢200,000 to GH¢750,000. For services such as pollination fees there is no turnover threshold: taxable services must be registered within 30 days of starting. Not verified: whether unprocessed honey is VAT-exempt; ask GRA. GRA lists withholding tax at 3% on goods and 7.5% on services; ask GRA when a customer must deduct it from your invoice, and keep the certificate.

Sites, premises and settings that give good returns

Check with the Assembly before you pay rent.

Start-up budget for a 30-hive business (example)

Yaa plans 30 hives, one honey room and sales in Takoradi. All figures are example unless a source is named.

Only some figures come from sources: the business name GH¢130, the fire certificate GH¢500 plus GH¢250 processing and the FDA cottage fee of GH¢150 per product for three years from the 2020 form, which you must confirm. The rest are examples.

Funding options

• Savings groups, susu and VSLAs: the cheapest first money; a lender will ask for your records.
• Microfinance and banks: check the lender is licensed and ask for the APR in writing (see Money Skills Level 2). Bank of Ghana's policy rate was 14.00% and inflation 5.2% when read.
• Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA): programmes include SME GO, Business-in-a-Box, SME High Growth and Kaizen; Business Advisory Centres serve Takoradi, Shama, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Mpohor and Ahanta West. GEA's own financial-support page was out of date, so call a centre.
• GIRSAL: guarantees for agricultural loans through about 40 partner lenders. Not verified: whether a bee farm qualifies; ask your bank.
• 2026 Budget programmes: GH¢401 million for the Women's Development Bank, GH¢170 million for the National Apprenticeship Programme, GH¢160 million for Adwumawura and GH¢110 million for the 24-Hour Economy. Not verified: how a beekeeper applies; ask the GEA centre.
• Ghana EXIM: SME and export facilities, with a Takoradi office.
• The Assemblies' disability fund: the Assemblies' share of the District Assemblies Common Fund for persons with disabilities rose from 3% to 5% in 2026, with a Disability Desk at each Assembly; ask the STMA.

Staff and apprentices

The Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) says a contract for six months or more must be in writing (s.12), a written statement of main terms must be given within two months (s.13), workers get at least 15 working days' paid leave (s.20), maternity leave is 12 weeks (s.57), and casual workers are paid at least the full minimum for each day (s.74). The 2026 national daily minimum wage is GH¢21.77, about GH¢587.79 a month at 27 days. With SSNIT the employee pays 5.5% and the employer 13% of basic salary; the employer pays 13.5% to SSNIT Tier 1 and 5% to a private Tier 2 trustee within 14 days after month end, and late payment costs 3% a month. PAYE is due by the 15th of the next month; casual workers pay 5%. This is not legal advice; ask the Labour Department and a tax adviser.

Your helper contract, in writing, should say: name, job, place, pay, hours, safety rules, sting-allergy check done, probation and notice. A helper under 18 does not work at hives. Train apprentices the same way you were trained: Level 1 safety first.

Insurance, safety and compliance

Only insurers licensed by the National Insurance Commission should be used. Not verified: which covers are compulsory for a bee business, and which insurers cover hives; get three written quotes for fire and theft of hives and stock, public liability for stings and personal accident for helpers. Keep a warning sign at every apiary, a first-aid kit, a fire belt, a list of emergency numbers (112) and a written allergy check for every helper.

Market yourself

• A WhatsApp Business profile with your farm story, photos, price list, FDA number once you have one, and automatic greeting and away messages.
• A free Google Business Profile, verified by phone, email, video call or a postcard that usually arrives in 14 days.
• A bold sign on the honey room and a portfolio: photos of the apiary, the laboratory report, the label and customer comments. A name and a short story ("honey from our farm in Ahanta West") sell better than a bare jar (the author's view).
• Referrals: a small thank-you for each new customer a customer sends.
• Sell the truth. Fake honey is a real problem in Ghana's market, and buyers trust tested, labelled honey.

Accessibility

Ghana's Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) covers access and bans job discrimination. The Assemblies' disability share is described above. Bee businesses give work in processing, packing, labelling, wax and candle making, records, selling and marketing. Practical changes (the author's suggestions): talking or tactile scales; raised-dot or large-print labels on buckets; a seated bench; a flat, step-free floor and paths; picture checklists; a buddy for any tasks with hot wax. Nobody goes to the hives without full protection and the allergy check.

The one-page business plan

Competency standard

Range. One month of sample records and one of the trainee's own or practice records. Evidence. Cash book; harvest log; stock cards; debtors list; profit and loss; balance sheet; reconciliation.

See the hub's Money Skills Level 2 for the basics of cash books, profit and loss and balance sheets. This unit applies them to a bee business and goes further: stock of honey and jars, the price per kg and tax. A balance sheet follows the rule assets equal liabilities plus equity; debits and credits are the usual way of keeping that rule, and a trial balance is only a partial check. Formal accountants may use IFRS for SMEs, whose 2025 edition applies from 1 January 2027; a small beekeeper keeps simple books. A spreadsheet is enough. Free tools exist: Zoho Books has a free plan (one user and an accountant, up to 1,000 invoices a year, revenue under US$50,000) and Wave has a free starter plan; check the limits before you rely on them.

The records a bee business keeps

Harvest log (Kobina's March, example).

Product stock cards (March, example).

The GH¢5.00 per kg is the example cost of harvest, casual labour, consumables and testing for each kg of raw honey. A 500 g jar costs 0.5 × 5.00 = 2.50 for honey plus GH¢4.00 for the jar, lid and label, which is GH¢6.50. Total honey on hand at the end of March is 40 kg plus 150 jars of 0.5 kg = 115 kg. Check: opening 60 + 50 = 110 kg; plus 300 harvested; less 120 sold wholesale and 175 kg in jars sold; 110 + 300 − 120 − 175 = 115 kg.

A month for Kobina's Bee Farm (example numbers)

Kobina has 60 hives on two sites in Western Region, sells honey wholesale and in jars and keeps wax. March is a harvest month. All numbers are example.

Sales. 120 kg wholesale at GH¢70 per kg (80 kg for cash, 40 kg on credit to a hotel kitchen, GH¢2,800); 350 jars at GH¢45 (210 for cash, 140 by MoMo); 6 kg of wax at GH¢80 per kg (the 2026 Northern Ghana price, used as an example).

Costs paid. Harvest and processing GH¢1,500 (casual labour 600, fuel and consumables 500, laboratory test 400); jars, lids and labels GH¢1,600 (400 × 4); helper's wage GH¢588; SSNIT for February GH¢76; honey-room rent GH¢300; transport GH¢250; phone GH¢60; repairs GH¢100; marketing GH¢50; Kobina's own wage GH¢2,500.

Gross profit looks high (88% of sales) because the hives, helper, rent and Kobina's own work sit below that line. March is also the peak month; the yearly picture below is much thinner. The depreciation is straight line: cost minus scrap value, divided by years of use. The 3% tax is the Modified Taxation Scheme rate for turnover of GH¢20,001 to 750,000. The helper's wage is the 2026 minimum wage, and the employer's 13% is the SSNIT rate.

The two sides match at both dates. That is the trial-style check: if they differ, look for an entry recorded once, in the wrong column or not at all.

Why did cash rise by GH¢16,006 when profit kept was GH¢16,315? Bridge: profit kept 16,315 + depreciation 600 (not a cash cost) + annual fees set aside 177 + tax owed 739 − debtors up 1,600 − stock up 225 = 16,006. Profit is not cash, and cash in the bank is not all yours: part of it is owed to the Assembly, the fire service, GRA and SSNIT.

The year is thinner than the month

Kobina's yearly plan (example): 60 hives, 48 productive, 16 kg each = 768 kg. 400 kg wholesale at GH¢70 = 28,000; 368 kg in 736 jars at GH¢45 = 33,120; wax 14 kg at GH¢80 = 1,120; pollination fees 40 hive-placements at GH¢120 = 4,800. Yearly sales GH¢67,040. Ghana studies found about 16 to 19 kg per hive a season.

The price per kg. To pay every cost and the owner's wage, honey must earn: (total costs 31,802 + wage 30,000 − wax and pollination income 5,920) ÷ 768 kg = GH¢72.76 per kg. The average price he gets is 61,120 ÷ 768 = GH¢79.58 per kg. Wholesale at GH¢70 is below the full cost; retail at GH¢90 per kg (GH¢45 a jar) is above. A seller who sells everything wholesale loses money (the author's calculation).

Break-even. Break-even kg = fixed costs including wage, less other income, ÷ (average price − variable cost per kg). Here: (25,208 + 30,000 − 5,920) ÷ (79.58 − 8.59) = 49,288 ÷ 70.99 = about 695 kg. He expects 768 kg, so the cushion is only 73 kg (9.6%). A poor season of 10% less honey (691 kg) is already below break-even, before tax.

Margin and mark-up. Margin is profit as a share of the price; mark-up is profit as a share of cost. A 500 g jar costs about 72.76 ÷ 2 = GH¢36.38 in full. At GH¢45, profit is 8.62: margin 8.62 ÷ 45 = 19.2%; mark-up 8.62 ÷ 36.38 = 23.7%.

A helper's pay slip (example)

Basic GH¢588 a month (about the minimum wage). SSNIT 5.5% from the worker: GH¢32.34. Taxable pay 588 − 32.34 = 555.66. The first GH¢588 a month is taxed at 0%, so PAYE is GH¢0; PAYE bands are 0% on the first 588, 5% on the next 80, 10% on the next 100, 17.5% on the next 2,900, 25% on the next 16,000, 30% on the next 30,332 and 35% above. Net pay GH¢555.66. The employer's 13% is GH¢76.44. Total cost to Kobina: 588 + 76.44 = GH¢664.44. The GRA page says the annual table took effect on 1 September 2026; confirm with GRA.

Month-end routine

Tax and payroll records

Keep records in Ghana for at least six years from the end of the year of assessment or VAT period, and longer if there is a dispute. The filing calendar from the official pages: SSNIT by the 14th of the month; PAYE and withholding tax by the 15th; VAT by the last working day of the next month; provisional tax quarterly for companies; the annual income tax return within four months after year end; the ORC annual return or renewal each year; and the Assembly permit by 31 March. Write the dates on the wall chart of the honey room. At Kobina's yearly sales of GH¢67,040 (example), 3% under the Modified Taxation Scheme is GH¢2,011.20; he is far below the VAT goods threshold of GH¢750,000. Ask GRA and a tax adviser for anything more.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own business plan. Evidence. Quality procedures; price sheet; growth plan; business plan and forecast; panel score sheet.

A simple quality system

A quality system is written habits, checked by someone, with a fix when something goes wrong. For a bee business:

Customer care and pricing strategy

Answer messages fast. Replace a leaking jar. Ask hotels and shops what they want next. Use price tiers (farm-gate bulk, wholesale, retail, gift) and a written discount rule. Compete on tested honey, a clear label and reliable delivery, not only on price. Over 60% of the honey used in Ghana was imported when last reported, which means local, traceable honey has room if it is trusted.

Scale: three ways to grow

• More hives. Check forage (about 10 hives per km², Unit 1), labour hours, honey-room capacity and cash. Growth from your own splits costs little; bought hives cost GH¢500 each in the example.
• More products and services. Wax, candles, pollination, training days, bee-safe farm advice (Unit 4). Each must carry its own margin.
• Buying honey from others (outgrowers). The honey room can handle more kg than your own hives give.

Grow one step at a time. After each step, check whether profit per kg rose or fell.

Train outgrowers

An outgrower is a farmer or beekeeper who produces for you under agreed rules. Honey Care Africa in Kenya is the best-known case. Founded in 2000, it sold smallholders hives, trained them, supplied free basic equipment and buckets, and bought their raw honey for between US$1.20 and US$2 per kg depending on place, market and quality; the bucket itself stood for the contract, to avoid complex formal agreements. By 2016 it was working with 8,600 smallholder farmers in three countries but was not yet profitable, and it changed strategy to honey snacks. It found farmers preferred to own hives rather than be professional beekeepers, so it used field teams to help. Lessons for you: training and buying honey is hard to run at a profit, so start with a few farmers and learn.

In Ghana the same idea appears in the Tropentag study, which proposes training others in an outgrower group, and in Northern Ghana, where Community Beekeeping Trainers learn by working in the processing room and get feedback, with posters made from participants' photos. The Northern Ghana project also found that negotiating with several buyers raised the price to GH¢70 per kg in 2026.

A group, a cooperative or an association

A group can share a honey room, a laboratory test and a bigger market. A 2026 forum called for standards, certification and traceability, and the HiveHoney Certification Mark was launched there. Not verified: how to join it. A co-operative in Ghana is registered with the Department of Co-operatives, not the ORC; the law named in my search is the Co-operative Societies Decree 1968 (NLCD 252), a 2019 review called it dated, and the fees and steps were not verified. Ask the Department, or a regional office, for the forms and the bye-laws.

Whatever the form, write the rules: who is a member; who may sell under the group's name; batch codes for every member's honey; a no-sugar rule with a penalty; who keeps the money and the keys; minutes of every meeting. One member adding sugar can ruin everyone's name.

Contracts and tenders

A buyer contract should state: product; kilograms; price; grade and moisture limit; delivery dates; payment days; what happens when a batch fails; and who pays for the test. Have a lawyer or the GEA centre read big contracts. Not verified: the rules, fees and registration for supplying public institutions; ask the Public Procurement Authority before you plan on tenders.

Export: be honest about the road

Ghana's honey is not on the EU import list now, because of concerns about its residue management plan. Ghana first got on the list in 2011 after it submitted a plan. So your sales outlook in the next years is the home market and perhaps neighbouring countries. If you want to export, start now: no drugs in hives, a laboratory certificate for each batch, traceable batch codes, written outgrower rules, and a talk with the GEA centre and Ghana EXIM. What the EU asks (a foreign example). A Dutch government export guide says honey may enter the EU only from countries on the EU list, and each listed country must send a residue monitoring plan every year. The honey must come from an approved, listed establishment; each shipment needs an official health certificate signed by a government vet or certifying officer; residues of bee medicines and pesticides must stay under EU limits (some drugs, such as chloramphenicol, are not allowed at all); and the honey must meet EU composition rules such as moisture under 20% and HMF limits like the Codex ones above. Importers must be able to trace every batch, and exporters are expected to keep samples for two to three years. Ghana must be back on the EU list before any of this helps you. Not verified: the FDA and GSA export documents for honey; ask each office, and get each buyer country's rules in writing.

Records for loans, succession and ethics

A lender wants your registration papers, 12 months of cash book, profit and loss, balance sheet, MoMo or bank statements, a cash-flow forecast, and a clear use for the money (see Money Skills Level 2). Keep these records at least six years. Name a successor who knows the apiary sites, the hive register, the queen register, the supplier list, the passwords and the customer list; keep the landowner agreements and contracts in a safe place.

Ethics. Never add anything to honey. Never print an FDA number you do not hold. Never make a cure claim. Never sell honey from a poisoned or suspect hive. Pay staff and farmers on time and obey the Labour Act. Keep bees where they will not endanger neighbours. Tell the truth about where the honey came from.

Your 12-month cash-flow forecast (example)

A cash forecast lists opening cash, money in, money out and closing cash for each month. Yaa's first year, from the Unit 5 budget (example): 30 hives, 18 occupied by the first harvest in May, 10 kg each = 180 kg. Money in: honey 100 kg wholesale at GH¢70 and 80 kg in jars at GH¢45 per 500 g; wax 4 kg at GH¢80; pollination for 10 hives at GH¢120. Money out each month: rent 300, phone 60, transport 200 and her wage 800 = 1,360; plus lumps: insurance 600 in January, the Assembly permit 1,000 in March, harvest costs 600 and jars 400 in May, jars 400 in June, harvest costs 400 in December. The start-up spending of GH¢20,630 (hives, equipment, registration) is already made; she starts January with working cash of GH¢6,000.

Cash goes negative in April and May, before the first harvest sells (opening 6,000 plus money in 15,720 minus money out 19,720 = 2,000). A real business must plan for this: a bank overdraft is not available to many starters, so Yaa needs more working cash or a smaller wage at first. The picture also shows that in the first year a 30-hive business pays little more than a modest wage.

Capstone: present to a panel

You present a complete one-page business plan (Unit 5) with your 12-month cash forecast, price list, registration checklist, safety plan and quality plan, in 8 minutes, then answer questions for 7.

1. About how many hives per square kilometre does FAO advise for an apiary in Africa?
2. Name four things to do before moving hives to a farm.
3. How far from the parent hive should a queen-rearing nucleus be placed?
4. Why must you not put antibiotics or similar drugs into a hive?
5. What is the Codex moisture limit for general honey, and what do you do with a batch above it?
6. When must honey be labelled "filtered honey"?
7. Name five things an FDA label for honey must show.
8. What does the 2019 GSA catalogue list for honey, and what should you do before printing a quality claim?
9. Give two different published hive-per-hectare figures for watermelon and say where they come from.
10. Name four steps to register your bee business in Takoradi.
11. What is the difference between margin and mark-up, and why can a business be profitable and run out of cash?
12. What does a 12-month cash forecast warn you about, and what is the check that its arithmetic is right?

Best next reads: FAO's Beekeeping in Africa (all chapters); Bees for Development's resources; the FDA's registration and labelling pages; Money Skills Level 2 and Entrepreneurial Thinking Level 2 in this hub.

What this module does not cover: queen grafting, Langstroth or Warré hive management, medical uses of propolis or royal jelly, stingless bees, honey processing at factory scale, export certification, payroll beyond the basics, and current Takoradi honey and wax prices (not found). It is not legal, tax or financial advice.

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.