Commercial beekeeping software that keeps colony counts, mite counts and registrations on one yard record
Commercial beekeeping is the business of running honey bee colonies at a scale where the income comes from honey, pollination contracts and bee sales. USDA NASS counted 2.60 million honey producing colonies in the United States in 2024, producing 134 million pounds of honey at an average price of $2.69 per pound, with pollination income of $226 million. Varroa mites were the leading reported stressor in every quarter surveyed. Neurobird holds colony counts, mite counts, treatments and registrations on one record per yard.
Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping in short
- Hold colony counts per yard with the date they were counted and by whom
- Log mite counts and treatments against the yard and the date, so a threshold decision is defensible
- Track colonies staged against each pollination contract rather than against an estimate
- 2,600,000 United States honey production in 2024 totalled 134 million pounds from 2.60 million honey producing colonies, at a yield of 51.7 pounds per colony and an average price of $2.69 per pound. USDA NASS, Honey, released March 14, 2025
- $226,000,000 Pollination income for 2024 was $226 million, down 11 percent from 2023, and other income from honey bees was $51.3 million. Average prices paid in 2024 were $18 for a queen, $89 for a package and $109 for a nuc. USDA NASS, Honey, released March 14, 2025
- Pricing runs 90 to 460 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What commercial beekeepers actually deal with
Why it stays broken
A commercial operation is a fleet of livestock that moves, and no two states track it the same way. The colony count changes weekly, the mite count changes the decision, and both are recorded in a notebook that lives in a truck. Nothing joins the yard to the pollination contract it is committed to or the registration certificate that keeps it legal.
At 51.7 pounds per colony, an unnoticed mite problem in one yard of 480 colonies is thousands of pounds of honey that never happens.
Beekeeping is an essential component of modern agriculture, providing pollination services for over 90 commercial crops grown in the United States.
How does Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping work?
Set up the yards
Location, landowner, colony count and the state it sits in, captured once and updated when colonies move rather than at the end of the season.
Log the visit
Colony count, mite count, treatment, feed and queen status recorded at the yard, with the date and the person who did it.
Hold the commitments
Pollination contracts, staged colony counts and state registration and inspection dates sit against the same yards, so nothing is promised twice.
Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping Inspection Tracking Platform
Make the yard the record. Colonies, mite counts, treatments, movements and registration dates sit together, so the answer to a broker or an inspector comes off one screen.
- 1Hold colony counts per yard with the date they were counted and by whom
- 2Log mite counts and treatments against the yard and the date, so a threshold decision is defensible
- 3Track colonies staged against each pollination contract rather than against an estimate
- 4Diary state registration and inspection dates across every state the operation touches
What changes with Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping |
|---|---|
| Colonies move between yards, states and pollination contracts, and the count that matters is the one on the day the broker asks | Hold colony counts per yard with the date they were counted and by whom |
| Mite counts, treatments and feed all have to be recorded per yard, and the record is a notebook in a truck that gets rained on | Log mite counts and treatments against the yard and the date, so a threshold decision is defensible |
| State registration renewals and inspection appointments run on different calendars in every state you overwinter in | Track colonies staged against each pollination contract rather than against an estimate |
Who is this for?
Same bees, three different businesses.
You sell what the yards make
Yield per colony decides the year. You need mite counts and treatments logged against the yards that under produced.
You sell colonies by the acre
Contracts are counted at delivery. You need staged colony counts that match what you promised months earlier.
You sell bees, not honey
Stock health and inspection records are the product. You need certificates and treatment history ready when the buyer asks.
The operation, yard by yard
A working preview. Tick a yard to pull its colony count and last inspection.
Tap an asset to log a scan and timestamp the inspection.
What the numbers say about commercial beekeeping
Useful if you run colonies for income. Each figure links back to the USDA release that reported it.
United States honey production in 2024 totalled 134 million pounds from 2.60 million honey producing colonies, at a yield of 51.7 pounds per colony and an average price of $2.69 per pound.
USDA NASS, Honey, released March 14, 2025Pollination income for 2024 was $226 million, down 11 percent from 2023, and other income from honey bees was $51.3 million. Average prices paid in 2024 were $18 for a queen, $89 for a package and $109 for a nuc.
USDA NASS, Honey, released March 14, 2025Colonies lost by operations with five or more colonies totalled 396,820 from January through March 2024, or 15 percent, and 288,190 from April through June 2024, or 11 percent.
USDA NASS, Honey Bee Colonies, August 1, 2024Varroa mites were the number one reported stressor for operations with five or more colonies in every quarter surveyed in 2023, peaking at 52.0 percent of colonies affected during April through June 2023.
USDA NASS, Honey Bee Colonies, August 1, 2024The USDA action plan on colony collapse disorder records that honey bees add $15 billion in value to agricultural crops each year, provide pollination for over 90 commercial crops, and that the California almond crop alone uses 1.3 million colonies.
USDA ARS, colony collapse disorder action planOhio registration is annual, expires on May 31, and carries no registration fee effective October 1, 2025. A registered and posted apiary must be given at least 24 hours notice before pesticides toxic to honey bees are applied over half an acre of flowering crops within half a mile.
Ohio Department of Agriculture, apiary registrationCommercial beekeeping software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is commercial beekeeping?
- Commercial beekeeping is running honey bee colonies at a scale where income comes from honey production, pollination contracts and bee sales rather than from a hobby. USDA NASS surveys operations with five or more colonies, and reported 2.60 million honey producing colonies in the United States in 2024.
- What are the biggest losses and what causes them?
- Losses are measured quarterly. For operations with five or more colonies, 396,820 colonies were lost from January through March 2024, which is 15 percent, and 288,190 were lost from April through June 2024, which is 11 percent. Varroa mites were the number one reported stressor in every quarter surveyed in 2023.
- What does registration get us besides a certificate?
- Pesticide notification, among other things. In Ohio, if your apiary is registered and properly posted, anyone applying pesticides toxic to honey bees over half an acre or more of flowering crops within half a mile of your apiary must notify you at least 24 hours in advance under OAC 901:5-11-02(B)(15).
Do we have to register our hives?
In most states, yes, and it is usually annual. Ohio requires registration by anyone who owns or possesses honey bees, hobby or commercial, with a certificate valid for one year that expires on May 31 and no registration fee effective October 1, 2025.
Does this replace our accounting or honey sales system?
No. Invoices and inventory stay where they are. What lives here is the yard record: colonies, mite counts, treatments, movements and registration dates, joined so a contract or an inspection has one answer.
Why we are building this
A commercial apiary is a livestock operation that moves across state lines several times a year, and most of it is still tracked in a notebook on the dashboard.
The count changes weekly, the mite threshold decides the season, and the registration certificate that keeps you legal expires on a date nobody has written down.
We would rather build this with people running real yards. Tell us how you track a colony count, and where we have got it wrong.
Where the requirement comes from
Public sources on colony numbers, losses, registration and inspection.
- USDA NASS, Honey annual report Colony counts, yield per colony, honey production, average price, pollination income and prices paid for queens, packages and nucs.
- USDA NASS, Honey Bee Colonies quarterly loss survey Quarterly colony inventory and loss counts for operations with five or more colonies, plus the reported stressors behind them.
- Ohio Department of Agriculture, apiary registration Annual registration, the May 31 expiry, county appointed inspectors and the 24 hour pesticide notification rule for registered apiaries.
- Georgia Department of Agriculture, apiary program A second state view of registration, inspection and honey bee pest and disease rules, useful if you overwinter across state lines.
- USDA ARS, colony collapse disorder action plan The federal research plan on colony losses, with the pollination value figures and almond colony demand that shaped the funding.
How much does Neurobird Commercial Beekeeping cost?
Priced per operation because yards move and colony counts change weekly. Yards, colonies and users are unlimited on every tier.
- Yard records
- Colony counts
- Mite count log
- Treatment history
- Email support
- Everything in Sideliner
- Pollination contract staging
- Movement between yards
- Registration diary
- Named contact
- Everything in Commercial
- Multi state registration rules
- Crew accounts by route
- Loss reporting export
- Onboarding included
Get free early access
If you run colonies commercially, tell us how you know your real colony count on any given morning.
Straight answer on where this is: In development. Early access gets the working preview, a say in what ships first, and early access pricing. It does not get you a login today.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.