If you are a beekeeper and you are looking for those items that will either make your beekeeping life easier in your bee yard, or you have a beekeeping friend or partner and you are looking for great gifts, you have found the best gifts here for your favorite beekeeper.
We are 4th generation beekeepers here at our home, and keep honey bees as a hobby in our own backyard. You can find anywhere from 5 - 10 hives in our backyard on a given year, as we love to harvest our own honey and sometimes sell it at the local farmers markets.
It's also interesting to learn about honey bee biology through your own interactions with them and their hives!
Why keep bees?
Why would someone keep bees? If you have a beekeeper in your life, they are keeping bees for the following reasons:
- for harvesting honey
- for harvesting beeswax
- as an interesting hobby
- to connect more with nature
- to get better pollination for their gardens or orchards
- for many more reasons
There are so many reasons why people keep bees. You learn a great deal about your environment when you keep bees, and it is a very relaxing hobby. You could always watch the wild bees in your yard, but there is something special about having your own.
Here is everything you need to know about beekeeping
Where did these beekeeper gift ideas come from?
This is a completely unique beekeeper gift guide and is not inspired by other gift guides out there, so you won't get repeat content here. And because we are beekeepers, these are gifts for the backyard beekeeper that are different than just bee smokers, a beekeeping suit or a Langstroth hive. These are unexpected gifts that your beekeeper friends will absolutely love.
As experienced beekeepers, we have found these hive tools, beekeeping equipment and general bee gifts will not only make lives easier for the backyard beekeeper out in the bee yard, but these are well thought out gifts that they will truly appreciate and will be impressed that you were able to find!
There are a lot of beekeeper gift guides out there that mention an actual hive and beginner beekeeper supplies for someone who has not yet started, but this list is for someone who is already into beekeeping and has a hive and bees already.
This is a great gift guide for a beginning beekeeper who is already set up, all the way up to master beekeeper and advanced beekeeper gifts.
Let's get into it, here are the best gifts for your beekeeper friends and family.
Gift Ideas For Beekeepers
1. A Beekeepers Tool Belt
I have so many things to say about this gift idea for your beekeeping equipment. Including this: I always say, why isn't there a toolbelt for beekeepers!? And here it is, and in leather no doubt, perfect to fit in the hive tools and bee smoker one would need on hand.
This will be the handiest gift you can ever give your beekeeper (new beekeepers or an experienced beekeeper), and this is the one you want (because a flimsy or poorly made bee belt will risk these hive tools falling off at the hive, and you do not want that). most beekeepers would bend over backwards to have one of these. It's true.
This beekeeper toolbelt is made with full grain leather and metal in southern Indiana by Gary, who says this about their 5 star shop with over 11,000 happy customers:
The culture of Amish community enriches all who interact with it. You can feel the honest handcrafting and see the unique charm of each piece.
Here are some more details about the toolbelt by the shop owner:
Pockets in this tool belt
Our pouch has 4 pockets :
-2 pockets in front can hold queen bee tube and pens/pencils.
-Middle pocket is wider to hold clamps and other hive tools.
-The back pocket is a slot for your cell phone and field notes
Hive tool holder
The hive tool holder has a lower section that allows the tip of the tool to slip into place, to keep it secure. On top, it’s held in place by a sturdy magnet. These two features keep the tool safe but also allow the tool to come out easily.
Bee smoker holder section
The smoker holder has a thick piece of bridle leather backing to protect you from the heat. Our custom designed hook is handmade in a local Amish blacksmith shop. It’s securely mounted with rivets on the backing. The bee smoker can be hung by any part of the protective cage and slips onto the hook easily without needing to look.
Leather material (full grain)
All our tool belts are full grain leather (never suede or cheap, thin leather) and they are made in the classic style of having the rough side out, which allows for great longevity and also puts the smooth side of the leather on the interior for smooth usefulness.
If you prefer to have the smooth side of the leather out, then let us know when you order. We'll be glad to do that for you.
*You can request a second pouch as well on this model.
Compare to other leather beekeeping toolbelts here
2. A Beeswax Melter
Collecting beeswax is a really special part of beekeeping as there is so much that can be made from natural beeswax. Everyone who is in the bee culture needs this melter as part of their bee supplies.
Making beeswax crafts, like beeswax candles and beeswax wraps, can get very messy. But not if you have a dedicated electric wax melter with a spout.
There are so many different uses for beeswax.
This little device not only saves your beekeeper the mess and headache when working with melted wax, but it also allows you to add your other waxes if you want to do a special blend for a particular handmade product, or add your essential oils for certain scents.
Learn where to buy beeswax directly from small hobby beekeepers here
3. Electric Honey Extractor
All backyard beekeepers know: collecting honey is a labor-intense time. It is enjoyable, yes, but it is also a lot of work uncapping those honey frames and spinning them. Especially if your beekeeper is spinning by hand.
This particular model is a well-known brand with good customer reviews. You can choose a 2 frame, 3 frame or 4 frame spinner. The frames are referring to the frames of honey from the beehive. One beehive will likely have ten or more frames of honey in, so we always say the more frames a spinner can hold, the better.
4. A Heated Honey Uncapping Knife
Here is something that made a world of difference for us personally as beekeepers. This is a heated uncapping knife.
You see, before you can put your frames of honey in the spinners to separate the honey from the frames, you need to uncap the frames.
The bees physically "cap" the honey with wax and if you spin it without taking this cap off, the honey will not come out. So to uncap, you can use a knife or a fork, or any other tool, but this tool is the king of tools and your beekeeper will totally appreciate and use this.
This tool heats up and is stainless steel, so the heat will be uniform and will slice through those beeswax caps like butter, making the uncapping experience much easier and more enjoyable.
5. A Honey Refractometer
This is a very handy tool for beekeepers. It allows them to put a drop of honey on it to see the sugar content in it! We also use ours to check the sugar content of our harvested maple syrup.
This is a professional model with lots of sales and very high customer reviews, and it comes in at a really great price. Use this alongside a beekeeping journal and test the quality of your honey year after year. If you want to give this thoughtful gift to a beekeeper in your life with a journal, check out our next point.
6. A Beekeepers Journal
Beekeeping journals are always great to have on hand. The beekeeper will need to take notes when they do inspections on how the Queen is doing, where she was found during the inspection, her laying patter, how much pollen is being brought in at the time, mite control, which flowers are blooming during what time and so many more notes.
Taking these notes helps your beekeeper understand their bees more, and is essential to grow in the hobby.
What is nice, is that many of these options can be personalized with your bee keepers name on it! How thoughtful.
7. The Beekeepers Bible
This is a very handy little book to have for beginning beekeepers to experienced beekeepers alike. You learn great things about bees and honey, as well as recipes and home uses for your byproducts.
Here is an excerpt from the book description:
The Beekeeper’s Bible is as much an ultimate guide to the practical essentials of beekeeping as it is a beautiful almanac to be read from cover to cover. Part history book, part handbook, and part cookbook, this illustrated tome covers every facet of the ancient hobby of beekeeping, from how to manage hives safely to harvesting one's own honey, and ideas for how to use honey and beeswax.
Detailed instructions for making candles, furniture polish, beauty products, and nearly 100 honey-themed recipes are included. Fully illustrated with how-to photography and unique etchings, any backyard enthusiast or gardener can confidently dive into beekeeping with this book in hand (or daydream about harvesting their own honey while relaxing in the comfort of an armchair).
See all beekeeping books on Amazon right here
8. Beekeepers Honey Reserve Box
This is a really unique, and is one of our favorite beekeeper gifts. We have been keeping honey bees for many years, and one thing we like to do, is keep some of our own honey produced from every year. We have buckets downstairs from each year of honey collecting, and it is so interesting to taste them next to each other.
One year we might have flavor notes of peaches, or one year it may almost taste sweeter than other years, and this can be due to weather patterns, the amount of precipitation or other reasons. It is like a honey journal for beekeepers, and this gift is just for that reason.
This handmade gift, made in North Carolina, can be personalized with a nameplate for your beekeeper. You are going to want to check out this small shop!
9. Personalized Metal Bee House Sign
This is a really cute gift for a bee lover. The photo has this displayed right on the house front door, but I would even consider putting this on the fence by my beehives!
Because it is made from high quality, powder coated steel, it is weatherproof and can be customized in terms of wording, font and colors.
Here is another design option:
Aren't these great?!
10. Beekeeper Stained Glass Décor
Bringing elements of your personal hobby inside to decorate your house is always something really fun to do. Especially for beekeepers, as the image of honey bees and honeycomb is not only beautiful but is very popular.
Stained glass is always a beautiful gift to give anyone, as it can hang in your window and shower you in the beautiful light that passes through it on a sunny day.
Honeycomb stained glass is something truly to behold, and this makes a very beautiful gift.
11. Beekeepers Beehive Ornament
For anyone looking for a keepsake gift idea, this ornament is a really special gift idea for your beekeeper. And if you don't want it as a tree ornament, this seller also makes miniature hive model kits! This is a fun gift idea, and many beekeepers would love this thoughtful gift.
This little handmade shop also offers miniature Langstroth bee hives that are high quality and very detailed, and would be amazing for a bee keeper enthusiast or for someone who is interested in starting beekeeping!
12. Honey Bee Silverware Set
This is a gift we would love to receive from someone! Now here is the wow factor you are looking for, even the non beekeeper would find this gift amazing.
This silverware set comes in three different options:
- A 20 pieces set
- A 45 piece set
- A 65 piece set
Also a great idea for wedding gifts for beekeepers, here is what this handmade seller has to say about this gorgeous set:
Beautifully crafted out of domestically sourced 18/10 stainless steel, Honey Bee [this silverware set] is as durable as it is elegant, perfect for everyday use!
This little shop has has partnered with the Pollinator Health Research Fund at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Sciences to donate a portion of their proceeds from this Flatware pattern to assist with bee research:
For every Honey Bee flatware set sold we will donate $1 to the Pollinator Health Research Fund. The Cornell Honey Bee Research Fund is dedicated to promoting healthy pollinators for US agriculture. Cornell University offers science and education programs for students and community members to continue the growing efforts of Honey Bee health and sustainability.
13. Honey Comb Necklace
Honey jewelry is a beautiful trend we wish we knew about sooner. How gorgeous are these pieces? With realistic looking honey dripping from the honeycomb pattern, this is a statement piece that is sure to be loved with a smile on someone's face.
Check out all of the honey bee jewelry on Etsy here
We hope you found this gift guide to have some very excellent gifts for beekeepers, and that you found some truly unique items.
When looking for the best gifts for the beekeeper in your life, whether they are new beekeepers or are experienced at beekeeping, other beekeepers would agree that any item in this list is going to add a smile to someone's face.
As beekeepers, we love our little pollinators and our garden friends. A honey bees work is never done in a bee yard, it's true.
Feel free to bookmark this page, we update our pages regularly with new and exciting finds when we come across them, and we are sure there will be more than this upcoming occasion to spoil your beekeeping friend!
Here are some other articles you may be interested in reading:
Beekeeping Equipment List | How To Start
Candle Making Supplies + Guide
The Pros and Cons of Beeswax Candles
Maple Syrup Supplies | Everything Needed To Tap Trees
Did you like this article?
❤️ Here's how you can support our blog:
My name is Linnea and I am a backyard gardening enthusiast! Along with my husband and our two kids (and chickens, ducks, bees and our little dog). Our hobby - growing our own food and making our meals from scratch. My blog, The Farmers Cupboard, is the website that blossomed from that passion. I love every second I spend sharing our hobby with like minded backyard growers.
It's easy to support my blog, and it is so appreciated. Please SHARE an article somewhere, pin a photo to your Pinterest board, follow on any of our social medias or sign up for our newsletter! That's it!
These little things help our blog grow and allow us to continue doing what we love: growing good food and sharing what we learn.
PINTEREST PASSIONATE? We're opening up our cupboard to you!
Click on the pin below made just for you. It will bring you right to my little Pinterest community, where I would love for you to FOLLOW The Farmers Cupboard and see all of our gardening and backyard dream ideas!
Let's grow good things together!
6 BEST + RELIABLE Automatic Chicken Coop Doors | 2024
Here are our top choices of automatic coop doors.
0 comments