Grants for Beekeeping 2026: 57 Funders Backed Bee Groups

Beekeeping source review, Grantsights, November 6, 2026: Grantsights checked the Farm Service Agency's ELAP program page (opens in a new tab), the Virginia Beehive Distribution Program page (opens in a new tab), the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search page (opens in a new tab), the IRS page about Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), the SARE grants page (opens in a new tab) and One Hive Foundation's funding page (opens in a new tab) against the 155 filed grants. Where official sources stop: no agency counts bee clubs, prices a teaching apiary or says which local funder backs hive education, so those answers come from the filings and from quotes your club gathers.

Grants for Beekeeping: What 990-PF Filings Show

Only 103 grants in the November 5, 2026 pull went to honey bee organizations, and they add up to $838,664. According to IRS guidance on Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab), private foundations use that return to report their charitable distributions, so every gift below is on the public record.

That total is lopsided. One capital gift, $348,000 from Wend II Inc to The Spikenard Farm in Floyd, Virginia, in 2023 for its honeybee sanctuary capital campaign, is 41% of the $838,664 by itself. Take it out and the other 102 grants average under $5,000. The median, $2,000, is the number a club should plan around.

Grantsights' honest read: a bee club isn't going to find a large national funder waiting for it. The realistic route is a $1,000 to $5,000 ask to a local family, bank or utility foundation for something specific, such as a teaching apiary, a school visit program or a mentoring year, and then a second ask the next year once members can show results.

Funders of honey bee organizations clustered in a few states. Counting foundations that gave to bee groups, Virginia led with 8, Massachusetts had 7, Michigan and California had 5 each, and Texas, Oregon and New York had 4 each. Virginia's lead mostly comes from one place: 5 of its 8 funders gave to the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd.

6 Kinds of Bee Groups Foundations Paid For

These 6 groups show the range, and every grant named here comes from the November 5, 2026 pull. Grantsights read each recipient and filed purpose to make sure it was a honey bee organization doing bee work.

1. County and regional clubs. For example, Barnstable County Beekeepers Association received $12,100 from the Bilezikian Family Foundation in 2024 for its programs, the largest single club gift in the pull. The Dorothy Cate and Thomas F. Frist Foundation gave the Nashville Area Beekeepers Association $5,000 in 2023 and $1,000 in 2024 for general support, and the Cranswick-Black Foundation gave Denver's Mile Hive Bee Club $5,000 in 2024.
2. State associations. The Walter Scott Family Foundation gave the Nebraska Beekeepers Association $5,000 in 2024 for a "next generation" purpose. Maine Bee Wellness gave the Maine State Beekeepers Association $2,816 in 2023, $2,900 in 2024 and $4,600 in 2025, a funder coming back three years running.
3. A new club apiary. One organization in West Virginia, the Marion County Beekeepers Association, received $5,000 from the George W. Bowers Family Charitable Trust in 2023 to establish an apiary. That's the clearest teaching-apiary gift in the filings.
4. School bee programs. Maine Bee Wellness gave the Bangor School Department a $4,000 beekeeping club startup grant in 2025. In Virginia, Louisa County High School got $2,000 from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation in 2023 for its honey bee apiary and $500 from the American Woodmark Foundation in 2024 for protective gear.
5. Veterans' beekeeping. The LRE Foundation gave Heroes & Hives in Greenfield, Ohio, $20,000 in 2024 to teach veterans beekeeping, and the Robert Z. Hawkins Foundation gave Bees4Vets in Nevada $5,000 in 2024 for a beekeeping course.
6. Rescue and public education nonprofits. The Maurice A. and Thelma P. Rothman family foundation gave The Bee Musketeers in St. Petersburg, Florida, $20,000 in both 2023 and 2024 to teach the public about honey bees and safe bee removal. The Hollomon-Price Foundation gave the American Honey Bee Protection Agency in Texas $15,000 in 2023 to rescue wild honey bee hives.

Hives at public places drew funders too. The Carpenter Foundation and The Roundhouse Foundation each gave the Jackson County Library Foundation in Oregon $5,000 in 2023 for a pollinator garden and beehive at the Phoenix library. The Willary Foundation gave the Everhart Museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania, $3,000 in 2024 for an observation beehive, and the American Electric Power Foundation gave the Michiana Master Gardeners Association in Indiana $1,000 in 2025 for a hive and bees at its community garden.

One Hive Foundation: The Funder Most Bee Clubs Should Know

One Hive Foundation (EIN, or employer identification number, 92-0684940) made 21 grants worth $69,247 to organizations in tax years 2023 and 2024, according to the November 5, 2026 pull. Most were near $2,000 and went to clubs: Westminster Bee Club in Colorado ($2,000 in each of 2023 and 2024), Omaha Bee Club ($2,081 in 2024), Treasure Valley Beekeepers Club in Idaho ($2,000 in 2024), the Michigan Beekeepers Association ($2,000 in 2023) and the Colorado State Beekeepers Association ($1,895 in 2023). Its largest was $30,850 in unrestricted support to the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees in Atlanta in 2024.

Its current program is narrower than those filings suggest. As of November 6, 2026, One Hive's funding page says Catalyst Grants are open and Impact Grants are closed. Its 2026-2027 grant summary, dated October 13, 2026, puts Catalyst Grants at up to $10,000 for one year, with full proposals due December 1 and no letter of intent, and Impact Grants at up to $75,000 a year for up to 3 years. The page says it considers only organizations based and working in Canada, the United States or U.S. territories.

Read its priorities before you write. The highest priorities are pesticide and agricultural policy advocacy, farmer-focused education that reaches beekeepers, and research. Community pollinator education counts as a medium priority when it ties into broader advocacy, research or farm programs. And the page names stand-alone community pollinator gardens and small habitat plantings without wider impact as a lower priority. A club asking for "hives for our members" is a weak fit; a club teaching new beekeepers and local growers how pesticide choices affect colonies is a better one.

The 13 individual grants make sense once you read One Hive's travel grant summary, updated October 20, 2026. It pays beekeepers' travel costs to a policy and advocacy workshop at the American Beekeeping Federation's annual conference, gives priority to representatives of beekeeping organizations and pays the grant to the person attending. One 2024 filing to the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association is labeled a travel grant disbursement.

What Bee Clubs Actually Ask For

Of the 103 organization grants, 85 were $5,000 or less, so most asks in this field cover one purchase or one program year. The next table is illustrative, not data. Prices vary by supplier and region, so collect at least 2 quotes before you put a number in a proposal.

Two habits help. Name the people served, such as "40 students at 3 schools" or "25 first-year beekeepers," instead of the equipment alone. And show who keeps the hives alive after the grant ends, since a dead colony at a library is a red flag for any funder considering a second gift.

How Bee Clubs Without 501(c)(3) Status Can Receive Grants

Most private foundations prefer to give to 501(c)(3) charities, and not every beekeeping club holds that status, so check yours before you ask any of the 57 funders in this pull for even the $2,000 median. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (opens in a new tab) lets you check any group's status by name or employer identification number. According to the IRS page, the tool searches Publication 78 data on groups eligible for tax-deductible gifts, the automatic revocation list, determination letters, Form 990 series returns and Form 990-N e-Postcards.

Run your own club's name before you apply. A common mistake is assuming the club is a 501(c)(3) because members have always called it a nonprofit, or missing that its name shows up on the automatic revocation list.

If your club isn't a 501(c)(3), you have 3 workable options:

1. Use a fiscal sponsor. A local land trust, nature center, garden club foundation or community foundation can take the grant for your project and pass it through under a written agreement. What is a fiscal sponsor explains how these arrangements work and what to put in writing.
2. Partner with a host. A library, school or nature center can apply for the hives and name your club as the volunteer partner. Several library and school gifts in the pull went to the host, not to a club.
3. Apply for 501(c)(3) status. For a club that raises money every year, its own charitable status is worth the paperwork. Plan for months, not weeks.

USDA Grants for Beekeeping: What Producers Can Get

USDA's money for bees mostly goes to producers who've lost colonies, not to clubs. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) runs the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). According to USDA's ELAP page (opens in a new tab), the program pays producers for honeybee colony, hive and feed losses due to colony collapse disorder, eligible adverse weather and other conditions. Starting with program year 2026, FSA uses a normal mortality rate of 15% for eligible honeybee colony losses, a change the page ties to the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. Producers file a notice of loss and an application for payment at their local FSA office, due March 1 after the program year in which the loss occurred, with documentation of the losses.

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), which runs its grants through 4 regional offices, is the other route people ask about. According to the SARE grants page, farmers and ranchers, researchers, extension agents and other educators, and graduate students can apply, and pollinators are listed among the topics its grants can cover. The same page says SARE funds research and education projects only: it won't pay to start a farm, and it generally can't fund large purchases of land, equipment or animals. A commercial beekeeper testing a mite-control practice and sharing the results fits better than one buying hives.

States sometimes give bees directly. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) gives hive equipment to residents. According to the Virginia Beehive Distribution Program page, as of November 6, 2026, the 2026 status is closed, with applicants being chosen at random for free equipment to build up to 3 new beehives each. The equipment must be assembled and occupied by honey bees within a year and used for personal or small-scale beekeeping in Virginia, and bees, safety gear and extractors aren't included. That's a program for individual Virginians, not clubs, though a club can help members apply.

For more on farm programs generally, see grants for farmers and agriculture.

What USDA's ELAP Page Doesn't Tell You About Bee Clubs

The ELAP page is clear about losses, but it leaves out 5 things a beekeeping association needs to know.

1. A club isn't a producer. ELAP pays producers with documented losses. A club's teaching apiary exists for education, so don't build a budget around disaster aid.
2. Records decide everything. The page asks for verifiable documentation. Clubs can help members by teaching simple colony records: counts by date, inspection notes and photos. That's a fundable education project in its own right.
3. The 15% figure cuts both ways. A fixed normal mortality rate is easier to plan around, but losses inside that rate aren't covered. Members who expect ELAP to replace every winter loss will underestimate their own costs.
4. No federal grant pays for a new club's hives. Grantsights didn't find a federal program built to equip beekeeping clubs. Foundations, local businesses and member dues carry that cost.
5. Your county FSA office is the real contact. The page sends producers to their local office for enrollment details and deadlines, so a club can invite FSA staff to a meeting instead of guessing at the rules.

Why the Environment List for Beekeeping Groups

76 of the 155 matched grants carried no cause tag, so there's no beekeeping-specific funder list. Among tagged grants, education had the most (55 grants from 18 foundations), but 34 of those were One Hive Foundation's education-purpose gifts, and most of the rest went to school programs. Environment funders are the ones backing honey bee conservancies, bee sanctuaries and pollinator work outside schools, which is where a club's public mission fits. The free preview on the Grantsights environment funder list shows environment funders in your state broadly, not funders picked for bees. A school bee program should look at the education list instead.

These rows count all environment giving in each state, from Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, so none of it is limited to bees. They're 6 of the 7 states where the most foundations backed honey bee groups. Notice that statewide environment medians run $5,000 to $10,000, well above the $2,000 bee club median: a club that frames its ask as public pollinator education can reasonably ask a little more of an environment funder. The environment funder list covers every state, and Grantsights refunds it within 30 days if it doesn't fit your club.

Common Mistakes in Beekeeping Grant Requests

These 6 mistakes are easy to make on an ask near the $2,000 median, and the filings show what works instead.

• Asking for "bees" with no audience. Funders in the pull wrote purposes like "establish an apiary," "beekeeping course" and "observation beehive." Each names a use. Say who learns, where and how often.
• Writing to a pollinator habitat funder as if hives were habitat. Native pollinator groups and honey bee clubs draw different funders. If your project is native bee habitat, read grants for pollinator conservation groups instead.
• Ignoring the host's rules. A library, school or park hosting hives will have its own insurance, sting and allergy policies. Settle them before you apply, not after the award.
• Forgetting year 2. Packages of bees, feed and mite treatments recur every year. Put them in the club's dues budget so a one-time grant isn't carrying ongoing costs.
• Overlooking local businesses. Utility, bank and manufacturer foundations made several gifts here, including Dominion Energy, American Electric Power, PSEG and Scotts Miracle-Gro. A branch or plant in your county is worth a call.
• Sending One Hive a garden request. Its own page names small, stand-alone plantings as a lower priority. Read how to read a 990-PF and match your ask to what a funder actually paid for.

Schools, Libraries and Veterans' Programs With Hives

48 of the 103 organization grants went to groups other than beekeeping clubs, and many of those run hives as one program among several: schools, a museum, a library foundation, a master gardeners group and veterans' programs among them. For them, beekeeping is one piece of a bigger mission, and funders read it that way.

Schools usually do best with education funders and local business foundations. The Thornton S. Jr. and Katrina D. Glide Foundation gave the Honeybee Discovery Center in Orland, California, $2,000 in 2023 for lessons tied to third-grade pollinator standards. School gardens and youth clubs add hives often, so grants for school gardens and grants for 4-H clubs cover funders that already know those programs. Nature centers can compare funders in grants for nature centers.

Veterans' programs have a second set of funders. Beyond the Heroes & Hives and Bees4Vets gifts above, the PSEG Foundation gave the Hudson River Apiary Society in New Jersey $1,000 in 2023 to develop a course with Hudson County Community College and the Jersey City veterans' department. Grants for veterans organizations lists the wider funders of veterans' programs.

Related Guides for Bee and Garden Groups

The $137,676 that went to 44 clubs in this pull is a small slice of honey bee giving, and clubs that teach the public often share funders with environmental education programs, and those with a garden plot can compare grants for community gardens. A library hosting an observation hive should also read grants for libraries.

For federal and state notices that might fit a bee education or farm project, search the Grantsights grant database.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are there grants for beekeeping clubs and associations? Yes: 57 foundations made 103 grants worth $838,664 to honey bee organizations in the November 5, 2026 pull.

Can an individual beekeeper get a grant? Rarely from a foundation; 14 of 155 grants went to individuals, mostly One Hive travel grants.

Does USDA give grants for beekeeping? Not for new hives. ELAP pays producers for eligible colony losses, and SARE funds research and education.

Which foundation gives the most to bee clubs? One Hive Foundation: 21 grants worth $69,247 to organizations in 2023 and 2024.

How much should a bee club ask for? Start near $2,000 to $5,000; 85 of the 103 organization grants were $5,000 or less.

Can a school start a beekeeping club with a grant? Yes. Bangor's school department got a $4,000 startup grant from Maine Bee Wellness in 2025.

Sources

These sources, checked November 6, 2026, back the federal, state and filing claims above.

• USDA Farm Service Agency: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) (opens in a new tab)
• VDACS: Virginia Beehive Distribution Program (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: Tax Exempt Organization Search (opens in a new tab)
• IRS: About Form 990-PF (opens in a new tab)
• SARE: Grants (opens in a new tab)
• One Hive Foundation: Funding Opportunities (opens in a new tab), with its 2026-2027 Impact and Catalyst Grant Summary (October 13, 2026) and Travel Grant Summary (October 20, 2026)
• Grantsights pull of 990-PF grant records, November 5, 2026, and environment statewide pull, October 29, 2026