Also called: Apiarist, Pollination Contractor
Manages hundreds or thousands of beehives, trucking them around the country to pollinate crops and harvesting honey.
In February you truck semi-loads of hives to California almond orchards, where about two-thirds of America's commercial bees go each year. Then it's blueberries in Maine or clover in the Dakotas. Daily work is opening hives in a veil, checking queens, treating mites, and pulling honey.
Hired hands earn modest wages; owners of large operations can do very well from pollination fees.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. Usually learned working for an established beekeeper; university bee programs and short courses help.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Apprenticeship, Self-taught. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Entomology, Agricultural Science.
Growing about average. No BLS category; pollination demand is strong but colony losses are a real risk.
Low risk for 10 years. Hive sensors track weight and temperature; lifting boxes, treating mites and moving hives at night stay hands-on.
Age 16+. One way to start: Ask commercial beekeepers or your state beekeepers association about seasonal bee crew helper jobs
Classes: Biology, Agriculture science, Business class.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.