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Certificate III · national qualification

Certificate III in Beekeeping

This qualification trains you to keep honey bees and run hives as a business or a pollination service.

Compare 3 providers
Illustration of a person working as beekeeper
How long it takes
1 to 2 years
typical for this level
Main job
Beekeeper
$62,400 (estimate) median pay
Taught by
3 providers
VIC, WA, TAS

Is this course right for you?

What the Certificate III in Beekeeping asks of you, and what you might want to check first.

It helps to have

  • an interest in working with honey bees
  • a careful approach to handling live colonies
  • good hand skills for hive work
  • a willingness to follow safety and biosecurity rules

Before you start

There are no entry requirements for this qualification.

Where this course can take you

Jobs this qualification is a recognised route into, and the study that can follow it.

Jobs you can do with it

  • Beekeeper

    Beekeepers keep honey bee colonies for honey, beeswax and the pollination that orchards and seed crops depend on.

    What else you need

    Meet applicable beehive ownership, biosecurity and transport rules alongside the course requirements.

    Median pay$62,400 (estimate)

Pay is the median for everyone in the job, and “In demand” means the job is on the national shortage list. Pay marked as an estimate is our own analysis, not a published figure.

Where you can study this course

There are 3 places you can study this course. When you compare them, check they teach it the way you want to study, how far you'd be from a campus, what it will cost you and what past students say about the teaching and support. They're listed by how often people search for them, and none of them pays to be here or to move up.

What you’ll learn

18 units: 13 that everyone takes and 5 you choose.

  • Opening and inspecting hives
  • Handling brood and swarms
  • Re-queening colonies
  • Extracting honey
  • Moving hives to new sites
  • Managing pests and disease
See all 13 core units

Core units

Everyone completes these. Select a unit to see what it covers.

  • Loading the details for AHCBEK203…

Questions to ask before you enrol

Providers run this course differently, so the answers change from one to the next.

  1. When is the next intake, and how many are there each year?
  2. What is the total cost, including materials, checks and any placement costs?
  3. Can I study part time or online, and how does that change the length?
  4. Do the units count towards a higher qualification if I go on to study further?

Questions people ask

Who is this qualification for?

It prepares you to keep honey bees and run hives as a business or a pollination service. You learn to open and reassemble a hive safely, use a smoker, handle brood and swarms, and re-queen a colony, plus choose a site, move hives by road, extract honey, and treat pests and disease.

Do I need experience or other qualifications first?

There are no entry requirements for this qualification. Individual providers can set their own conditions, so check with the provider you choose.

Related courses

The national training register, training.gov.au. Google reviews. Pay and shortage status from Jobs and Skills Australia.