Virginia residents interested in beekeeping have a chance to get started for free.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is now accepting applications for its 2025 Beehive Distribution Program through Sept. 10. The program provides free equipment to help residents assemble new beehives and is designed to boost the number of managed honey bee colonies across the state.

Applicants must be Virginia residents at least 18 years old. Businesses, nonprofits and government agencies are not eligible. While multiple people in the same household can apply, no more than three beehive units will be awarded per household in a single fiscal year.

Recipients are required to assemble the hives and place a honey bee colony inside within one year. The program does not provide bees or additional management equipment.

“The Beehive Distribution Program provides beehives for increasing our pollinator population,” said State Apiarist Keith Tignor. “Those pollinators go out to our farms, our forests, our meadows, and our wetlands, to pollinate plants and help them to reproduce, to increase the abundance of agricultural crops and to enhance the beauty, diversity, and the quality of our environment.”

VDACS distributes around 1,000 beehives to more than 400 individuals each year. In 2024, more than 5,300 Virginians applied.