August 26, 2025

VDACS Now Accepting Applications For Beehive Distribution Program
~ Virginia residents aged 18 and older can apply to receive free beehives ~

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is accepting applications for the 2025 Beehive Distribution Program from Aug. 26 through Sept. 10, 2025. The program provides free equipment for assembling new beehives to Virginia residents, and is meant to increase the number of actively managed honey bee colonies throughout the Commonwealth. Recipients of the equipment are selected at random from qualifying applications received during the application period.

Only residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia, aged 18 years or older at the time of application, qualify for the random drawing. Entities such as businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies are not eligible to receive beehive units. Multiple individuals with the same mailing and/or physical address (household) may apply to the program; however, distribution of beehive units will be limited to no more than three beehive units per household in the same fiscal year, July 1 to June 30.

Recipients of beehive units must assemble the equipment and occupy it with a colony of honey bees within one year of receiving the equipment. VDACS does not provide honey bees or equipment for managing the hives, such as personal safety equipment or honey processing 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 approximately 1,000 beehives to 400 or more individuals across the state each year. The program received more than 5,300 applications in 2024. Individuals who receive beehive equipment have access to support and technical skills sharing through VDACS, Virginia Cooperative Extension, and local beekeeping organizations across the state.

To learn more about the Beehive Distribution Program or to submit an application before Sept. 10, 2025, please visit www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant-industry-services-beehive-distribution-program.shtml. Individuals interested in applying to receive beehive units through the program should review the complete application instructions within the Guidelines & Requirements.

For more information about the Beehive Distribution Program, contact the VDACS Office of Plant Industry Services at 804.786.8938 or email vabees@vdacs.virginia.gov.