There is real money available specifically to help someone learn beekeeping, attend a conference, or fund a piece of research — and almost none of it is well advertised outside the associations that run it. This site’s existing guide to grants and financing for beekeeping equipment covers funding for hardware and hives. This article covers a different, genuinely distinct category: real scholarships, essay-contest prizes, and research grants tied specifically to beekeeping education, conference attendance, and apiculture study — not equipment purchases.
Key Takeaways
- The Mann Lake EAS Scholarship, run by the Eastern Apicultural Society, covers conference registration plus up to $1,000 in travel and room/board for a young beekeeper aged 18–25 (30 if a veteran) with at least one year of beekeeping experience.
- The EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research awards a real, published total ($30,000 for 2026) in research grants, prioritizing student (undergraduate summer or graduate) projects.
- Multiple real, currently-active local and state beekeeping associations — including groups in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Texas — run youth scholarship programs, often bundling a starter hive kit and a year of mentoring rather than just cash.
- The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees runs both an annual high school essay contest with cash prizes and a separate scholarship fund specifically for apiculture graduate students.
- Eligibility requirements vary meaningfully between programs — age ranges, experience minimums, and even whether the applicant’s family already keeps bees — so reading each program’s actual rules matters more than assuming general eligibility.
Table of Contents
- The Mann Lake EAS Scholarship: Conference Travel Funding
- EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research Grants
- Local and State Association Youth Scholarships
- The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees
- Quick Reference Table
- How to Actually Apply
- Frequently Asked Questions
The Mann Lake EAS Scholarship: Conference Travel Funding
Established in 2014 by the Eastern Apicultural Society’s Master Beekeepers and funded by beekeeping supplier Mann Lake Ltd, this scholarship exists specifically to send one qualifying young beekeeper to that year’s EAS annual conference. It covers conference registration in full, plus travel and room-and-board costs up to $1,000. Eligibility is specific: the applicant must be between 18 and 25 years old (extended to 30 for a veteran) and must have kept bees for at least one year by the time the conference begins. This site’s separate guide to Master Beekeeper certification programs covers the EAS Master Beekeeper program itself in depth; this scholarship is a distinct, conference-travel-specific funding opportunity connected to that same organization, not a certification pathway itself.
EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research Grants
Separate from the travel scholarship above, the EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research funds actual research projects, with a published total of $30,000 available for 2026 awards. Priority goes to student research specifically — undergraduate summer research employment or graduate student projects — as well as equipment and supplies for distinct, well-defined research projects more broadly. Proposals are submitted electronically to the foundation ahead of a February 1 annual deadline. This is a genuinely different kind of funding than a beginner-education scholarship: it’s aimed at someone already pursuing formal apiculture research, whether as a student researcher or an established investigator, rather than someone just starting to keep bees.
Requests for support for student projects (undergraduate summer employees or graduate students) or for equipment and supplies for distinct research projects are given the highest priority — from the Eastern Apicultural Society Foundation’s own published call for research proposals.
Local and State Association Youth Scholarships
A genuinely useful, under-publicized layer of funding exists at the local and state beekeeping-association level, and it’s worth checking whether an association near you runs one, since terms vary widely and change year to year. The Nebraska Beekeepers Association’s youth scholarship, for example, has bundled a full starter package for its recipients — a one-year association membership, registration and a textbook for a beginner beekeeping seminar, hive woodenware, bees, basic gear, and a year of mentoring from an association member — rather than a cash award alone. Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers runs a youth scholarship for applicants aged 12 to 17. Metro Beekeepers Association’s program targets students aged 12 to 18 currently enrolled in school. Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association in Texas runs a similar youth program with a notable eligibility rule: neither the applicant nor their immediate family can already be maintaining honey bee colonies, specifically to direct the scholarship toward genuinely new beekeeping households rather than an existing beekeeping family’s younger member. These are real, currently-published programs, though exact terms, deadlines, and availability shift year to year, so checking each association’s own current page before assuming eligibility is essential.
The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees
This foundation runs two genuinely distinct programs worth knowing about separately. First, an annual essay contest open to senior high school students, awarding cash prizes to the top three submitted essays — a real, low-barrier entry point for a student with strong writing interest in bees rather than hands-on beekeeping experience specifically. Second, a separate scholarship fund awarding four scholarships each cycle to apiculture graduate students studying any aspect of honey bees, bee husbandry, or the broader beekeeping industry — aimed at a meaningfully more advanced applicant than the essay contest.
Quick Reference Table
| Program | What it funds | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Mann Lake EAS Scholarship | Conference registration + up to $1,000 travel/room-board | Ages 18–25 (30 if veteran), 1+ year beekeeping experience |
| EAS Foundation for Honey Bee Research | Research grants, $30,000 total for 2026 | Student researchers (undergrad/grad) and established investigators |
| State/local association youth scholarships | Starter kits, mentoring, cash awards (varies by association) | Typically ages 12–18, program-specific rules |
| Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees essay contest | Cash prizes for top 3 essays | High school seniors |
| Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees graduate scholarships | 4 scholarships per cycle | Apiculture graduate students |
How to Actually Apply
Every program above publishes its own current application process, deadline, and required materials directly through its own organization — the Eastern Apicultural Society’s own site for both EAS programs, each state or local association’s own site or newsletter for youth scholarships, and the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees’ own site for the essay contest and graduate scholarships. Because deadlines and exact terms shift year to year, the reliable first step for any of these is finding that organization’s own current page rather than relying on a secondhand summary — including this one — for exact dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to already be a beekeeper to apply for any of these?
It depends on the program — the Mann Lake EAS Scholarship requires at least a year of existing beekeeping experience, while some youth scholarships (like Collin County’s) specifically prioritize applicants who are new to beekeeping rather than already keeping bees.
Are these scholarships only for young people?
Not entirely — youth-focused programs typically cap eligibility around age 25 or 30, but the EAS Foundation’s research grants and the Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees’ graduate scholarships are aimed at students at the undergraduate-through-graduate level, not strictly minors or teenagers.
Is there scholarship money available for beekeeping equipment specifically, not just education?
Yes, but that’s a separate topic — this site’s dedicated guide to grants and financing for beekeeping equipment covers that funding category, distinct from the education- and research-focused programs covered here.
How competitive are these programs?
It varies significantly by program and by year — smaller local association scholarships with narrow eligibility (like a specific age range in one county) are often less competitive than national-level programs like the EAS research grants, simply due to a smaller applicant pool.
