While "most of us" are keeping bees "to make money", there are many other things one can do to make as much money far more easily and with far less risk of loss of principal, including flipping burgers.

At the low-effort end, Goldman Sachs will pay 5.05% on a CD, and 4.25% in a savings account, and I can sit and watch the clouds fly by.  What's YOUR net profit margin before tax?

At the slightly higher-end effort, there are other investments that perform far, far better than boxes full of stinging insects, if one is willing to act quickly and decisively on partial information:

The crypto "coin" ADA was trading at about $0.12 in December, went briefly up above $1.02 in mid-March.  Its now down to $0.3683, but the trick is, one buys these things at less than a penny per "coin" when they are obscure and look unpromising, and sell when they suddenly become the subject of discussion on "reddit.com" a CNBC news story, or a Bloomberg news blurb, so a mastery of "Google Alerts" is crucial, as attention from media results in "speculators" buying, and driving up prices.  So, did YOUR beekeeping operation pay out 8 times what you put in?  How about 3 times?  (The now better-known Bitcoin itself skyrocketed, so I sold most all of my holdings in late 2020 when it hit $15,000. None of the other coins have done so well.  It is now down from a peak of $64,400 to $27,371, but I was happy to sell when I did, am I still am, as one cannot "win" unless and until one stops playing.)
 
So, why get up before dawn to go mess with boxes of stinging insects that make sticky, hard to handle sugar that the government says is not "good for you"?  Why sweat so much that you change sneakers and socks midday, because they are soaked?  Its clearly not for money, any desk job would pay more, and require no more investment than a suit and tie.  Sure, I sell honey, and pollen, and propolis tincture, and nice pure beeswax taper candles.  But doing this actually costs me *even more* money for packaging and supplies, as the bulk of what I sell is sold at half a dozen Church Christmas "Holiday Fairs" (These are certainly no "holiday", and aren't "fair" either, as I do all the work, and the church gets all the money.  But it is part of my tithe...)

But I keep doing it, and could not imagine life without at least a few beehives to worry and fret over.  Neither could my wife.  She could not even consider giving it up when she had an unexpected anaphylaxis reaction.  Two years of bi-weekly desensitization shots at the allergist later, she was back at it, singing to her bees as she works her hives.

Are we "**concerned about their needs**"?  Sure!  To compare, a mahout will feed and water the elephant he cares for, even if he must eat less or go hungry, because that elephant is the only way that the mahout will be able to earn any money tomorrow, next month, next year.  The elephant assures the mahout's long-term survival, so it gets the best of care.  Likewise, having bees assures our long-term sanity, if nothing else.  I don't keep bees to "save the bees", and I don't keep bees to "save the world".  I keep bees to save the world from what I'd be if I didn't keep bees.

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