A single-bead dispenser including a container for holding plural beads in a spherical chamber, a wiper disposed within and rotatable about a horizontal axis of the chamber to sweep the inner wall of the chamber and transport a single contained bead upwardly from the chamber to an opening for discharge to a manually accessible platform on the container while leaving all the other contained beads in the chamber, a geared ring mounted externally of the container and manually rotatable about a vertical axis of the chamber, and a gear secured to the wiper and engaged and driven by the geared ring for effecting sweeping rotation of the wiper when the ring is turned. The wiper may be a lune of a hollow sphere close to and concentric with the chamber inner wall and may bear a dispensing scoop shaped to capture and convey a single bead to the opening.