# Cut Out Customer Wants to Keep Bees



## LandellApiaries (Aug 9, 2010)

I have been hired to do a cutout of 2 hives in a photographers studio in the next few weeks. He liked the idea of the bees being there and let it stay, until it swarmed and took over another wall of the studio, and are now getting inside. 

Here is the catch though. He wants the bees to remain his property, on his property, and wants me to maintain them. Has anybody done an arrangement like this before? What should I charge to maintain hives? :scratch: He wants me to maintain them for a portion of the honey produced. I gave him a list of equipment he will need to buy for the bees to remain his property and bumped my cost up for the cut out as I cannot make money from the honey they would normally have produced for me.


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

give him an estimate for ten times the value and walk away. too many potential problems. he thinks you are making money doing a cutout , very few beekeepers make 5 dollars an hour doing them. been there done that. now I tell people if they want the bees removed, burn the house down.


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## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Lol."burn the house down".. I love it! We have always had people ask us to come get their swarms, and we only did it if there was a danger involved... we never charged, but we also made it clear that we didn't want their bees... people tend to think that they are doing you some great favor by letting you slave in the heat for hours to tediously remove every little bit of comb from their attic, chimney, child's playhouse, etc, just because you are getting to take the bees... my father used to just say "nope, let them stay or get you some Bengal and hose them down.. we do not want swarmy bees, ours stay in their hives and pay their rent". Lol. In your case, I would simply point the artist towards getting some gear and reading up on how to hive and manage them on his own... if you want to try to work with him, maybe you should get a contract made up that allows you to charge for replacement bees, queens, and equipment at your full discretion.


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## Bsweet (Apr 9, 2010)

I nomally charge $75. per hour with a 2 hr. min. I would double that just for the cut out, If you decide to maintain them for him I would charge at least $85 per visit with two visits per month minimum plus mileage and $40.per phone call/hr for phone support. Make sure to get a no fault clause in case they run away from home or die out and be sure to charge them for all cost such as supplies for feed and the time of making it or any meds needed if you go that way. DON'T DO THEM ANY FAVORS as they arn't doing you any. Jim


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## honeybeekeeper (Mar 3, 2010)

I would take care of the job and if he wants the bees just charge accordingly! Let him know that he will need to get equipment and that you might perhaps have some for sale if he needs anything. Afterwards the bees is his responsibility cause it will only be a headache for you in the long run! Just imagine what could happen and it will! Trust me you will want to inspect the hives and he wont be home. He will have all these stipulations since its his property! There is so many negatives that it wouldnt be worth it! If you could work out an agreement up front then that would be great but i never seen one go as planned! They always change down the road some how some way, just the way it goes! Good Luck!


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Agreed; if he wants the bees, fine, but I would not maintain them for him after the initial removal.. If he really wants them he should learn how to keep them...


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## LandellApiaries (Aug 9, 2010)

He actually lives on the west coast and is only at the house once every few months. He said he just wants to think of them as his bees but can't maintain them. I just though of this...I'm toying with the idea of seing if I can use his property to put some of my hives there. It is within close proximity to quite a few orchards and he has many acres of wildflowers. Maybe as a trade for using his property I could manage his hives. I don't know if I'm still even comfortable with this though as like Bswet said...what if they abscond or die, or need treatment, ect. I definitly would need this in a contract.


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

Walk away, there is nothing in there for you to profit from.


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## beeware10 (Jul 25, 2010)

west,coast,lots of money. as I said run.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Yup; Walk away. If he wants the bees he can keep them right where they are. If he really wants them moved he will call you back to do the job without stipulations, because he isn't going to be able to find anybody else fool enough to agree to leave him the bees and manage them for him.


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

If he lets you have his house and property and pays for the bills then why not?


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## johnblagg (May 15, 2011)

add the cost of a nice size package of bees to the price you would charge if you got the bees as normal ...since that is in fact part of the pay we get for doing cutouts,then let him keep them.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I would take the job, charge good wages for the cutout, charge a 20% profit on the equipment I sell him, plus good wages for assembly, tell him I need a 5 hive site minimum for me to maintain them onsite, and then sell him the honey produced there for top retail. I have several sites like that started with bait hives. The honey produced is pre-sold and I find that charging top retail for the honey pays me fair wages. Several of my sites are entered through automatic gates, have running water at my site, and the hosts buy my whole crop. I have built one site to thirteen hives with the gardeners catching most of the baithives at their homes AND transporting them back to the site for me, trading them onsite honey for their efforts.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

od; that's usin the old noggin.


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## WLC (Feb 7, 2010)

I think you've got an opportunity to come to a mutually beneficial relationship.
If he needs any other services, like house setting, cleaning, etc. , you could always pass that on to a local friend.

'A little bit of this, an a little bit of that.'


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

As long as you clearly define your responsibilities and make sure it's enough compensation to be worth your while, it's a great idea. If not, then it could be a mess.


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## beyondthesidewalks (Dec 1, 2007)

I like odfranks approach. I have a few "customers" who I've removed swarms or did cutouts for and now they let me keep swarm traps at their place. They watch and call me if a swarm moves in. It's great. A few have expressed an interest in keeping bees on their property to pollinate their garden or whatever. A great way to sell your honey and get a free outyard.


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## LandellApiaries (Aug 9, 2010)

Here is the contract specs I proposed.
Cut out fee plus a 15% markup in equipment. I added an assembly and painting fee of 15% of the equipment. I have the right to have 10 of my own hives on his property and he gets 1/2 of the honey produces by his 2 hives but pays $5 per pound jar for extracting/bottling. In addition he us paying me $100 per year to affix labels with his property address to the honey produced by "his" bees to hand out to his family/friends. 

All in all I think I made out well with this one. Oh, and I have the right to split his hives as necessary or take swarms and they are my bees.


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## Ozone (May 24, 2011)

Sounds to me like a situation where you would have several similar hives and charge him for maintaining his. Of course, his would be the first to get sick or abscond.


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## rtoney (Apr 20, 2011)

Sounds like you did all right. Sometimes advise is good but you always should do what feels right to you. Then you only have yourself to blame or pat on the back.


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## baldwinbees (Mar 2, 2010)

cut-out is a job&should be charged for,the bees are a bonus...any other deals are at your descretion..I've bees on a melon patch&a friend of mine thinks I should charge for pollination.I look at it as I have access to over 200 acres of my own beeyard without any associated expense.Our deal was that I could do anything I wanted so long as bees were on his property.To me that was better than a few dollars for a few months&wondering where to put the bees the other months


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

whats that old saying "too many chefs in the kitchen spoil the soup" ? Something like that. I'd make him help you with the cutouts..that should put a damper on his beekeeping fantasies.


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