# How much can you rent out a hive for?



## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

Dennis

checkout this thread

http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=001186


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## chief (Apr 19, 2005)

I have been wondering this myself. I have a friend that wants me to pollinate their cherry orchard next spring. What I want to know is how many hives per acre do you need and how do you charge. Do you charge by the month, day, job or what? I am assuming that the hives will be two deep hive bodies each. Please share any experience you may have on this subject.


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## chief (Apr 19, 2005)

I also know of some who rent out their hives to commercial beekeepers to take to California or other places for pollination. Is this common? Does anyone here do that? And how much do you get for it? I'm not really in beekeeping for the money but it would be nice to have it pay for itself especially if it is a needed service.


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

Think sustainable agriculture. I have done several talks on the subject.

Figure the pro's & con's of the pollination.

Figure your cost plus a profit. milege today is a big concern for me as my big truck gets around 7 miles per gallon and one pollination job we do takes around 7 hours of round trip driving. Actual placement in the orchard takes about an hour.

Do NOT let the grower give you a figure he says another beekeeper charged (unless you can check with the beekeeper as is the oldest con game in the book).

Clinton charges a flat fifty dollars a month. Never heard of such a pricing schedule but he can ask whatever he wants for his labor and bees and should!

I get half the payment when the hives are placed and half when removed. No exceptions except if you want to pay the whole bill when the hives arrive!

I bring only the best hives. No deadouts or "dinks". If the grower is not happy I will consider lowering the price and even would give a full refund. Only has happened one time and when I suprised the grower by offering his money back he said "You are an honest man and did your best so keep the money and I will use your bees next year". 

The bees were not up to my standards so the grower was right. Bees pollinate at certain times of the day on most crops. If the grower comes by when the nectar is not flowing many times the grower thinks the bees are not doing their job.

Every once in a while a grower calls wanting me to evaluate the hives he has rented. In many of the cases the "hives" were not hives but nucs in hive bodies with barely enough bees to cover the brood. No wonder they were not flying. Its ok to rent nucs for pollination as long as you level with the grower and charge a reduced price (in my opinion).

Chief:
Commercial beekeepers do rent hobby and sideline beekeepers hives to fill loads. The drawback is you need to move your hives in and out of the holding area and they need to be on skids. We have loaned skids. Sometimes there is not room on the load due to weight (80,000 pounds gross) so the last beekeeper in line may not get his bees sent to California. We have hauled a skid of four hives on a loaned pallet for fellow beekeepers. I have also let a fellow beekeeper hand carry 5 hives into pollination and collect the money for him. I am easy to get along with. Ask you local commercial beekeeper chief you might be suprised what he says!
Offer to spend a day helping with his bee work. Always gets my attention!


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## stangardener (Mar 8, 2005)

pilot hill? i'm in somerset almost neigbors. i am a market gardener and sell at farmers markets. the almond growers were paying $100 for the almond bloom this year. that was real high and one guy whose family pollinates big time (1000) hives seemed to think anyone with bees should have
been renting them. from what i hear tho almonds aren't that good of forage so you might lose out on some critical early (febuary,march) build up.


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

You will not only miss out on the build up, you will bring home a load filled with mites. the California almond crop NEEDS bees so badly that they get a lot of mixing with bees from other hives. Plan on attrition and You'll be okay.

Hawk


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

You won't miss out on the spring buildup. Some fruit tree pollination is going on at the same time in California that might provide better nectar but those growers place their groves in areas of almonds to get free pollination. Using their heads! Most years hives come back from almonds busting with frames of brood and ready to swarm.

We have been told of years when they come out in poor condition but we have not seen any. In my opinion those beekeepers sent "dinks" with problems and the bees still had problems when they came out. Last year the weather was terrible being wet and cold and still the bees did good. 

We did have to feed while in almonds one year.

Almonds is mainly a pollen event for the bees.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

has anybody rented out pollination for strawberries or pumkins? If so I am wondering about price and impact on buildup. thanks. interesting thread.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

The main thing for almonds is to deliver strong hives.8 frames of bees average is the standard.We pre-grade the hives twice before the bloom so everyone knows whats in the hives.Many of ours will be inspected for strength by the growers (using a random check method) so we go to a lot of trouble and expense to get good hives early.
Anyone planning to pollinate almonds needs to make sure that plenty of healthy 'winter bees' will be raised .Mites,bad queens ,and poor nutrition are the main reasons for weak hives in Feb.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Read this about 'winter bees'.
http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/mussen/MayJun2005.pdf


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## JohnBeeMan (Feb 24, 2004)

David, I just signed my very first pollination contract for a big 2 hives for 2 months for pumkins. The agreed price was $50 per hive (we are not in California). The best thing is that the farmer is only about 8 miles from my home and when I went to do a survey, it looks like an ideal out-yard - with payments.
It is also a first for this grower but he said if it improves his harvest he would like to rent a few hives for the whole growing season next year.


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## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

Personally, I'd have my head examined if I even considered renting my hives to a commercial beekeeper to take to California for the Almond pollination. I'd be very concerned about the wellbeing and health of my bees given that they'd be sharing forage with bees from all over the world.

That said, the money sounds good- I was told that they were paying $125 per hive and $150 per hive for a 5 year contract. Then I'd heard that some brokers pay a little less but cover travel expenses one-way. Or something like that.

Here in Maine, the going rate is something on the order of $50-$60 per hive per crop. Some Blueberry growers assess colony strength and will pay up to 20% extra if the boxes are full enough. I may pursue some pollination work next year, depending on how my hives fare this winter. Ideally, I'd rather negotiate year-round placement and save my bees the stress of being moved around.

George-


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

John - great, keep us posted. I am curious about how your hives do on the pumkins. I am sure it will help his harvest.


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## Bob Harrison (Mar 15, 2005)

Pumkins.

Pumkins bloom in most areas when the main honey flow is on. 

pros:
The money is for certain

You get the experience (hopefully not bad experience)

Cons:

You have to move in after the pumkins are blooming. If you don't a good chance exists the bees will work other plants they prefer better. If they only work say clover and ignore the pumkins then you have to move out for a few days and then back in.

Many (I have) have had to feed bees on pumkins (not always) so you are out the price (trip & labor) of possible feed plus 2-3 supers of nice main flow honey (in our area).

In your case the time, labor & gas of two trips.

Your helpers time & labor (he may want you to pay him back by a days labor doing whatever or your first born child if he/she get the ---- stung out of them).

What if you hurt your back and lose a few days from work (OK sick leave will cover you).

You move bees in hot weather. Bad time if things go wrong. 

Tip:
I would not deliver two hives for polination. We do half truck or full truck loads. 

You ARE his only source for hives. Charge what you feel the job is worth and the grower will pay. Price to cheap and you might have to live with the price for a few years. 
\
Make a screen for the top of your hives (hot weather) and staple or secure all boxes. Plug all exit holes.Get help loading and unloading if in doubles and heavy. Bees crawl at night. Early morning is better than 9 at night in my opinion in the hot summer.

Good luck and welcome to the world of migratory pollination! perhaps next year you will be ready for a swinger forklift and a semi load of honey bees?

As BerkeyDavid says please report back. If you go slow and cover your bases should be a piece of cake!


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## Troutsqueezer (May 17, 2005)

Bob H.- One can always tell when posts have the ring of truth and experience behind them, as do yours. Thanks for all the typing, and thanks to the others as well.


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