Apiary Management
Are you too busy to manage your bees? Has it become more of a chore than a fun hobby? Inherited an apiary and would like the honey but don't wish to get involved in the beekeeping?
Let me take over the management of your Apiary for you. I already take care of several apiaries in the Norfolk and North Suffolk areas and am very happy to consider taking on yours, if it has become too much. Please contact me to discuss your requirements. If you've never kept bees before, I am happy to have you attend the apiary and watch 'over my shoulder', should you be interested in starting your own beekeeping journey. Just let me know.
How it works:
I visit your garden or apiary on a weekly basis, at a mutually agreed time/schedule. I shall inspect the colonies, assess their requirements and act accordingly. During the spring and summer months, it will be almost every week and less often in the autumn and winter months. A proper inspection of a colony normally takes between 20 and 30 minutes, providing no major intervention on my part is required, e.g. swarm control etc. If the colony has been left alone for years, it is regarded as feral. I can potentially recover the colony to working order but it may take a while to get things back to a manageable situation.
I shall provide by email, or WhatsApp message, a report on the health and activity in your colonies after each visit, giving a brief synopsis of what is happening, the health and status of each colony and the state of the honey supplies. I shall give you a break down of any anticipated costs for equipment and feed for the bees, plus receipts for any expenditure, should it become necessary. I will require access to your garden/apiary and to your store/shed/wherever you keep your bee equipment.
For the recovery of your honey, see my Extraction Services pages and charges. I make no charge for transporting the supers from your garden to my extraction room and back.
Please note: Bees are wild animals, which we humans keep in a box for our convenience. I take no responsibility for the loss of a colony due to swarming, weather or natural depredation and disaster. Even using the best swarm control techniques and bee husbandry, beekeepers regularly lose colonies to swarms and natural occurrences.
Charges:
Apiary Management per hour - £35