Advice Needed!

[jjallday]

Hello All,

I work as an agricultural consultant in the apple and cherry industry and spend most of my time in orchards. This brings me in contact not only with growers, but also commercial beekeepers.
I am planning on getting into beekeeping next year and have been getting supplies, etc. ready. I am lucky to have a beekeeping friend and have received helped from a full time beekeeper.
Now on to my question. One of the apple growers I work for still has hives left in his orchard from pollination this spring. They have been through alot. Two have been knocked over (bear?) but are alright. He has called the beekeeper many times to ask him to remove the hives, and still has gotten no response. They are next to his pickers quarters and need to be removed. He has some experience with bees and we talked about moving them to a better place on his farm and I could take care of them.
I want to do the right thing as far as the beekeeper is concerned, but if I go through all the trouble to work them I would want something in return. They (the hives) could be queenless, full of mites,etc. The beekeeper has thousands of hives and is probably not concerned with 8 hives.
What would you do?
Thanks,
Jason

[MapMan]

I wouldn't waste my time using someone else's equipment. Just because the beekeeper has thousands of other hives, it doesn't mean that he/she doesn't own the hives you are considering "adopting".

This is a busy time of year for beekeepers; perhaps the owner has health or family problems and can't get away - who knows - unless that business has in some way relinquished ownership, the "abandoned" hives are neither the orchardist's nor yours.

Now, if the orchard owner sent a certified letter with his intent to start charging perhaps a storage fee for the equipment, I'll bet that would get results. The owner of the hives would get right over to remove them, or if he/she did not remove them, and the orchardist did not get a storage fee payment, there might be a legal right to seizure of the equipment. In any event, you have to be careful with equipment that is not in legal terms owned by you.

MM

[iddee]

>>>>He has called the beekeeper many times to ask him to remove the hives,<<<<

I would contact the beekeeper directly. Third hand info is never good.

[MapMan]

>>>>He has called the beekeeper many times to ask him to remove the hives,<<<<

I would contact the beekeeper directly. Third hand info is never good.


You got that right!

MM

[BjornBee]

Help the farmer properly move the bees to a better lacation. I think the beekeeper would understand.

From what you said, the bees are probably there becuase of a casual agreement, with past situations as this as no big deal. The beekeeper is probably comfortable knowing where they are at for a reason.

I would not consider "adoption", abandonement, or even working the bees. Thats btween the landowner and the beekeeper.

[jjallday]

I definitely do not want to "steal" these hives from the owner. They do have to be moved. The hives sit directly next to the pickers quarters and there is no way that they can stay there. It is hard enough to get help to bring in crops these days, and no family of workers will want to move in with hives on their front porch. I believe the grower has the right to move them so he can pursue HIS livelihood.
Working them is probably not a good idea as it may be more trouble than it is worth and I do not want to do anything that is not above board.
Thanks for the advice,
Jason

[Russ]

If the hives have to be moved then have the Grower wait until after dark, close up the entrances, [Front, Side, Top, and any Cracks, duct tape will seal up cracks], Then strap the hives together tightly so they won't come apart in case you drop them. [This time of year they may be heavy with honey] Move them to the new location and open them up while it is still dark. You may want to let them settle down for a few minutes if you hear a lot of buzzing before you open them up. You can place a small tree branch with the leaves on it in front of the entrance so when they come out the next morning they will reorient themselves to their new location. This will get them away from the Pickers Quarters. Hope this helps.

Dale Russell

[jjallday]

Thanks for the help, I had heard about the branch trick and will use it. I had forget to mention it before but the reason it seems so strange that the keeper never got the hives is that they were brought in for pollination this spring. So they have never had supers added, etc and have been exposed to multiple pesticide applications. The other hives on this growers farm were picked up right after bloom (same beekeeper).
Jason

[tecumseh]

as someone mentioned in a previous thread... at your location this is a very busy time for beekeepers, taking off honey, extracting and in some way preparing for the move back south (if they are migratory and with thousands of hives they likely are). I would suspect the hives are in the place they sit now because the grower and beekeeper agreeed this was a good place to sit them down. their agreement also likely stated a time for the hives to be moved in and out of the crop. quite likely the hives in question were simply overlooked or simply wouldn't fit on the load when the beekeeper removed the other bees.

do the right thing. bee acquired by dubious means will come to no good end, or at least that is what lots of old timey beekeepers thought.