Does anyone have a simple sample outyard agreement they would mind sharing? I have a property owner interested in having me put colonies on his property but wants an agreement in writing. Thanks. -james
If the paper isn't written correctly, it's only use would be in an outhouse. I think the suggested pollination contract would be the closest thing to an agreement that both parties would sign. I don't see it protecting either party in the case of bee stings. Has anyone ever held someone liable for damages from a bee sting?
The Above agreement is NOT copywrited and can be used by any beekeeper for any purpose. Just copy and past into MS Word and alter it as you see fit.
Jim
The only thing I would change is item 1 for beekeeper:
I would say that beekeeper will be bonded or insured (for x dollars if you want to include) for liability. You can say you are liable but if you are penniless you can't draw blood form a stone. Most land owner realize they are liable and the only protection is insurance.
I have an outyard that I use on my cousin's property and the agreement is:
Your guys (cousin's employees) won't mess with or go near the hives. I'm responsible for the hives (hardware, bees). I can access the property anytime, day or night to inspect, feed or move bees/hives while I have hives present on the property. If you grow watermelons and would like my polination services you pay the normal rate for 1/2 hive per acre and I will match you by 1/2 the hives you requested (free) if I have the hives to to so. (verbal)
Pollination contract with a local farmer:
I will supply you with 9 hives to pollinate 14 acres of watermelons, you pay for 7 at normal rate (2 free). He is responsible for damages to the hives ($200 max per hive) and the liability for having hives on his property for the time they are present on the property. I can access the property (where the hives are located) anytime to inspect, feed etc. The hives will remain from an agreed upon date until end of bloom or he feels pollination is complete. No herbicides/pesticides will be sprayed near the hives and I will be notified at least 3 days in advance of such spraying. (verbal) I give him an invoice for services rendered.
There are some that I would have sign a pollination contract but the people I know don't necessarily require one. Never had any problems other than someone accidentally backing into a hive and knocking it over (which they promply notified me) and ended up being no big deal.
I'm looking for contract ideas and enjoying the conversation here. I've asked locally and heard support for verbal agreements and handshakes.
But for all the people here who say a handshake is enough, I wonder: What is the actual agreement? Is it basically the same as a typical contract, but saving the effort of writing it down and signing it?
The handshake seals an agreement. So is it just "if something happens, we'll work it out"? Probably not.
My bees, your space, I come and go, you get a little honey ... And if something happens, we'll work it out. — What else?
Interesting thread...good discussion and thoughts. Handshake deals are good until something changes. Some kid at a birthday party next door gets mixed up, stung and off to the hospital...
I think several of the drafts here would work and could be well made to individual needs, if you decided that you needed one (at all). I would consider the situation to drive the need and scope....If you are running a business, providing pollination services for someone running a business (growing something), clarity is good and if you've got a ton of hives, it's not an easy thing to move them on short notice. If you go with a handshake you are accepting the liability risk that goes along with that kind of deal. I don't think you can have "cookie cutter" approach that will try to address all issues, each situation.
As a hobbyist, I've thought about this and my hives that are on private property in residential areas...all handshake deals. After I moved into one fellows property (he had two empty lots, behind his house), the next time I showed up, one of the properties had a for sale sign on it....slow market, but I intuitively understood I needed a back up plan if the new property owners weren't as bee friendly....In my situation, I think that understanding the liability exposure is different as it is residential vs agriculture....I don't worry about water, but I worry about the neighbors kids coming over and messing with my equipment....In another place, I'll have 6-7 hives in a 5 acres site with about 100 apple trees...They'll spray he says, but will be careful of wind direction etc....I'd like to have him give me a little notice so I can decide if I want to cover them up or something for a day or two. I figure that I'm always on notice that I may have to move something somewhere....For me, so far it's handshakes and promises of a minor share if the flows are decent.
Unless money or something else of comparable value is being exchanged (and a couple of jars of "courtesy" honey won't suffice), any contract will be unenforceable.
If you can't trust the landowner based on a handshake, your hives are at risk no matter how much paper is signed and you should find another location.
As the landowner, if a beek asked me to be allowed to place hives on my land, I would view it as doing a favor, and if the beek then showed up with contract for me to sign, I would be insulted and tell him to find a new place for his bees.
Probably the best post I've read on the subject. We're up front with our agreement. It is done with a handshake. Sometimes people forget. "Oh, I thought I could have as much honey as I wanted." Uh, no. We clarified this with her and she was fine with it. (We do give our hive yard hosts a gallon for personal use.)
Another guy clearly understood. Didn't even want the gallon the first year. The second year he took the gallon. But after he found out how great local honey was and how many of his friends wanted some he wanted to up the ante. Hives will be moved in the spring.
Haven't had a problem with the other yards. And we have a waiting list of people who want them.
We also have a pollination yard done with a handshake and that has worked very well.
I got into bees by letting a beekeeper use my land. I just asked him if he would like it for free as it was sitting empty and he shook my hand. That first year I went to buy some honey off him and he refused point blank to let me pay. He gave me 25lbs for free.
Next year he gave me two nucs free to get me started in bees.
This year he sold me 3 nucs for the price of one.
I operate the same principal for the sheep farmer, nothing is in writing and we are all happy. If anything goes wrong I am sure we can deal with it without recourse to lawyers. The French seem to like a handshake agreement.
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