Working agreements?

[jim lyon]

I don't want this advice to get muddled up into other threads where people already have a financial interest but if I can give one single piece of advice learned by myself the hard way more than once it's this: Don't ever enter into any kind of "working agreement" with another beekeeper that involves giving them custody of your hives and the right to open them and work them in any manner and for any reason. I don't care how attractive the arrangement or how trustworthy the caretaker may seem to be, my experience is that these arrangements have a very, very high probability of ending badly and the probability increases with the distance the hives are separated from their rightful owners. I don't mean this as an indictment of anyone who is on or who has ever been on this forum. It's simply a word of warning for anyone who thinks an Internet forum is a good place to do anything other than to exchange information. This is not a good place to set up business agreements unless that person has lots and lots of good references that you can independently verify.

[Barry]

And I think I need to plaster this post at the top of every sub forum!!!

[SippyBees]

I agree 100% with that. Although I remember fondly the time I worked for my mentor.... there were no clear cut lines between all the parties involved... Though most of the time everyone was happy.... there was always a slight undercurrent mood between some of the parties doing the work that they didn't get their fair share. To the people that help me today... I make it CLEAR .. UP FRONT... I dont "manage" their bees... they don't do anything to MY bees... I give them a day of my labor.. and do whatever they want me to do... and they give me a day of their labor when helping me.
I know that may not be exactly what the OP is about.... but I think it is kind of in parallel to the original post. I dont want someone helping me to misunderstand that concept.