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Negative Dealings with Bjorkman Brothers in California Almond Pollination-2015

36K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  Beecop 
#1 ·
Was contacted my Sven Bjorkman who wanted my bees. Agreed to send him a load. He picked them up and put them in an orchard in Modesto, California. Agreement was 50% upon inspection, and balance 10 days after hives were removed. Sven inspected the colonies and we had some disagreement about the strength of the some of the colonies but they remained in the orchard nonetheless. After inspection, no check was forthcoming. At end of pollination, Sven was a no show. Colonies were loaded and as of this date, Sven has refused to return calls and no check has been forthcoming. I spoke with the grower who indicated Sven had been paid a long time ago. In speaking with other beekeepers after the fact, this is not the firs time this has happened. He is located out of Strathmore, CA and his cell number is 559-920-2414. As of today, I am out over $63,000.00. Please don't fall prey like I did.
 
#3 ·
Really good point Barry!


Handshake agreements are precarious at best. Within the almond gig a lot of it happens. Since quite a bit of cash and reputations are at stake it is quite imperative that everyone involved does their due diligence. Either deal with someone history shows you can trust or nail it down tightly as noted.

This past year we tossed in three loads out of texas. Since our bum was on the line with the growers we went once in December and once in January to inspect them. Not looking for surprises when they arrived as at that point its pretty much to late to dig up great other ones.

The biggest issue we had was that we had to reset the bees out of the almonds because of the flooding in texas. Took a little bit of extra work and expense on our part but kept the gentleman on the other end from wondering how the heck he was going to stack three more loads on top of the 6 that had already been dumped back on him the preceding two weeks.

I personally would not want 9 loads in one yard so we went through a little extra effort which worked out to everyone's advantage in the long run.
 
#13 ·
Its the same person. Look at his profile and the business name, look at the first 4 letters of his last name. Im convinced its the same guy. What comes around goes around eh. Makes me wonder if his initial post was in fact an accurate assessment of what transpired. For 60+k I would have had an angry lawyer looking into things, especially if I had a signed contract.
 
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