Beekeeper

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
Honey.
This job requires a minimum of 3 months of verifiable agricultural experience working on a honeybee farm handling both manual and mechanized tasks including beekeeping. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience. Workers must be able to perform manual and mechanized tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Prepare bees and bee equipment for pollination. Must be familiar with working with bees in all stages, from egg through mature workers, drones and queens. Must work all aspects of beekeeping. Access colony to determine if food or medicine is needed. Feeding and medicate bees for diseases and pests. Maintain hives in healthy state. Raise and replace queens. Make divides. Make, paint and clean boxes. Harvest/extract honey. Run queen breeding yard and produce queen bees. Manipulate and service hive structures. Haul bees to and from different hive locations. Ensure healthy and productive honeybee colonies. Harmonize bees with their natural cycle. Raise bees to produce honey and pollinate crops. Assemble hives using hand tools. Inserts honeycombs into hive. Induct wild swarming bees into prepared honeycomb frames. Place screen plug in hive entrance to confine bees. Set hive in orchard, clover field, or near other source of nectar and pollen. Force bees from hive using smoke pot or carbolic acid soaked pad. Inspect hive and to harvest honeycomb. Remove parasites and vermin. Destroy superfluous queen bee cells to prevent colony division. Burn diseased hive or bee colony. Sterilize hive using caustic soda solution. Uncap harvested honeycombs and extracts honey. Find and remove old queens from hives and replace with new queen. Remove frames covered with bees and shake into cages. Must be familiar with mechanized extraction equipment. Cap and handle combs. Mechanically separate wax from honey. Maintenance of all mechanical equipment. Assist with refining wax and processing honey. Prepare honey by filtration and/or moisture reduction before final packaging. Blend and filter wax before final packaging for sale. Must have no fear of bees and be non-allergic to bee stings, pollen, honey or other products of the hive.

Work is done in the field for long periods of time. Workers may assist in handling product weighing up to 75 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet. Workers must work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Work required in fields when plants are wet with dew and rain, and may be required during light rain, snow, moderate winds, direct sun, high humidity and extreme temperatures. Temperatures in fields during working hours can range from 10 to over 100 degrees F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, honey bees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or related chemicals may affect a worker's ability to perform the job. Workers should be able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations.

Workers with a clean driving record (no major moving violations such as but not limited to Driving While Intoxicated or Reckless Driving) and able to obtain an insurable driver's license may be required to drive company vehicles. Workers with appropriate licenses and a valid doctor's certificate may be asked to drive other workers in pick-up trucks only.

Employer-paid post hire drug testing is required upon reasonable suspicion. Employer may also alcohol test upon reasonable suspicion of use at work.

Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of 3 months of verifiable agricultural experience working on a honeybee farm handling both manual and mechanized tasks including beekeeping. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience. Workers must be able to perform manual and mechanized tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 75 lbs. Employer-paid post hire drug testing is required upon reasonable suspicion. Employer may also alcohol test upon reasonable suspicion of use at work.