Beekeeper

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
Honeybees.
This job requires a minimum of 3 months of agricultural experience working in a honeybee farm handling manual tasks. Workers must be able to perform manual tasks with accuracy and efficiency. Bending, stooping and kneeling required. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies.

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. Collect royal jelly. 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 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 70 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 110 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 may not report for work while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Except for moderate alcohol consumption in company housing during non-working hours, the possession or use of illegal drugs or alcohol on company premises is prohibited and will be cause for termination. Use, possession, transfer, offer, sale or manufacture of marijuana and/or controlled substances strictly prohibited. All work sites are alcohol and drug free work places. Employees must not report for work, enter the employers' property or perform service while under the influence of or having used alcohol, marijuana, illegal controlled substances, or any other substance that may in any way adversely affect their alertness, coordination, reaction or safety.

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.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of 3 months of agricultural experience working in a honeybee farm handling manual tasks. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 70 lbs.