Beekeeper

Job description

General Beekeeping (90%): worker or team of workers use forklift, hand tools, and hose/nozzle to move/assess/ care for hives. Arrive at bee yard location, unchain/unload forklift, untie cargo. Use forklift to move hives and equipment from ground to truck, vice versa, and in work site/ bee yard location; remove lid from hives, assess hives and perform necessary task(s) (use hose/nozzle to pump liquid feed [syrup] into 1 or 2 gal canister in hive; place nutritional substance on hive; add empty hive box [super] to hive: remove super from honey hive]. Raise queen bees by using specialized tools to remove queen bee larva from comb, placing in man made cells, and placing in a hive that will nurture larva into a queen bee. Divide hives, place new queens in hive. The use of semi-automatic machinery to complete tasks required for extraction (uncover; using sheets for removing wax that seals in the honeycomb of honey; turn the exhaust; machine use rotating said frames at high speeds to force the honey frames; breeding honey (nozzle open to allow the honey to flow tank in bulk in 55-gallon drums) turn off after filling); use forklift to remove barrels fill of chips of wax after machine of separator removes wax from honey. Move honey supers before/after extraction. Wash barrels, barrel honey, label barrels and loading them onto trucks when shipping out. Clean extract room and equipment.
Related Farm Labor (10%): use of equipment & tool to mow grass at work site/ bee yard locations, sorting equipment by examining honeycomb frames to determine quality size of combs for separation into category of brood or honey frames; inspect supers for quality; repair equipment as needed with hand/power tools/ paint; driving forklift to move equipment in shop; operation of company vehicles for bee hive maintenance & associated tasks.

The job duties contained within the application will be completed at the above address and our bee yards. All employees begin and end their work day at the above address, with some employees visiting near by bee yards to
check on the well fare of the bees throughout the day. These bee yards are small areas of land that IntegriBees owns or controls through verbal agreements with the landowners as is historic precedent between beekeepers and landowners. These yards are necessary to our operation to ensure that our bees have adequate access to nectar and water in times that we do not provide feed/ supplemental nutrition. There is no benefit to the landowner to have these hives on their property and our employees are responsible for placing IntegriBees LLC hives and completing tasks directly related to the health and well being of IntegriBees LLC operated hives. We do not provide service to landowners. All work is performed for and controlled by IntegriBees LLC within a single area of intended employments with all workers starting at and returning to the primary work site each day.

Due to different activities within the season workers may be requested (but not required) to work additional hours or on Sunday to accomplish tasks in the time required due to crop maturity, weather, and shipping schedule.
Inclement weather & acts of God leading may cause fluctuation in hours (-/+).

Special Requirements

Due to exposure to honey, pollen, and bees, worker cannot have allergies to any of the preceding items. 3 months Commercial
beekeeping experience: hive assessment (able to identify queen bee, access strength of hive [to implement proper treatment] and
identify hive threat [hive beetle, mites, etc]) able to identify honey comb quality for sorting between brood and honey frames.
Worker is required to have or be able to obtain a valid drivers license within 60 days of hire, provide written permission for employer to
review their Drivers Record and be eligible for employers vehicle insurance.Because the work is agricultural, overtime rates are not
applicable.