Beekeeper

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
beekeeping.
Worker must be familiar with working with bees in all stages, from the egg through fully developed workers, drones and queens; must work all aspects of commercial bee keeping, including assessing a colony to determine if it needs food or medicine, feeding and medicating bees, maintaining hives in a healthy state, increasing number of hives, making divides, making, painting and cleaning boxes, supering hives; must recognize and treat parasitic and other invasive pests (e.g. American Foul Brood, trachael mites) and maintain an appropriate treatment regimen as required, and generally maintain a continual assessment of the health of the colonies. Manipulate and service hive structures and haul bees to and from different hive locations to ensure healthy and productive honeybee colonies. Must respond correctly to bees to harmonize with their natural cycle and keep them in the healthiest state possible for survival and profitability. Assemble frames and build, paint and repair honey boxes. Load, unload and move bees/boxes. Extract honey and process honey beeswax. Perform general maintenance of equipment and facility.

Perform mechanized extraction. Must be familiar with mechanized extraction equipment. Cap and handle combs. Mechanically separate wax from honey. Maintain extraction 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. Package/bottle honey.

Work is to be done for long periods of time. Workers may assist in loading trucks with product weighing up to and including 75 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet. Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, insect spray, related chemicals, etc. may affect workers' ability to perform the job. Workers must have no fear of bees and be non-allergic to bee stings, pollen, honey or other products of the hive. Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning through the heat of the day. Temperatures may range from 10 to 110 F. Must be able to work in excessive humidity and heat up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop operations.

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 may be asked to drive other workers.

Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. An applicant for this job must be available to work for the entire duration of the itinerary. An applicant referred to the employer after the labor certification has been granted, but before 50 percent of the work contract period for the entire itinerary has elapsed, must be available and willing to join the employer at whatever place the employer is located at the time and remain with the employer for the duration of the beekeeping itinerary.
An applicant for this job must be available to work for the entire itinerary. An applicant referred to the employer after the labor certification has been granted, but before 50 percent of the work contract period for the entire itinerary has elapsed, must be available and willing to join the employer at whatever place the employer is located at the time and remain with the employer for the duration of the itinerary.
Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a worker's Sabbath or federal holidays. Worker must report to work at designated time and place each day.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of verifiable prior experience working on a honeybee farm handling both manual and machine tasks associated with beekeeping. Workers must be able to perform manual as well as mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 75 lbs. Workers must have no fear of bees and be non-allergic to bee stings, pollen, honey or other products of the hive. Must be able to work in excessive humidity and heat up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.