Beekeeper

Work description

Crops/Commodities: beekeeping. This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working on a honeybee farm handling both manual and machine tasks associated with beekeeping. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Workers must be able to perform manual as well as mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency. A general knowledge of the start-to-finish honey extraction process is required in order to perform the duties of beekeeping worker. Workers must be familiar with all aspects of commercial beekeeping including accessing a colony to determine if hives need food or medicine, varroa mite loads, ensuring that hives are maintained in a healthy state, are ready to make increases, and if replacing queens is necessary. Must manipulate and service hive structures and haul bees to and from different hive locations to ensure healthy and productive honeybee colonies, increase number of hives, raise and replace queens, make divides. Must respond correctly to bees to harmonize with their natural cycle and keep them in the healthiest state possible for survival and profitability. Prepare hives for spring pollination. Perform general maintenance and servicing of extraction equipment and facility; including comb protection, storage and preparation. Workers must be able to lift and carry boxes of honey up to 90 lbs. for extended periods of time. Workers must possess field-based honey bee experience to be able to assess colonies to determine if colonies require additional storage capacity for honey, more time for honey to be completely finished, or whether honey is ready to be removed. Honey must be carefully removed from each individual colony in order to prevent loss of queen. Careful consideration must be taken and procedures clearly understood to prevent hazardous conditions to honey bee colonies. Workers are responsible for harvesting, processing and packaging honey into multiple different types of containers. Workers must also be familiar with extraction equipment. This includes but is not limited to uncapping, handling of comb, mechanical separation of wax from honey, and maintenance of all mechanical equipment to insure that there is no breakdown situation occurring. Workers are also required for the refining of wax and processing of honey. Honey must be prepared by filtration and/or moisture reduction before final packaging. Wax must be blended and filtered before final packaging for sale. 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. Work is to be done in the field for long periods of time. Workers are expected to perform duties including boxing, weighing and loading of product. Workers will assist in loading trucks with product weighing up to and including 90 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet on a day to day basis for extended periods of time. 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 should be physically able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations. Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning through the heat of the day. Temperatures may range from 30 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop operations.

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Last updated: October 7, 2026