Full year lease runs from 1st August to the following 31st July and is $299.00 + gst ($343.85 incl) per hive. Invoices are emailed out in early July for the start of the following season and are payable in full by the 20th August.
Part year lease fees are pro-rated to the amount of remaining months left in the lease season, e.g. Nov to following July, is 9 months and is $224.25+gst ($257.89 incl) per hive. Invoices are emailed out and are payable within 14 days of date on invoice. As the honey flow season starts in early December and runs for the summer months only, rental hives need to be onsite by end of November to receive the full 10kg allocation of honey. For rentals that commence after the start of the season, honey distribution will be reduced depending on the amount of months into the season. i.e. Onsite during December = 8kg, January = 6kg. Hives rented from February onwards may not receive any honey for the current season as the honey season has essentially finished for the year.
Honey is provided in a food grade bulk pail. This pail remains the property of Backyard Bees. We will collect empty pails after you have decanted honey into smaller jars. Any pails not returned will incur an additional charge of $12.50+gst per pail. Customers have the option to receive honey in 500gm plastic jars instead of bulk pail, for an additional charge.
We endeavour to collect and extract honey in batches and in such a way as to ensure that the honey you receive is collected from the hive on your property and hives in your surrounding area. However, we cannot guarantee wholly that the honey you receive is solely from the hive on your property as it is both impractical and uneconomical to empty and clean the extraction plant, after each and every honey box is extracted.
We endeavour to distribute 10kg of honey / per hive rental. However, should the hive on your property not produce enough honey, we will top this up from another source. We can not guarantee that this honey will be from your hive or area, in this instance.
Any excess honey produced by a lease hive, remains the property of Backyard Bees.
In the unlikely event that there is a widespread lack of honey harvested, we reserve the right to reduce the amount of honey distributed per hive. Such events may be severe climatic weather events affecting flowering and nectar flow and or widespread disease outbreak during the honey flow period. Customers will be notified via email of this situation.
All hives and apiary sites will be registered with Ministry of Primary Industries, by Backyard Bees. As such all property owners are required to furnish contact details to enable this process. From time to time, agents from the Ministry of Primary Industries may require access to inspect the hive. All reasonable steps will be taken to contact property owners prior to these visits. Backyard Bees preferred method of communication with customers is via email and / or text and we ask that an email address and mobile number is provided in addition to general contact details.
Before siting a hive on a property, we will in conjunction with the home owner look for the most suitable location, for all concerned. This will take into account sun exposure and shelter from wind or elements, flight paths to likely nectar sources, avoidance of areas frequented by occupants and general public, i.e. footpaths, washing lines etc and access for the beekeeper to be able to manoeuvre with beekeeping equipment and hive.
Due to new Health and Safety Legislation, home owners are not permitted to open hive or interfere with the hive or bees, unless assisted by Backyard Bees beekeepers. Suitable protective clothing will be supplied in order for home owners to look inside the hive during a hive check.
In the event that the hive does not perform in a current location or becomes a nuisance to home owners or general public, Backyard Bees reserves to right to look at alternative locations on the property.
Backyard Bees or any of its employees or agents will not be responsible for any injury caused either directly or indirectly from the bees or products produced from any hive.
One months notice is appreciated to cancel your hive rental agreement. If the agreement is cancelled prior to the distribution of honey, we will refund the remaining months of lease fees. eg Jan = 7 months refund @ $24.92+gst/month. If hive is cancelled after the honey distribution there is no refund for the remainder of the year.
All hive equipment, and bees, remain the property of Backyard Bees.