Apiary Rents

[beebreeder]

What is the general feeling on here with regard to this? i was talking to a farmer on whose land I have bees, the bees are on a set aside headland and he was saying that because bees are on that headland he cannot claim for it in the normal way as it is still being used for agriculture as bees are classed as food producing creatures. He is happy to forego the money and have the bees but i can imagine not all would be so keen

 

[Chris B]

It's something I've been thinking about myself lately. The fact is some apiaries are better than others and I'd pay to keep some of the better ones if it came to it. But I have no trouble finding apiaries so I wouldn't want to pay for anything mediocre.
What sort of sum if the farmer forfeiting Kev?

 

[beebreeder]

Hi Chris He has no idea as the bees were already on site when the current scheme came into being, the rules state that margins set aside from production cannot have any agriculture carried out on them and colonies of bees are classified as agriculture by the powers that be. The problem gets even more complicated depending on the type of stewardship scheme you are on evidently, ie. setaside headlands, wild flower headlands etc.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

To flip the OP around I was wondering how many if anyone gets paid for pollination (as in pollination contracts) i only know of two BFA members who do ? in my area that is, i feel that as members of the BFA it is something that should be more easily accessible to us any thoughts. Chris