Hive Franchising

[crazy_bull]

Wonder if i can get them to hire me 100 hives for 4 weeks when the borage is on?

On the proviso that they charge £10/week fully managed so 4 grand for all the hives, and work including extracting.

I take all the honey? even based on this years poor crop i should get 5-8,000lb of borage honey worth £2.50/lb bulk

That would leave me a tasty profit.....

Maybe i'm looking at this wrong! ha ha

 

[Sir Quej]

I think it's a great idea. Provided they do it properly and the bees are well looked after and managed right then this gives a great opportunity to people who like the idea of having bees in their garden but dont have the time or inclanation to look after them....

surely it be worse for some like that to get a hive and the find they dont have the time to care fro it and hey presto, the hive becomes a disease and swarm threat ?

This business idea allows these people to have their bees, but hopefully elliminates to possibility of the above happening?

go for it, I say...

 

[Sir Quej]

It's a business and market forces will judge it ultimately. It's not unethical because no lies are being told. But it's such a one sided deal I can't see it thriving. The client doesn't actually get anything.

Of course the client gets something Chris. They get the bees in their garden without what some would class as the aggro of looking after them. We are beekeepers so we enjoy interacting with the bees (hopefully) but not everbody will have the spare time to dedicate to the hobby.

It's like having a nice marine fish tank and paying someone else to maintain it for you?

 

[alanf]

It's like having a nice marine fish tank and paying someone else to maintain it for you?

That's a pretty good comparison, there are firms that do that.

There are also firms who exist to provide green plants to office buildings and charge a few quid a week to maintain them. At the top end that's contract florists who provide regular refreshes of floral displays for hotel, restaurants and businesses. They provide nothing to the client other than something to look at and talk about. Ask most hobby gardeners or pro nursery owners and most couldn't see why a business watering a few plants would work. But it's a big world out there and the businesses do exist, and they make enough money to keep going.

 

[alanf]

...On the proviso that they charge £10/week fully managed so 4 grand for all the hives, and work including extracting.

I take all the honey?...

Er, no. But you could probably buy it back if you wanted some. Most seem to be missing the point, this isn't for people who enjoy the process of beekeeping or even those looking for honey. It's a garden decoration, like a hired pot plant or tropical fish tank.

Expensive as a decoration, yes of course it is. As it happens I think Tom Bick's on the right lines when he suggests more customisation. The real money is in exclusivity; duck house for 2000 quid plus, anyone? At those levels, of course, it will be somebody else paying, or the very least tax deductible.

 

[Pete D]

I have been approached by a food producing factory about 3 miles from me about putting a couple of hives on some land at the back of their factory, within their security fence, where nobody goes.
They want to enhance their Corporate Social Responsibility and be seen by their customers as giving something back and supporting the environment.
Apparently their main customer (a major supermarket) suggested it.
I met their Health Safety and Environment manager on site last week and assessed the site and talked about how it might work.
His first 2 questions were how much will it cost and could they buy any honey produced by the hives at the going rate.
I said I would come back to him about costs (buying myself some time) and yes of course they could buy any honey. I looked around the area for potential forage and saw OSR coming up on large fields on 2 sides of the factory...........He might be buying more honey then he imagined
Realistically I am looking at 2 x 14x12 hives at the end of March through to September. I have £300 in mind for the hire, thinking 26 weekly visits at a tenner a time. I will also suggest payment up front (on delivery) in case they ask me to remove them earlier than expected.
Its a toe in the water and initially informal arrangement.
I will of course be looking at Public Liability insurance.
I need to sort out the finer details, like access (24hr on site security) and the initial siteing of the hives.
Any other advice would be appreciated
many thanks
Pete D

 

[dpearce4]

I have been approached by a food producing factory about 3 miles from me about putting a couple of hives on some land at the back of their factory, within their security fence, where nobody goes.
They want to enhance their Corporate Social Responsibility and be seen by their customers as giving something back and supporting the environment.
Apparently their main customer (a major supermarket) suggested it.
I met their Health Safety and Environment manager on site last week and assessed the site and talked about how it might work.
His first 2 questions were how much will it cost and could they buy any honey produced by the hives at the going rate.
I said I would come back to him about costs (buying myself some time) and yes of course they could buy any honey. I looked around the area for potential forage and saw OSR coming up on large fields on 2 sides of the factory...........He might be buying more honey then he imagined
Realistically I am looking at 2 x 14x12 hives at the end of March through to September. I have £300 in mind for the hire, thinking 26 weekly visits at a tenner a time. I will also suggest payment up front (on delivery) in case they ask me to remove them earlier than expected.
Its a toe in the water and initially informal arrangement.
I will of course be looking at Public Liability insurance.
I need to sort out the finer details, like access (24hr on site security) and the initial siteing of the hives.
Any other advice would be appreciated
many thanks
Pete D

BBKA have Public liability insurance and im sure if your a bigger concern that the bee farmers may have something similar. Just had our membership forms for our local association which incudes this and its going to cost me £20 this year. to me thats a great deal.

 

[alanf]

BBKA have Public liability insurance and im sure if your a bigger concern that the bee farmers may have something similar.

BBKA insurance only covers public liability as a non-profit. For instance explicitly you can't charge for swarm collection. They have taken the 40 hive mark as the limit where you are assumed to be commercial although you're unlikely to be supporting yourself full time. If you're charging third parties for a service you're clearly commercial whatever the count of hives, as you would be if you were running courses or trading hive equipment such as letting it out. A bee farmer policy should cover it, or look for smallholder/agricultural contractor policies.

I need to sort out the finer details, like access (24hr on site security) and the initial siteing of the hives.

And the tax position. If you're charging them for the hive hardware, who actually owns the kit, you and they rent it? That's a hire business. And they're employing you to operate their rented hives so is that their public and employees liability? Being paid directly for supplying a service could also open a can of worms around the self employed tax and the VAT status of your trading unless there's an existing business it would be added to. Depending on what sort of scale you're thinking of operating on, you might have to consider that it's simpler for your accounts as a simple site rental. Either you pay a peppercorn rent and you package and sell the honey to them at a "decent" retail rate. Or they pay an expenses allowance to keep your bees on site and pay a lower rate for the honey. You might still be considered to be subsidizing your hobby rather than being employed as a jobbing beekeeper and operating a hire business.

 

[Dishmop]

Catering Hospitality, Farming, Construction, Building, Property and IT in both corporate positions and their own businesses

Looks like the list for Watch Dog.

 

[Pete D]

BBKA insurance only covers public liability as a non-profit. For instance explicitly you can't charge for swarm collection. They have taken the 40 hive mark as the limit where you are assumed to be commercial although you're unlikely to be supporting yourself full time. If you're charging third parties for a service you're clearly commercial whatever the count of hives, as you would be if you were running courses or trading hive equipment such as letting it out. A bee farmer policy should cover it, or look for smallholder/agricultural contractor policies.



And the tax position. If you're charging them for the hive hardware, who actually owns the kit, you and they rent it? That's a hire business. And they're employing you to operate their rented hives so is that their public and employees liability? Being paid directly for supplying a service could also open a can of worms around the self employed tax and the VAT status of your trading unless there's an existing business it would be added to. Depending on what sort of scale you're thinking of operating on, you might have to consider that it's simpler for your accounts as a simple site rental. Either you pay a peppercorn rent and you package and sell the honey to them at a "decent" retail rate. Or they pay an expenses allowance to keep your bees on site and pay a lower rate for the honey. You might still be considered to be subsidizing your hobby rather than being employed as a jobbing beekeeper and operating a hire business.

Thanks Alan, lots more good points there to consider........
where's the red tape smiley !

 

[Little John]

Catering Hospitality, Farming, Construction, Building, Property and IT in both corporate positions and their own businesses

Looks like the list for Watch Dog.

They're not the only one's at it - from t'other side of the orbiting lump:
"Rates - A hive for a year costs $300 (this includes GST) and you receive 8kg of honey."
http://www.beehivehire.co.nz/page/rates.html

 

[m100]

BBKA insurance only covers public liability as a non-profit. For instance explicitly you can't charge for swarm collection.

...and so often overlooked by those 'new on the scene' trying to make a fast buck regardless of the possible subsequent impact on other beekeepers who do their very best to act responsibly.