What needs to be included in a Beekeeper-Landowner Lease Contract?
Verbal contracts are hard to prove, especially if the other side is saying “I never agreed to that!” 🙄 Whether you are a hobbyist, sideliner, or commercial beekeeper, when putting hives on other peoples’ land, it is best to create a written document outlining the terms of the arrangement.
Benefits of a Written Contract for Beekeepers and Landowners
- Outlines and defines the terms of the arrangement so that both parties are on the same page
- Clarifies any hazy areas and covers more than what would be discussed in a verbal agreement or handshake deal (for example, when is move-out, when are you allowed on the property, what happens in the event of a natural disaster, etc)
- Proves that both parties agreed to the terms at a fixed point in time, in the event of a disagreement or court hearing
If a chicken-scratch agreement on a napkin from Denny’s is all you have, that’s better than nothing. But, for full protection on both sides, a clear, written, comprehensive, signed agreement is necessary. Here’s what you need in a lease or contract when placing your hives on someone else’s property.
5 Key Components of a Beekeeper-Landowner Lease
We’ve outlined five key components of a solid, quality Beekeeper-Landowner Lease below. Please note that there is more that should go into a lease, but if you are starting from nothing, these 5 components are a good place to begin from!
Of course, if this is making your head spin, skip this and get the pre-written, comprehensive LeaseHoney Beekeeper-Landowner Lease (written by a beekeeping lawyer)!
1) Rent or Value Given (Honey, Money, Services)
All contracts need an exchange of value in order to be valid. In the case of beekeepers and landowners, beekeepers may provide value in honey, money (rent), or services (such as pollinating someone’s garden). Even if a beekeeper is placing a hive on someone’s land for free, and the landowner also expects nothing in return, there must be value exchanged in the contract, and that value exchanged must be quantified and defined within the contract. Many beekeepers and landowners state that the value, in the case, is pollination, with a monetary value of $X.
2) Hive Term (Length of Time)
Much like the lease you sign at an apartment complex, all beekeeper-landowner contracts should clearly define the lease term length. This is an agreed-upon length of time wherein you are allowed to have your hives on the land and, barring any breaking of the contract terms or special contract terms indicating otherwise, the landowner is not legally allowed to kick your hives out whenever they feel like it.
We have all heard of the horror story of someone placing 40 hives on their buddy’s land, only to have the friend say, “Hey, sorry man, but you’ve gotta move them out…I sold the property…oh yeah, can you do it by Monday morning?” (And, of course, it’s Saturday afternoon.)
A written, signed contract also survives the landowner’s ownership (unless stated otherwise in the contract). This means that, in the event of a land sale, you are still allowed to use the land, and won’t have to make a mad scramble to move your hives last-minute!
3) Access, Egress & Ingress
When can you visit the hives? When are you allowed on the property? Is this all the time, with 24-hours notice, 2 times per week except in the case of hive emergencies? Is it only between the hours of 11am and 2pm, except during pollination events, when you need to access your hives at night-time in order to load them up and move them?
This is something that is better clarified in a contract than locked in peoples’ brains and, of course, this term is highly dependent on the landowner. A landowner who is allowing you to place hives in their backyard may want a strict hive visitation schedule in place—or some advance notice if you are stopping by—in order to protect their privacy and let them put the dogs away. However, a farmer or landowner with acreage may not care as much, or at all, if you check on the hives whenever you are feeling like it.
4) Exclusivity for Beekeepers
With bees foraging in a typical 2 to 5-mile radius (depending on forage situation and environmental factors), if apiaries are too close together, it increases the chance of robbing. Robbing is when bees from one hive attack another hive in order to (typically) steal their food supplies. Robbing can also result in the spread of disease or mites from one hive to another.
Therefore, beekeepers typically keep their hives at a minimum of 2 miles away from other beekeepers’ operations. If a beekeeper and landowner are entering into an agreement to keep hives on the landowner’s property, it would be wise of the beekeeper to include an Exclusivity Clause stating that other beekeepers are either 1) not allowed on the property at all or 2) in the event of many acres of land, must keep their apiaries a specific distance away.
5) Pesticides
Pesticide exposure is a huge problem for bees and beekeepers. While the foraging radius of bees means that no one can control everything a bee gets into, a solid agreement between a beekeeper and landowner will include specifics about how and when pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides are applied or used. For example, landowners who use pesticides may agree to only spray “bee-safe” pesticides that quickly lose their potency, to only spray at night when the bees are in the hive and the beehives are covered, to never spray on pollinating flowers on the land, and to provide advance notice to the beekeeper.
There should also be a damages clause, in the event of neglect or malice on behalf of either the landowner or the beekeeper. LeaseHoney will write about more clauses that should be included in beekeeper-landowner contracts – sign up for our newsletter to get them delivered to your inbox!
Get the LeaseHoney Beekeeper-Landowner Lease Contract
Handshake agreements between beekeepers and landowners are risky. LeaseHoney worked with a lawyer who is also a beekeeper to put together a beekeeper-landowner lease that covers the terms listed in this article (plus many more). With a contract in hand, both beekeepers and landowners have a clear understanding of the arrangement, limiting risk and conflict in the future. Get the Landowner-Beekeeper Lease Contract in the link below!
Please note that LeaseHoney is not a lawyer and this blog post does not constitute legal representation.