Beekeeper

Job duties

Original text, as filed with the Department of Labor.

Honeybees/Honey. Workers will perform commercial beekeeping activities associated with the care and maintenance of approximately 800 honeybee colonies. Workers will work with honeybees in all stages of development, including eggs, larvae, pupae, worker bees, drones, and queen bees. Workers will inspect colonies to evaluate colony strength, food stores, brood condition, queen condition, and overall colony health. Workers will feed colonies when necessary and administer approved medications and treatments for diseases, pests, and parasites according to the employer's instructions. Workers will maintain colonies in a healthy and productive condition; increase the number of colonies; make colony splits/divides; raise, locate, introduce, and replace queen bees and queen cells; and remove excess queen cells when necessary to manage colony reproduction and prevent unwanted swarming or colony division. Workers will assemble, build, repair, clean, scrape, paint, and maintain hive boxes, frames, covers, bottom boards, and other beekeeping equipment. Workers will inspect and manipulate hive structures and move frames within hives as necessary for colony management. Workers will clean wax buildup, debris, and other materials from hive equipment and prepare equipment for reuse. Workers will prepare colonies and beekeeping equipment for commercial pollination activities when required, including preparing, loading, unloading, and placing colonies. Workers will inspect colonies before and after transportation and pollination to maintain healthy and productive colonies. Workers will load and unload beekeeping equipment, hive components, and colonies using appropriate manual or mechanized equipment. Workers will prepare colonies and equipment for seasonal changes, including winterizing colonies and preparing hives and equipment for shipment or movement. Workers will identify common brood diseases, pests, parasites, and other colony health problems and report or treat such conditions as directed by the employer. When honey is ready for harvest, workers will inspect colonies and honey supers, remove honey-filled frames from hives, uncap honeycomb, extract honey from the honeycomb. Workers will maintain clean and orderly apiary and beekeeping work areas and properly dispose of waste and debris generated through normal beekeeping activities. Workers will maintain basic records relating to colony condition, queen status, feeding, treatments, colony movements, and other routine beekeeping activities as directed by the employer. Workers may operate trucks, trailers, forklifts, tractors, all-terrain vehicles, and other agricultural or beekeeping equipment when necessary to transport and maintain colonies and equipment, provided the worker is legally qualified and authorized to operate the particular equipment.

Requirements

Once hired worker may be required to submit to a random drug test at no cost to worker. Testing positive or failure to comply may result in immediate termination from employment. The employer may terminate a worker if a worker: refuses without justified cause to perform work for which the worker was recruited and hired; or commits a serious act of misconduct; or fails, after completing any training period, to be able to perform all of the tasks described in the job order. If the worker voluntarily abandons employment before the end of the contract period or is terminated for cause, and the employer notifies the SWA, DOL, and USCIS in the case of an H2A worker, the employer will not be responsible for providing or paying for the subsequent transportation and subsistence expenses of that worker, and the worker is not entitled to the three-fourths guarantee.

Benefits and conditions