Pollination hire
Strong colonies on your crop, for exactly the weeks you need them.
Orchards, soft fruit, field beans and hybrid rape. We site the hives, inspect them every week and take them away the day you say the flow is over.
Hive calculator
Price your colonies in ten seconds
Recommended stocking rates for a reliable set, and the price for the whole flowering window.
How it works
How a pollination contract runs
Site visit
We walk the crop with you in winter, agree drop points out of the wind and a date for the start of the flow.
Delivered at dusk
Colonies arrive after dark, when every forager is home, and are open and working by the next morning.
Inspected weekly
One of us checks every colony each week and emails you a short record with photos of the brood.
Gone after petal fall
Tell us the flow is over and the colonies are off your land within 48 hours, before you spray.
Rates
- Per colony, per flowering window
- £72
- 8 colonies or more
- £64 each
- Siting, weekly inspection, removal
- Included
- Delivery within 40 miles of Thurlbeck
- Included
- Beyond that, each way
- £1.20 a mile
- Moves inside the window
- £40 a move
All prices exclude VAT. Colonies arrive with at least six frames of brood; anything short of that is not charged for.
What we need from you
- Vehicle access to the drop point and a gate a trailer fits through.
- A spot out of the prevailing wind, facing south or east if there is a choice.
- Notice of any spraying, with the product name, at least 48 hours ahead.
- A date for the end of the flow: colonies left on a finished crop go backwards.
“Eight colonies on our Bramleys for three weeks, weekly inspection sheets in my inbox, gone the morning after petal fall. Our set was the best in six seasons.”
Growers ask
What growers ask us every January
When do I need to book?
Top-fruit dates fill from January. Soft fruit and arable can usually be booked into March. Ring rather than write if the season is close.
How strong are the colonies?
At least six frames of brood on arrival, checked before they leave. Any colony under that is not charged for.
Do you guarantee a better set?
No beekeeper honestly can: set depends on weather and variety. We guarantee colony numbers, strength, weekly inspection and removal on your date.
Can you work with our spray programme?
Yes. Send us the programme when you book. Most products are fine at dusk; for the rest we move the colonies out first.
Get your dates in before the blossom.
Top-fruit windows fill from January. Tell us the crop and the acreage and we reply with a contract the same week.