Something came to my attention yesterday, I was shown a jar of unripe honey (I did the simple test) from a crowd that has a scheme where people can adopt a hive. The cost is $590.00Au for the first year & $125.00 every year after that. You get 8 kilos of honey per year from the hive you adopt. Are many people taking up the offer? Or the offers of similar schemes?
Seems excessive to me…
Hi Rodd, the first time I saw it, it was around $450.00 I thought that was a ripoff. There’s someone in the US doing something similar. The BBKA are asking for 30 pounds. For that, you get a jar of honey & a few other goodies. The money goes towards R&D, I reckon that’s fair & reasonable. But $590.00 is just outrageous.
I wouldn’t dream of trying to make people feel good about themselves by conning them into financing my hobby.
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Similar here in the UK.
Only for the gullible non beek. They will be giving you a named bee next 
Jeff,
We have something I think similar here in the Puget Sound region. I’ve seen adds n internet notes on it. Not checked on costs or what you get from it… I did see he had a hive or two failed for some reason.
Maybe I will do more checking to see what’s up.
Gerald
I must say it makes me angry Dee, one of my customers showed me a bottle of the honey someone gave him. First thing I noticed was how watery the honey was, & then I saw the adopt-a-hive label on the bottle. However, while typing this, I realised that maybe someone else used an empty jar to put the honey in & the jar just happened to have the label on. So I’ll retract the bit about unripe honey.
The adopt-a-hive bit is just a ripoff, they push the idea that your “helping the bees”, “helping the planet”.
I think you can adopt a parcel of rain forest in the Amazon.
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Hi Gerald, there’s always someone trying to make a quick easy dollar, in this case by playing on peoples consciences.
I think this is more about people who have more money then time or skill. It is worth it to them to “help the bees” with some cash because they have no intention of learning and doing the beekeeper thing. So for them it probably is a great deal. Of course if they are getting unripe honey… maybe not as good a deal as they had hoped.
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I put the odd beehive or two on peoples land if they ask. I never charge, that feels wrong. Its my hive, my responsibility and in return for their hospitality they get a cut of the honey produced. Win-Win…
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Hi Rod
Utilising other peoples property who are will is a fantastic idea, By putting hives on other peoples land, does this cause a further issue with registering the hive with the Ag Dept. I’m only asking because I have had someone offer me the same deal. They have 50 acres very near my place and I am interested in doing the same thing. Would I need to have two registrations for each property, one hive at my place and others on the nearby acreage - or do I just register myself as owning say 3-4 hives all up and not have to pay for the extra registration ?
Hi Rodd, that’s kind of how it normally works. The first time I discovered the scheme was I heard something on the radio about people placing hives on roofs of inner city Brisbane for a fee. I did a bit of a search to see how much they charge & only found the adopt a hive website. I couldn’t believe the price he was charging & thought “what a ripoff”.
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Hi Max, I can answer that question as far as Qld is concerned. You only have one fee. You fill out a list of the address’s & how many hives are at each location.
One registration and put your license no. clearly marked on the hive, thats it.
Make sure the land host is aware of the risks of having hives.
Plenty of us who are more than keen to install a hive or two on someone elses land. Have to say, I’m a bit desperate in that way. A suburban backyard can only produce a limited amount of honey.
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You’d probably bee surprised how much honey can be produced in one backyard. Considering that the bees are likely to work an area of around 50 sq. kilometers. That’s a big area. You could probably fit as many hives as you’ll legally get away with in your backyard & they’ll all do well.
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Thanks for your tips on this one guys. Went on my first Bee Association meeting just the other day and got 3 stings. It’s now in my blood and I will be getting stuck in to it come Sept, just hope that my Flow Hive is on hand by then.
Max
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Your welcome Max & well done on the stings:)