Our ‘Host a Hive’ program allows individuals and families to enjoy the benefits and wonder of having bees in their yards without the worry of caring for and maintaining a bee hive. To support bee hives successfully, it takes a great deal of knowledge as well as a continued time investment as well as a large output of money which often acts as a barrier for those interested in bees to make the leap into beekeeping. So East Van Bees is now offering backyard beehive installations and ongoing hive maintenance to individuals and families who are interested in having the benefit of pollinators for their gardens as well as access to honey from their own backyard without the added commitment of being responsible for the bees’ care. ‘Hosts’ will receive the honey collected from their hive**
For Residential clients the cost starts at $700 per year per colony, with additional services/products. There is a minimum of 2 colonies per property. Corporate/Business clients please contact us to arrange a meeting to discuss your needs
When adding up the costs of the equipment needed as well as the cost of a colony of bees plus the time and cost of education to become a Certified Master Beekeeper it is a pretty good deal. Plus you get honey!!
The second colony acts as the support for the other colony in case of queen loss or if one falls ill or needs extra bees.
Contact us and we can arrange a group discount.
You can expect anywhere from 30 to 120 lbs per colony ($300-1000) market value. This all depends on your location, weather, the strength of your colony and what forage is available in the area for your bees. Honey is provide to you in buckets with a spout so you can bottle it yourself or if you would like us to do it, we can provide that service. costs would be determined at that time.
If you don't need that much honey we will buy it back from you at $3 per lb
In our “Host a Hive” program, East Van Bees maintains ownership of all hives and the bees who live in them, but at any point you wish to transition into purchasing and maintaining your own hive East Van Bees would be happy to help you as much as you would like. Having bees in our communities is vitally important, so at East Van Bees, we would like to be supportive of the welfare of bees in our community through whatever avenues possible. There is an option of private beekeeping education and services on an a la carte basis as it suits your needs.
East Van Bees specializes in managing bee hives in urban and suburban areas so are quite use to being creative in smaller yard spaces. In fact, East Van Bees, has even installed and maintained roof top beehives in the absence of a yard space option. Please feel free to contact East Van Bees for a free consultation and evaluation of optimal location for hives in your space. If you have any safety questions related to be having bees in your yard please do not hesitate to contact us.
** – this will depend on if the hive produces enough honey to take from their stores. Hosts will receive honey from other locations if they want.
If you are interested in hosting please leave your contact info and we will get back to discuss your request
***We are looking for Hosts that can take a minimum of 2 hives for 2024***