Job Opportunities

A unique opportunity is available as applications are now open for a bee farmers apprentice who will work as an integral part of our team at Northumberland Honey Company and undertake the Bee Farmers Assocation Apprenticeship Scheme.

The BFA apprenticeship scheme is a 3 year programme, culminating in the Diploma in Excellence in Bee Farming. 

The apprenticeship is ‘on the job’ learning with 2 weeks per year ‘block teaching’ which is classroom based, but the remainder of the year you learn working alongside your host trainer/ employer – Northumberland Honey Company.

As apprentice bee farmer you will learn the workings of all aspects of an industry leading bee farm. Working very closely with the directors of Northumberland Honey Company. On completion of the apprenticeship it is expected you will be working at a level of being able to successfully manage a bee farm. Key requirements and specific learning elements for the apprenticeship are listed below.

There may be opportunities to work on different bee farms throughout the country and visit different businesses in order to gain breadth and variety of experience also. This is completely dependent on the individual candidates desire to do so, but at Northumberland Honey Company we are well connected to bee farms through the UK and also in New Zealand with plenty of opportunities to maximise experience on the apprenticeship.

The Bee Farmers Apprenticeship has usually 1 intake per season in autumn, you can start in emploment with your host trainer at anytime through the year before officially joining the apprenticeship intake. 

Start Date

We are looking to start this position as soon as possible but are happy to wait for the right individual who may have school to complete, or notice periods to work. 

Background

At Northumberland Honey Co we currently manage around 400 honey production colonies and 800 mating nuclei being one of the UKs largest breeders of queen bees, and producer of quality honey.

We work from a SALSA approved purpose built production facility at Haltwhistle, Northumberland.

A career in bee farming is very fulfilling, combining working in some of the best scenary that Northumberland has to offer, and working with bees on a close level day in day out. Completion of the Bee Farmers Apprenticeship opens doors to work on any bee farms in the world furnishing you with skills and qualifications to work in the industry at a high level.

The Apprenticeship Learning Programme

Underpinning knowledge will be delivered expert Bee Farmer industry trainers in two blocks per year, each of two weeks. You will study:

• introduction to beekeeping
• equipment
• carpentry and basic woodworking skills
• seasonal management
• queen rearing and stock improvement
• botany and forage sources
• pollen and nutrition
• honey bee anatomy
• honey bee diseases
• integrated pest management
• microscopy
• processing hive products
• bottling and presentation
• setting up a business
• business structures
• finance
• marketing
• the competitive environment
• the industry worldwide
• health and safety
• first aid
• food hygiene.

Whilst working as a bee farming apprentice for Northumberland Honey Company you will be working with an industry leading team, from sales and marketing manager, production staff, and beekeepers all with a significant background and expertise. You will join one of the most forward thinking bee farms in the UK and gain experience in all areas of the business which should hopefully give you meaningful insight, skills and knowledge to be able to choose your career path following the apprenticeship. Completion of the apprenticeship gives an industry recognised qualifaction which is effectively a passport to work at a high level on any bee farm in the world.

Following completion of the apprenticeship it is anticipated that a full time role similar to the current available Beekeeper vacancy will be on offer. With significant career progression available.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

You will be an excellent communicator, team player, a passion for beekeeping at the highest level. Comfortable working alone / independently. As part of communication being comfortable calling the boss and discussing / working through any concerns or issues.

A can do attitude to work and learning new skills, a desire to starting early, working late if needed and pulling together to work as a team to get the job done. If you see someone struggling with a lot of work, being that person that steps in to help out.

You will have a very good level of fitness, no medical requirements that would prevent you from fulfilling the role, and no known allergy to bees.

You will have a good interest in bees, and desire to learn about beekeeping on a commercial level. You will have interest in food production to the highest quality standard. You will be comfortable will learning new skills, and be able to undertake self-directed learning.

You will be passionate about helping produce all natural hive products, from pure honey to beeswax products and cosmetics.

These are all the strengths of our current team and strengths we would like to build on.

Other Essential Requirements for the Role:

• Self-motivated and committed to completing a 3 year apprenticeship programme. 
• Demonstrable excellent time management skills
• Demonstrable team working skills
• Ability to work under pressure in challenging conditions.
• Minimum age of 18 at the start of the apprenticeship.
• Clean driving licence and experience of driving.
• GCSEs and A-Levels.

Desirable Criteria

(note, the following criteria are not essential only desirable)

• Evidence of team working and lone working in previous jobs
• Previous beekeeping experience.

Application Process

Please complete the application form below.

Whilst we endeavour to get back to ALL applicants it may be that we can only respond to shortlisted applicants. We will only be able to review those applications who are complete and full applications. Once you submit your initial expression of interest form below, you will receive a copy of the submission via e-mail which will confirms that we have received your application.

Working Hours

Regular working hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 3pm.

With the apprenticeship being beekeeping focused, there are times in the season where colonies are migrated, there is late evening/ early morning work and work can be dictated by weather patterns there may also be occasion where some weekend work is required. This is very seasonal and purely dictated by the beekeeping work/ weather patterns.

It is envisaged that a reasonable amount of overtime will be available in the summer months and you’ll be able to work as the beekeeping workload dictates. For example there are 3 key honey harvests, spring (end May/ start of June), summer (July), and heather (September) where honey harvest over the course of a week can involve extended hours, equally bee hive moving to crops such as OSR in spring and heather in August can have 1-2 weeks of extended working to get the bees moved and in place for the flowering crops. As flowering is dictated by the weather we can often have to respond to moving bees with only a couple of days notice. Even with extended working weeks it is likely we would not be working over 40 hours in a week.

As part of the apprenticeship you will also be involved with sales to the public and attending marketing / sales events, these are usually planned well in advance.

Annual Leave

Annual Leave is 6 weeks pro rata.

Salary

Salary starts at £19,500 per annum based on salaried hours of 9am-3pm Monday to Friday, reviewed annually.

Work outside of normal hours will be classed as overtime and paid extra accordingly.

Training

Structured training will be provided as part of the apprenticeship scheme, all new starters have a structured induction/ training programme. You will be expected to maintain a portfolio, be able to work independantly and as part of a team. 

You will be introduced to David and Celia Rudland who deliver the 2 week block teaching each year and are the apprenticeship assessors. Please take time to watch Celia talking about the apprenticeship scheme in the video below.

Closing Date

We have not set a closing date for applications as this is a fairly niche role and applicants we expect will be less than our usual job roles we offer. We do however expect to have the position filled during sometime in summer 2025. So if you are interested please do apply as soon as possible.

All applications are treated with the utmost confidence and references/ previous employers only contacted after a provisional job offer is made and accepted.

Interview Process

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview, this will be quite informal, and involve spending upto a couple of hours with the team here and getting some experience of what we do on a day to day basis. There may be tasks set ranging from the administration side, to the beekeeping side such as packing orders, labelling honey, through to getting into a beesuit and handling some bees – full training at interview will be given on how to approach any task, it is simply for us to be able to ascertain how well you take on instruction, and how comfortable you are with some example tasks that you would be encountering on your apprenticeship. It also gives you opportunity to see what a day in the life of a bee farming apprentice might be like, and give you a good insight into the role. 

How to Apply

Please complete the application form below and if you’d like to have an informal chat just give the office a call on 01434 322981.