Honeybee Sanctuary Apprentice

Last Updated On: May 7th, 2026 at 07:37PM MST

Contact information

Dirección de la granja:
401 Hideaway LN SE
Floyd, Virginia, 24091

Primary Contact: Derick Perkins
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 563-929-0057
    Email: derickperkins9@gmail.com

Website: https://spikenardfarm.org/get-involved/#apprenticeships

Internship information

General Farm Description: Our 41 acre sanctuary is located on the banks of the Little River in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Floyd, Virginia on traditional Tutelo lands. Since arriving here in 2008, we have developed an abundantly flowering biodynamic landscape, rich with sources of nectar and pollen which enhance the nutrition and health of the honeybees and native pollinators and support the thriving of our diverse agricultural ecosystem.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Fecha de inicio de las prácticas: Spring Cohort- March, '23 Summer Cohort- July, '23
Fin de las prácticas: Spring Cohort- June, "23 Summer Cohort- October, '23
Number of Internship Available: 3
Application Deadline: Jan. 31st for Spring Cohort, March 31st for Summer Cohort
Minimum Length of Stay: 4 month

Internship Details:

The Spikenard Apprenticeship is an experience-based opportunity to learn with the bees at our Honeybee Sanctuary. We are located on 41 acres in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with 25-40 bee hives, many flower gardens, a vegetable patch, fields of blooming cover crops, orchard, woods, pastures and a little river.

The daily work of the Farm Manager and Apprentices is to tend to the farm. The farm work is very diverse and ranges from daily chores to long days implementing larger projects to general upkeep of planting, weeding and harvesting. The tasks for tending the honeybees are woven throughout the apprenticeship with time spent observing each hive, opening hives for health checks, catching and hiving swarms, a weekly mite count, and more.

In addition to the work on the land and with the bees, apprentices support and participate in the workshops held at the sanctuary throughout the summer. We also have a weekly meeting to dive deeper into the honeybee and insect realm of life, talk about beekeeping practices and have experiences with hive observation, meditation, and artistic work.

We work Monday-Friday 8-5 with a long lunch break, on the weekends we take turns being responsible for chores such as watering, opening and closing greenhouses and feeding the goats. Some weekends we have workshops and events at the farm that apprentices are expected to participate in.

The ideal apprentice has a strong work ethic, enjoys working outside every day, has a deep interest in the honeybees, an openness for exploring the spiritual aspects of life and nature, enthusiasm for community living and excitement for working closely with others as part of a team.

For more information and to apply follow the link below!

Participa

Educational Opportunities: Weekly Bee School Opportunity to participate in all the educational opportunities offered while you are here!

Skills Desired: The ideal apprentice has a strong work ethic, enjoys working outside every day, has a deep interest in the honeybees, an openness for exploring the spiritual aspects of life and nature, enthusiasm for community living and excitement for working closely with others as part of a team.

Meals: No, but we do provide a weekly bag of vegetables from the garden!

Stipend: A total stipend of $595 for the 4-month apprenticeship

Housing: Yes, very good housing adjacent to the farm

Preferred method of Contact: Correo electrónico