Sale and purchase of hives

Contract document template is available for downloading by clicking here.

This section of the website is designed to assist beekeepers who are intending to either sell or purchase beehives.

The key message is:

Make absolutely sure you know the disease status of the hive/s you are transacting and be guided accordingly by commentary below.

If you are unsure please contact your local beekeeping club.

Remember to ensure your hive and apiary details are correctly recorded on the apiary data base.

The Consumer Guarantees Act

The Consumer Guarantees Act covers any transaction for the sale / purchase of goods or services “to a consumer”.

A “consumer” is a person who obtains goods of a kind that are “ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household consumption”.

As long as it is not extraordinary for the particular goods to be acquired for personal consumption, then they will be covered. Accordingly, although beehives / bees and equipment are probably most often acquired for commercial use, the growing “hobby” market for beekeeping means that it probably would not be considered “extraordinary” for these items to purchased for personal use.

The Consumer Guarantees Act then applies to all transactions involving hives / bees etc- whether the purchaser is a private individual or a company that is purchasing the goods for commercial reasons.

Even though the Act applies to both the commercial and private purchaser – it applies differently. For example, it is acceptable for the seller to contract out of the Act in its dealings with purchasers who are buying the hives / bees for commercial purposes. The seller can not contract out of those obligations where the purchaser is buying the goods for personal or domestic use.

The Fair Trading Act

The Fair Trading Act only covers people or companies who are operating “in trade”.

The definition of “in trade” is broad, and there is no requirement that there be a commercial character to the operation.

The indicators the Courts look at in deciding whether a particular person or company is “in trade” include:

  1. whether the person / company (i.e. “the seller”) regularly or habitually offers to sell goods or services;
  2. whether the seller buys, makes or obtains goods with the intention of selling them;
  3. whether the seller is GST registered;
  4. whether the seller has staff or assistants to help manage their sales; and / or
  5. whether the seller has set up a company or other type of trading vehicle.

So, in general, a one off or infrequent seller of beehives or equipment would be unlikely to be captured by the Fair Trading Act. But a person or company that frequently sold hives or equipment could be captured.

The above information is general in nature. No liability is assumed by the authors, or publishers, for any losses suffered by any person relying directly or indirectly upon this summary. If you have any particular queries regarding your own individual situation, please obtain legal advice.

September 2015

Print the contract

To download and print the contract, please click here.

AFB Quiz
Take the AFB 5 minute quiz

How well do you know what you need to know about AFB and beekeeping? Take our short quiz and find out.

AFB Videos
Videos

Our videos cover everything from your legal obligations to how to recognise AFB, collecting cell and bee samples and more.

AFB Symptoms
Symptoms

There’s a lot of good information here, telling you everything you need to know about recognising AFB: the visual symptoms, smell of AFB and more.

AFB Inspection and Diagnosis
Inspection and Diagnosis

Successfully eliminate AFB by telling the difference between symptoms of AFB and other brood diseases in the hive. We tell you the best methods for inspecting your hives.

AFB Law
The Law

New Zealand beekeepers have a number of legal obligations that must be met regarding AFB disease. Read the shortened list in summary, here.

AFB Elimination
Elimination

Most hives become infected because bees, honey or equipment have been put into a hive from another hive that is infected with AFB. Lower your chances of an  AFB infection by reading this section.

AFB Course Info
AFB Recognition Course Info

Find out when the next AFB Recognition and Competency Courses, or Refresher Courses are available. These are held throughout the year in various New Zealand locations across the South Island and North Island.

AFB App
The AFB App

Follow the link below to open the App. Once open to save to your device you need to bookmark the URL on your phone so you can find it easily again. Please click here to open.

HiveHub