How Does It Work?

The API policy works just like the RI-PRF policy for cattle and forage producers. This single peril policy covers only the lack of rainfall. The country has been broken up into Grids and each grid stands alone. The grid is the location of your bees. Growers can be in multiple grids. As any beekeeper knows, ecosystems consist of different types of plants or crops and often contain mixtures of different species, each with different growth habits and seasons, precipitation requirements, and other climate conditions necessary to maintain plant growth over extended periods of time. The grids insure that your needs are based on your location(s). If the rain does not come as it is needed then the amount and quality of the plant life will not be there. This will have a direct effect on overall production. This policy is designed to offset these losses caused by lack of rain. 

Colonies will be assigned to one or more grids based on the location to be insured. Coverage is based on your selection of coverage level, index intervals, and productivity factor. The index interval represents two months, and the period you select should be the one during which precipitation is most important to your operation. You may select a coverage level from 70% to 90% in 5% increments.

You select a productivity factor to match the amount of protection to the value of the production that best represents your operation and the productive capacity of your colonies. By selecting a productivity factor, you can establish a value between 60% and 150% in 1% increments of the county base value. The basis is derived from a five-year rolling average of USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) data. The yield data is based on the NASS state average, and the price is the national average honey price for a given year.

You can insure all of your colonies but you are not required to do so. Let us work on a custom quote for you based off of your needs and budget.