The consistent response I heard was that beekeepers generally won't pay money to put their hives on someone else's property. If the hives are being placed to pollinate an orchard, then it's the orchard owner renting the bees, and if it's just hives looking for a place to settle, it's just neighbors being friendly.
One interesting tidbit came from Lou of the Gotham City Beekeepers, who said:
A landowner with crops or a garden most often welcomes the bees without expectations of being paid. Beekeepers always get paid for short-term placements of hives for specific blooms, rarely for long-term placements. Regardless of expectations, "yard rent" is often paid (or gifts are made in lieu or rent) with 5-pound containers of honey. If you Google for "yard rent jug" you will find that a specific class of low-cost large container exists for this specific purpose.I did Google "yard rent jug" and found that a 3 - 5 lbs jug (a couple of quarts or so) is apparently the standard unit for renting land. Who knew?
I'm a novice beekeeper myself--just now getting into it after researching for a year. Thankfully, I recently had a family friend give me permission to put my forthcoming hives on his land, at no cost. I'm still inclined to offer them some honey from my first harvest--it seems like the neighborly thing to do. These jugs will be perfect. Thanks!