Bees for sale

[JIMB]

Nucs on smith and national frames for sale. East of forfar area

[Hoomin_erra]

Price??
Type of bee??

[gavin]

Perhaps I should add that I think Jim is asking £5 per frame of bees, and the bees are likely to be Amm-leaning local mongrels. Do correct me if I'm wrong Jim! From looking at BeeBase it appears that the apiaries within about 10 miles of Jim have been clear of foulbrood this year, but there are cases around that distance away. Don't know if he's been inspected this year.

Eeekk!!! Sorry everyone. I did intend to write £25 per frame.

[Hoomin_erra]

I may well be interested next year if any become available.

I think it might be a bit late to try and start a Nuc in the Cabrach this late in the season.

Unless anyone has any ideas on whether a nuc this late will survive the winter?

[Jon]

You should have plenty of time as long as the nuc is a decent size to start with, say covering 5 frames including 3 with brood.
If you have other colonies, you can build up a nuc very quickly by adding frames of brood just about to hatch.
A nuc can be built up to to a full colony in 3-4 weeks doing this.

[Hoomin_erra]

Well if the above price is right, and the nuc is a decent size, then yes, i'm interested.

jimb?

[gavin]

Now here's a really difficult area for me. Jim is a good beekeeper and as far as I know his bees are free from foulbrood. They are very likely to have been inspected last year and I'm not sure about this. Both foulbroods were scattered through Tayside last year and both are still around at a much reduced frequency this. If he has been inspected again this year then that reduces the risk of disease further. There are no guarantees though - there is AFB popping up in the Lothians in bees with links to Tayside. Also, there is no guarantee that Moray is free of foulbrood (can't see the maps at BeeBase at the moment for some reason).

However - and however small the risk - what would local beekeepers in Cabrach (if there are any of course) think of colonies coming in from Tayside this year? Maybe next season the risk will be even lower ...

If you still want to get in touch with Jim, send him a Private Message with contact details. He will get an email as well as have the message in his inbox here.

best wishes

Gavin

[Hoomin_erra]

I have, and he has placed a price of £125 on the nuc's i can't afford that at the moment. So i'll pass.

Sorry Jim

[gavin]

Apologies everyone, I knew that they were £25 per frame and don't know why I wrote £5 earlier.

[Calum]

Hi
well I have ten frame colonies for sale with 2010 queens first generation carnica. 110€.
But you have to pick them up (yes sorry it is in S Germany but I have 14 for sale so someone might find it worthwhile).
The going rate here is 100-120€ for a 9-10 frame colony.
They are easy going but productive, and slow to swarm on 30 frames.
Varroa included at no extra cost :(

[gavin]

Hmmmnnn .... coach and horses there through the 'local are best' and the 'we prefer Amm' in the 'Word from your Sponsor' above! You were kidding anyway, right?!

Also the legal side which I suppose is similar in Scotland to England and Wales: https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=299

[Calum]

Hi,
well it does raise some issues, local are best unless there are none to be had at a reasonable price.
AMM - sticky bunns to convert them if you have queens now, or one laying queen next year.
Vets or agriculture ministry bill of health is no problem, I priced airfreighting live prawns from Inverness to Munich once - less than 30 € per box 8 years ago.
So that should be less now. I wonder how many would fit on a pallet - they are about 60€ in a lorry a pop from here to the UK.
Making sure the bees are drone free is easy to if transported at the right time. Or you have to seperate them with an excluder.
In the usa they import plane loads from australia, so yes only half kidding....

[gavin]

... and in Scotland they import plane-loads from New Zealand ...... !

[Calum]

ok then bavaria is local in that case :)

[Stromnessbees]

Hi Calum

I think there are several reasons for keeping the trading of bees as local as possible.

@ Even if - seen superficially - bees from different regions might have the same parasites and viruses, these might well be different strains which, transported to other areas and mixed with whatever is there, could turn out more virulent than before.

@ Importing bees is just an easy way out for those who make no or just half-hearted efforts to breed their own replacements. We should all try to become self-sufficient with our stocks and at the same time work on improving our local strains, then we will end up with bees that are perfectly able to handle local conditions and bring optimal yields.

@ It might be easier and therefore cheaper to produce bees further south, so you can, despite transport cost, offer your bees at a cheaper rate than we can here. It's probably better to let the price here develop according to local supply and demand.


It's great that you have made the effort of producing extra bees for sale. I am sure that you can sell your bees at a good price somewhere near you, if not now then in spring, when there is always a great demand.

All the best, Doris

[Calum]

Hi Doris,

many valid points there.
I was only being half serious, of the 14 colonies I have for sale, 6 are already reserved, I would not let any more go this year in case I need them myself to replace losses.

It will be hard to attract new beekeepers if we all have to be self sufficient in the future, not everyone wants to nor should have to. I would like to be myself, but untill I get into sending my bees of to special breeding sites (where there are only selected drones) there is no point in selecting, and with only 7-9 primary colonies I do not have enought selection choice. So I will have to buy new 'pure bred' queens from time to time.

It is important that clubs are self sufficient though, and it is good money for those that make the effort to do it right.
Here a queen costs 10-15€ unmated, to 15-25€ mated, so selling some queens can be a tidy little earner.
Nucs go for 10€ / frame of bees. So if my colonies come through I'll be sitting on about 1500€ there. But it wont be that much, I'll loose 2 I bet and likely sell them cheap as I don't like making money (well not from beginners).



Hi Calum

I think there are several reasons for keeping the trading of bees as local as possible.

@ Even if - seen superficially - bees from different regions might have the same parasites and viruses, these might well be different strains which, transported to other areas and mixed with whatever is there, could turn out more virulent than before.

@ Importing bees is just an easy way out for those who make no or just half-hearted efforts to breed their own replacements. We should all try to become self-sufficient with our stocks and at the same time work on improving our local strains, then we will end up with bees that are perfectly able to handle local conditions and bring optimal yields.

@ It might be easier and therefore cheaper to produce bees further south, so you can, despite transport cost, offer your bees at a cheaper rate than we can here. It's probably better to let the price here develop according to local supply and demand.


It's great that you have made the effort of producing extra bees for sale. I am sure that you can sell your bees at a good price somewhere near you, if not now then in spring, when there is always a great demand.

All the best, Doris