cost of a hive

[mystil]

Hello guys
Can you give me some advice.
How much would you charge for a national hive with bees?
11 frames with dummy board. The hives have varroa floor, brood box, crownboard and flat roof. No supers.
Yes i know its too early to sell.
Thanks.

 

[clv101]

If the hive/frames are in a good condition it's worth around £50. The bees maybe another £40-80 in the spring. After all last years expansions I would expect a lower price for bees this spring than usual IMO.

 

[itma]

Things seem a bit cheap, down Bristol way ...

 

[Davelin]

Yes I'd want more than that for one of mine....

 

[Ely]

A good way to do it is source your hive parts from a supplier and then put your name down for a swarm at a local association.

 

[farbee]

If the hive/frames are in a good condition it's worth around £50. The bees maybe another £40-80 in the spring. After all last years expansions I would expect a lower price for bees this spring than usual IMO.

Do you have any bees or hives for sale ? If so I'm interested.

 

[mystil]

Yes. Im selling my own bees as i have too many and i want to know what is a reasonable price. I was thinking more than that. It costs me more than that to buy just the wood!! A nuc was £130.

 

[Little John]

A good way to do it is source your hive parts from a supplier and then put your name down for a swarm at a local association.

Ely - you might want to re-read the original post ...

For a ready-to-go full-sized colony I'd say you could reasonably ask £150-£200, depending on the quality of the woodenware. Some people ask that kind of money for an over-wintered nuc.

LJ

 

[farbee]

Hello guys
Can you give me some advice.
How much would you charge for a national hive with bees?
11 frames with dummy board. The hives have varroa floor, brood box, crownboard and flat roof. No supers.
Yes i know its too early to sell.
Thanks.

A lot depends on:

Material of hive Ply; Pine ;Western red cedar; polystyrene
Quality of hive

 

[mystil]

A lot depends on:

Material of hive Ply; Pine ;Western red cedar; polystyrene
Quality of hive

Cedar wood. Good quality.

 

[clv101]

Cedar wood. Good quality.

A brand new floor/brood/crown/roof is £56 from Thorne today. Second hand with frames, no more than £50. So then the question is just about the bees - depends on region, depends on the previous season and winter. I suspect bees will be cheaper this spring than they have been for several years. Which is why I said £90-130. Or put it this way, I wouldn't pay more than that - but someone else might!

 

[Chris B]

I'd be inclined to sell the bees but keep the hive, as it won't make a huge difference to the price.
Offer a good 5 frame nuc for sale late April at £130 and you'll have plenty of takers. Unite the queenless half to another colony.

 

[mystil]

A brand new floor/brood/crown/roof is £56 from Thorne today. Second hand with frames, no more than £50. So then the question is just about the bees - depends on region, depends on the previous season and winter. I suspect bees will be cheaper this spring than they have been for several years. Which is why I said £90-130. Or put it this way, I wouldn't pay more than that - but someone else might!

Looked at thornes website. BB is £42 flatpacked with no frames or wax.
Just on its own.

 

[Chris B]

I suspect bees will be cheaper this spring than they have been for several years.

Paynes are offering an overwintered nuc at £195, but don't seem to have a price yet for a later nuc. Early bees are always valuable. Later on who knows?

 

[clv101]

Looked at thornes website. BB is £42 flatpacked with no frames or wax.
Just on its own.

They have their winter sale on at the moment...

 

[farbee]

Cedar wood. Good quality.

Should of asked about age of the hive as well.

If its reasonably new and the bees look strong I would say £250-300. Not many would want to buy the bees without an inspection so you may find getting a buyer difficult.

But why sell now? In a few months time and expanding colony they have got to be worth more.

 

[kevrhcfag]

Depends on condition of the hive and bees (age of queen) but if the hive is OK and bees strong enough early spring got to be at least a couple of hundred quid and I would say that is cheap. People will pay nearly that for an overwintered nuc.

 

[Pete D]

I am with Chris on this, keep the hive sell the bees. If you don't want the hive put it on e bay, even firewood sells for daft money on there.
Thornes have a varying pricing structure, £42 for a brood is their 1st quality which is not worth nearly 3 times what they charge for 2nd quality, especially in resale values.
Currently in the for sale section of my local association one chap is offering 3 hives, cedar, old but fully serviceable, complete with 2 supers for £65 each or 3 for £150.
Another chap is offering the same condition and spec hives with bees for £300 each, 10 available.
The adverts are still live after nearly 3 months...............

Its worth what someone will pay, advertise it for what you want for it, reduce the price if it doesn't sell.

I will be offering 6 frame over wintered nucs at £160 for 14x12 and £140 for std national, same as last year. 2015 will be £30 less respectively.

 

[Ely]

Ely - you might want to re-read the original post ...

For a ready-to-go full-sized colony I'd say you could reasonably ask £150-£200, depending on the quality of the woodenware. Some people ask that kind of money for an over-wintered nuc.

LJ

Yep. I totally misread the post.

 

[itma]

A brand new floor/brood/crown/roof is £56 from Thorne today. Second hand with frames, no more than £50. ... Or put it this way, I wouldn't pay more than that - but someone else might!

They have their winter sale on at the moment...

It sounds as though you are haggling in a very determined way.

You are trying to associate the limited time availability sale price of 2nd quality flatpacks with assembled primes, and then to totally discount frames and foundation ...

How much would you sell your own for?
Those same prices? (For your assembled primes ...)