Feedback on Bees Supplied Through the Post

[midas]

Hello to All ... this is my first post.

I am looking at forum users experiences of buying bees on line and them being supplied through the post. I am sure there are positive experiences but I am most interested in bad ones with an aim of improving bees welfare whilst in transit.

I am part of the London Bee Keepers Association and we hear of people going on inadequate courses and being urged to get bees immediately through the post instead of finding them from bee keeping colleagues.

We're getting a lot of horror stories about bees arriving dead, or half dead in melted wax and so on.

How widespread do people think this problem is? I am not looking to name and shame any particular companies.

I look forward to input.

Thanks. A

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Here's one to start you off....

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11485

 

[midas]

I read this one and it is what made me think I should dig a little deeper. It certainly got people talking that's for sure.

Nucs arriving short of a queen or inadequate stores is one thing but I am mainly interested in the state of the bees themselves ... dead bees, stressed bees, overheated bees and so.

A grim and morbid little thread for sure.

 

[Poly Hive]

Any competent supplier should be able to send bees via transport. It's not exactly rocket science.

In the past I have supplied full colonies to Shetland by ferry. Arrived safe and well.

PH

 

[midas]

Ah yes, but many things that are not rocket science are done badly from time to time.

I am certain that many suppliers do it well and some not so well.

 

[Hivemaker.]

A well known supplier had 15 nuc's cooked to death last year in a courier van,complete meltdown.

 

[theengraver]

If people want bees so badly they should be willing to travel.
posting nucs is in my opinion not an option.
Its just a greedy supplier that want to squeeze evey last penny out of the bees they have for supply.
The only way to transport bees is to do it yourself or for the buyer to transport!
and even then some are stupid and cook the bees

posting bees = Greed! even in the best ventalated box it may not be rocket sciance but it can get as hot as a rocket

 

[midas]

Can you tell me more? No need to name supplier.

 

[Tom Bick]

Queens travel well but then they are a small package.

A supplier can take all the precautions possible to send a say nuc through the post but once it is collected who knows what it will be exposed to.

We have plenty of courier services a click away offering cheap rates but having seen into the back of their vans with other deliveries would be very worried if I was to send live bees with them.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Can you tell me more? No need to name supplier.

What more would you like to know? and i don't intend to name the supplier.

 

[VEG]

What is your real reason for wanting to know, after all you could just do a google search.

 

[jimbeekeeper]

I do not even by my underwear with out first viewing/trying, so can not understand why people will buy a nuc with out seeing it?

 

[mbc]

I do not even by my underwear with out first viewing/trying, so can not understand why people will buy a nuc with out seeing it?

I wouldnt want to shop in the same pants shop as you !

 

[HelenX]

The linked thread in in post 2 is not really relevant here - although this supplier does supply through the post, we collected these bees! The concern was about the quantity of stores.

H

 

[greatbritishhoney]

The linked thread in in post 2 is not really relevant here - although this supplier does supply through the post, we collected these bees! The concern was about the quantity of stores.

H

Sorry Helen, I suppose I should have let you make the decision about whether to link your thread or not.
But, the principle is still the same - if collected bees are in a poor state then you could extrapolate that posted bees will be just as bad if not worse.
I'm talking hypothetically here - not about any particular supplier.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

A supplier can take all the precautions possible to send a say nuc through the post but once it is collected who knows what it will be exposed to.

.

I worked in the logistics industry for many years. Most people would be fairly horrified at the handling that "fragile" packages are subjected to: thrown 20ft into the back of the lorry, stacked far too high, left outside overnight etc.
And, for what it's worth "overnight" delivery means nothing to most carriers - it's an aspiration more than a promise.
I would always collect if I was buying bees.

 

[midas]

What is your real reason for wanting to know, after all you could just do a google search.

Hello Craig ... nothing murky here at all. The real reason is stated .. I am concerned about the welfare of bees during transit. If what we traditionally see as livestock were transported in this way there would be laws to use and recourse.

I am trying to get a feel for how widespread this problem may be. I am not seeking to discredit carriers as I can see many do it well ... but some clearly do not.

 

[Black Comb]

Can you confirm you are talking about "package" bees rather than queens by post.

 

[midas]

Can you confirm you are talking about "package" bees rather than queens by post.

Yes, package bees. As someone else says, queens travel well.

Thanks!

 

[oliver90owner]

I believe your request is flawed. You are asking in the wrong place and are unlikely to get any (or many) sensible reponses from a forum such as this.

Right . You are talking 'package' bees and nucs mainly (not many would send full colonies in complete hives!)

You are not really talking 'post' as much as 'carriers'. Colonies are probably not accepted by the Post Office, Royal Mail, or whatever they call themselves.

That might leave Parcelforce and the multitude of carriers in the frame?

You should already know if packaging by the vendors is to a satisfactory standard, or not. Such things as melted wax is either sheer stupidity on the part of the vendor or negligence on the part of the carrier.

This simply boils down to the basic chore of you getting the information you require from the vendors, surely? They will have the statistics of claims they will be making, or have made, to the carrriers.

The un-named supplier (I am assuming I am thinking the same supplier), for instance has already related, in the past and possibly the present, too, an on-going reluctance to use carriers for bee deliveries because of previous problems. So not a current problem there. History. Past experience.

So surely the gain from this forum post is a pittance - you should be asking the suppliers for this sort of information. At least that way the information would not be duplicated.

About twenty replies and zilch so far. I really think you need to bark up other trees, not here. There is a list of suppliers somewhere, I am sure. That would be a far better way to go.

RAB