has the rush slowed down

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hedgerow pete

Queen Bee
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about two years ago i did as ever a massive rant/ soap box talk/prediction of doom .

the general idea was this that since 2006/7 there has been a massive boom in the bee keeping hobbie with famous people etc keeping bee's and just a general balloning of the industry, i have noticed that for the last few years the sale of nucs is normaly more brisk or rather sold out.

i have noticed that people are still advertising nucs for sale.

now evan with the standard clauses of " everyone jumping on the bee breeding band wagon", " bees are all in danger,etc etc", and what else there might be i have seen this year a drop in intrest in bees where i live and also an increase in adverts for bees for sale.


is the ballon reaching its maxium point and do we think next year it might pop???
 
Has the bubble burst ?
I hope so as the 'more money than sense' brigade have priced alot of genuinely interested begginers out of the market and a very few individuals have made a fortune importing queens and packages.
With the threat of tropililaps and small hive beatle coming in with imported bees its difficult to understand our pretty much open borders policy with regards to bee imports. If europe told us to put our hand in the fire , I believe we would !
 
I think not just yet at least perhaps the first half of next year will be the same as this and then perhaps it will all stop.
 
about two years ago i did as ever a massive rant/ soap box talk/prediction of doom .

the general idea was this that since 2006/7 there has been a massive boom in the bee keeping hobbie with famous people etc keeping bee's and just a general balloning of the industry, i have noticed that for the last few years the sale of nucs is normaly more brisk or rather sold out.

i have noticed that people are still advertising nucs for sale.

now evan with the standard clauses of " everyone jumping on the bee breeding band wagon", " bees are all in danger,etc etc", and what else there might be i have seen this year a drop in intrest in bees where i live and also an increase in adverts for bees for sale.


is the ballon reaching its maxium point and do we think next year it might pop???

Could it be that there are more nucs for sale. I only started last year with 2 nucs purchased from my club warden, then took a couple of swarms. This year I have done 2 cut outs and have taken 4 swarms. I have started my stepson with a swarm for his TBH and given one away. Maybe there are simply more nucs and swarms for the taking because there are more people with bees?
Steve.
 
Has anyone seen any nucs advertised for less than a hundred quid? There are a lot over this amount. But, hey-ho, July is near and as they say 'a swarm in June is worth a tune, but a swarm in July is not worth a fly!'

Maybe a few of those who rushed in will be wondering 'why' by now. It has made a lot of money for those pedalling nucs. Well most, excepting those selling diseased ones.

As usual the minority will give the few 'better nuc suppliers' a bad write up before the boom is over. I would not expect my nucs to be reproducible enough to be able to accurately predict their capabilities and I don't suppose some of them out there are any different......

Regards, RAB
 
Has anyone seen any nucs advertised for less than a hundred quid? There are a lot over this amount. But, hey-ho, July is near and as they say 'a swarm in June is worth a tune, but a swarm in July is not worth a fly!'

Maybe a few of those who rushed in will be wondering 'why' by now. It has made a lot of money for those pedalling nucs. Well most, excepting those selling diseased ones.

As usual the minority will give the few 'better nuc suppliers' a bad write up before the boom is over. I would not expect my nucs to be reproducible enough to be able to accurately predict their capabilities and I don't suppose some of them out there are any different......

Regards, RAB
on web
VEG had one advertised for £40...did not last long before it sold


we purchased 15 @ £100 each for our beginers but order them last september
 
I hope the bubble hasn’t bust, the more beginners that start up the better, and honey produced from hobby beekeepers should command a good price, especially the one's that don’t contaminate there early flow from last winter’s treatments.
 
I've seen one establishment offering a polystyrene nuc for about £45, I think it was ...
 
changing trends

I guess the buzz hasn't yet died down... I recently moved and finally had the space & time to have a hive again. I built a hive, and was startled to discover a) the cost of a nuc (nothing much under £120, a staggering £200+ in some cases), and b) the waiting list. Our local BKA has had so many new members over the last couple of years that they introduced a new category of membership for them, bearing in mind that quite a few of them didn't (yet) have any bees.

After ordering in Feb, what with the rather dull May and slow buildup, and the long waiting lists, I ended up with one nuc at the beginning of June, and one to be picked up next week. Not ideal, although for garden bees round here there's still quite a bit of nectar about in July & August. Just as well.

The danger is that the high proportion of beginners could result in a surge in the number of swarms that are perceived as a problem, causing a backlash against bees or at least beekeeping. However, I think that risk is outweighed by the increase in "advocates" likely to speak out if they see wanton verge-spraying or other bee-unfriendly activities. Plus, a bigger pool of bees in general is probably helpful when so many colonies aren't making it through the winter...
 
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