how much is a swarm worth ?

[Friar Tuck]

I have just caught a large swarm and housed it for now in a national pol nuc box. I already have 3 hive and 3 fine for now. A friend would like to buy some bees? but this is not a nuc with laying Q and brood in all stages with stores etc etc.

So how much is it worth ?

 

[VEG]

Well if you keep it a few weeks to make sure all is well the queen is laying and no disease present, then depends on how good the friend is. Nuc's go from £100 up to £200.

 

[Friar Tuck]

Thanks VEG you think they wil be OK in the nuc box for a few weeks? it's not to small ?

 

[Chris B]

In a week it will be worth a load of hay, but I've got no idea what hay is worth.

 

[VEG]

Having just lost a large swarm due to it being in a nuc I would move them into a brood box sooner rather than later. Put a queen excluder on to of the floor to stop the queen leaving.

 

[Friar Tuck]

the reason im not keeping the swarm is i dont have enough kit to keep it the nuc box is all i have at the moment . it one of thos new poly nucs. I told my friend buy a hive asap

 

[Poly Hive]

A load of hay is actually worth a lot of money. Just went for a look around and small bales are going for up to £10. So a load is.... valuable.

PH

 

[BBG]

A load of hay is actually worth a lot of money. Just went for a look around and small bales are going for up to £10. So a load is.... valuable.

PH

Please don't say that's the old style bale I used to throw from ground to trailer and trailer to barn those many years ago.

If it is, inflation is something else and I'm getting old (ish) !!

 

[Poly Hive]

I have handled a few thousand of them too.....

PH

 

[adrian wilford]

if it really is a freindthen i would give them the swarm for nowt

 

[Haughton Honey]

A load of hay is actually worth a lot of money. Just went for a look around and small bales are going for up to £10. So a load is.... valuable.

PH

Excuse me?

Are they gold-plated?

If you're referring to 'i-d-i-o-t bales' (as some like to call them) then we're talking £2.50 to £4.00 in around these parts.......

 

[Poly Hive]

Have a look. Prices are on the net.

PH

 

[Worldsend]

Price per bale South Central Hampshire is 6-8 pounds each (thats the small ones) and has been this since August 10

All the local farmers sold their enrire harvest to dealers as they were offering to do very high prices due to the poor crop forecast

 

[Haughton Honey]

Blimey

 

[666bees]

The price around here is about £4 at £10 it would worth driving load down your way. Must be over paid in Derbyshire.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Regarding the price of a bale of hay, it's probably supply and demand at work!

Getting back to the value of a swarm, to me it's worth my time to collect and hive it. Then check it for Q+, disease and temper. In momentary terms it's an unknown, I wouldn't sell a swarm until I knew everything was alright with the bees.

During swarm collection I used to talk about the value of bees with people that were interested but some people start to think I am making money by collecting swarms and that maybe I should be paying them for reporting the swarm!

I now don't talk about how much bees (nuc) are to buy as a swarm is an unknown quantity!

 

[bee ginnner]

all types of forage is in high demand this year, the worst i have heard is £80 for a large square heston of hay and that is regularly being quoted !!!!!!!

 

[RoofTops]

I am giving away a swarm to a friend - I would be reluctant to charge for a swarm unless I re-queened it and therefore had some idea of what sort of colony it was going to turn into.

 

[susbees]

I have handled a few thousand of them too.....

PH

Quite so. Actually, our winter small bales were about the same as the previous winter in spite of the dodgy weather come harvest. Oops, OT

And I agree with Rooftops.

 

[Silly Bee]

Excuse me?

Are they gold-plated?

If you're referring to 'i-d-i-o-t bales' (as some like to call them) then we're talking £2.50 to £4.00 in around these parts.......

Is that Hay or Straw?