How much to sell nucs for

[Gilberdyke John]

There is a lot of money in beekeeping.

T
Especially in equipment but that's where most of it seems to stay

 

[Antipodes]

T
Especially in equipment but that's where most of it seems to stay

Yeah, the next bit is, "it's getting it back out again that's the trouble".

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I'd like to order 10

I'm sure if you join up and attend the beginners course you'll be given the opportunity to buy one

 

[Hachi]

Most of the nucs I sell sadly, are destined for a certain death and strangely, it is often the beek selling them that gets the blame rather than the incompetence of the new owner. Also you only have to read on here the approaches that some take to managing bees means there will be a high level of demand pushing prices up. My association insists swarms are collected and surrendered FOC save for the replacement of frames and foundation and sold by the club for £50 that perversely, undervalues the bees to dangerously low levels by the new owner. Suffice to say, I dont participate. TBH the real problem is how we teach new beeks the craft. I know, I was one once and looking back, I'm a little sorry for those poor bees.

I'll have about 20 nucs to sell soon round the £220 mark and personally I will sleep well at night with that being a reasonable price in the full knowledge I could and perhaps should charge more, if only to try and avoid the almost certain death sentence the sale will often mean.

 

[ericbeaumont]

My association insists swarms are collected and surrendered FOC save for the replacement of frames and foundation and sold by the club for £50

What! Does the collector benefit by charging the customer £30 for expenses? That's routine round here (£50 for commercials) and swarms remain the asset (or liability) of a collector who has provided the time, transport, tools, skill and chit-chat.

I'm assuming that your BKA are the main source of swarm notifications, but even so I don't see how such a demand is justifiable or enforceable. If I recall correctly, charities are not allowed to make a profit, which is what your BKA is doing by taking in an asset and selling for a (pitiful) profit.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Most of the nucs I sell sadly, are destined for a certain death and strangely, it is often the beek selling them that gets the blame rather than the incompetence of the new owner. Also you only have to read on here the approaches that some take to managing bees means there will be a high level of demand pushing prices up. My association insists swarms are collected and surrendered FOC save for the replacement of frames and foundation and sold by the club for £50 that perversely, undervalues the bees to dangerously low levels by the new owner. Suffice to say, I dont participate. TBH the real problem is how we teach new beeks the craft. I know, I was one once and looking back, I'm a little sorry for those poor bees.

I'll have about 20 nucs to sell soon round the £220 mark and personally I will sleep well at night with that being a reasonable price in the full knowledge I could and perhaps should charge more, if only to try and avoid the almost certain death sentence the sale will often mean.

I think that's an appalling way to treat beeks who collect swarms as a service. I obtain notifications via the BBKA site or my local association and collect for free but the bees are mine to assess, develop and use the genes if they turn out useful. Which I'm happy with.

I agree that if a beekeeper (commercial or hobbyist) spends time and money preparing a nice nuc he should receive a decent recompense for that work. What is acceptable to that beek is up to them but I don't think either "too cheap or to order expensive" should be criticised as the price reflects what the person considers their time is worth!

What occurs to me is that we know that nucs are very likely to be in short supply this year so whoever has them available will be able to charge whatever they like. If you want to charge £50 that's fine but will the purchaser really appreciate that they have something to be treasured or will they consider it a throw away commodity, where as they might not if they had paid 4 or 5 times as much.

What is interesting is the fact that in honey sales the commercial enterprises (supermarkets) are selling cheap and us beeks want it to be sold at a price to reflects the work that goes into it but the boot is on the other foot with nucs as the commercial guys are pricing at proper prices and we seem to be advocating give away prices!

If I had any nucs available this coming spring I would be looking at the commercial sellers to see what the import hiatus has done to the prices.

 

[Boston Bees]

If I recall correctly, charities are not allowed to make a profit, which is what your BKA is doing by taking in an asset and selling for a (pitiful) profit.

Charities are certainly allowed to make a profit on their activities - there wouldn't be much point in charity shops if they couldn't, for example. But they have to spend that profit on their charitable aims in some way, rather than paying it out to shareholders.

But I agree that the approach of this BKA is ridiculous. For one thing, I can't stand any beekeeping organisation that charges householders to collect swarms that land on their property. Beekeepers create swarms, and beekeepers should clean them up at no charge - we get free bees for it, for goodness sake. Cut-outs are different of course - no one could do them for free. But charging to collect a swarm hanging in a tree - please.......

 

[Niv]

I think that's an appalling way to treat beeks who collect swarms as a service. I obtain notifications via the BBKA site or my local association and collect for free but the bees are mine to assess, develop and use the genes if they turn out useful. Which I'm happy with.

I agree that if a beekeeper (commercial or hobbyist) spends time and money preparing a nice nuc he should receive a decent recompense for that work. What is acceptable to that beek is up to them but I don't think either "too cheap or to order expensive" should be criticised as the price reflects what the person considers their time is worth!

What occurs to me is that we know that nucs are very likely to be in short supply this year so whoever has them available will be able to charge whatever they like. If you want to charge £50 that's fine but will the purchaser really appreciate that they have something to be treasured or will they consider it a throw away commodity, where as they might not if they had paid 4 or 5 times as much.

What is interesting is the fact that in honey sales the commercial enterprises (supermarkets) are selling cheap and us beeks want it to be sold at a price to reflects the work that goes into it but the boot is on the other foot with nucs as the commercial guys are pricing at proper prices and we seem to be advocating give away prices!

If I had any nucs available this coming spring I would be looking at the commercial sellers to see what the import hiatus has done to the prices.

I don't disagree. I outlined my current thinking (I do still consider myself new - even newer to selling nucs as i am trying to expand still), however I am very much open to change and have adapted quite a lot due to this forum. Will nuc selling price be the next thing I review? Probably. Will I up my price? Probably.

You are right, it does tie into the honey price argument and I upped my price last season purely on the back of what was said on this forum and not one person noticed (or if they did they didn't say a word to me). I had close to double the honey I had the year before and it was all sold out by the start of December.

 

[gmonag]

My local BKA runs beginers' courses, which I attended when I first started beekeeping. Part of the deal was that they would help with obtaining bees. That usually meant a swarm. I duely got my first bees when a member showed up with a swarm she had just collected after a call from the public. No money was asked for or changed hands. That struck me as a great way to get new beeks going and now I do the same for others. I am on the BBKA swarm collectors list (the web based system) and I always deliver any colony I collect to a newby waiting for bees, free. That generates a great deal of goodwill.
I do not necessarily think that a swarm is the best way to start, but I was very grateful to get my first bees that way.

 

[Apple]

But charging to collect a swarm hanging in a tree .....

We do it as a service for free...... cut outs get a quick look and passed on to the professional pest control guy who can help with the home owner claiming back the costs from their household policy of cherry pickers builders etc etc.

I hear tell of some swarm collecters collecting a fee, of which the balance after "expences" is passed on to the BKA, and the swarm swiftly sold on to an eager novice!

 

[Boston Bees]

I hear tell of some swarm collecters collecting a fee, of which the balance after "expences" is passed on to the BKA, and the swarm swiftly sold on to an eager novice!

My BKA used to do this (maybe still does). They wanted me to collect £30 from the householder and pass £20 to the BKA. I refused to take swarm referrals from them on that basis, and just collect them for free.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

My BKA used to do this (maybe still does). They wanted me to collect £30 from the householder and pass £20 to the BKA. I refused to take swarm referrals from them on that basis, and just collect them for free.

I stay off swarm lists but locals know how to contact me.
I've collected and hived several swarms, established them to start of laying and sold them on to beeless newbies for the price of frames and foundation. Boxes to be returned to me clean after transfer or replaced with new. Alternatively I'll accompany a newbie and oversee their own collection into their own equipment. I'm not in Beekeeping as a business but I aim not to make a fiscal loss.
If I'm not out of date with bka Ts and C's charging for swarm collection negates bbka insurance

 

[Hachi]

I have been offered payment for collecting swarms but have always refused. I just don't think its right after all free, expensive bee's right.

 

[ericbeaumont]

If I'm not out of date with bka Ts and C's charging for swarms negates bbka insurance

True.

Collector is entitled to ask for payment for reasonable expenses. I rang the BBKA insurers at least five years ago and asked whether £30 would be deemed reasonable.

They agreed that it was.

 

[colinlyne]

Low price won't lead to a recognition of value; a higher price is more likely to focus the mind.

Cheap nucs encourage easy-come, easy-go beekeeping; some don't even get that far: we've had customers who leave a deposit for an expensive nuc, change their mind and don't collect bees or deposit.

A shake of the hand may have worked for low-cost supply in a pre-internet era to beginners in tight-knit communities - rural or urban - but online buying and social mobility has eroded that reciprocal generosity to a great extent.

Perhaps that's a pity, but nobody should be asked (or expect) to pay 54p for a loaf of bread, just because it was that price forty years ago.

.

 

[colinlyne]

I conclude that beekeeping is a business and not a hobby! I never think of making money from my hobby, except for some honey. I don’t feel that a nuc costs anything, they were free to me and I had the equipment. I’m in it for the bees, not the money..