Local BKA auction today !

[coffin dodger]

Hi All,

Our local BKA had their annual auction today, in the lots were 2 national hives with supers and bees, 4 colonies and one nuc.

Hive 1 sold for £260, Hive 2 sold for £230, the colonies went for £230, £270, £280, and £320 respectively, the nuc sold for £210. the same guy bought them all, needless to say, I didn't buy any bees

Regards
CD

 

[pargyle]

Hi All,

Our local BKA had their annual auction today, in the lots were 2 national hives with supers and bees, 4 colonies and one nuc.

Hive 1 sold for £260, Hive 2 sold for £230, the colonies went for £230, £270, £280, and £320 respectively, the nuc sold for £210. the same guy bought them all, needless to say, I didn't buy any bees

Regards
CD

I'm not surprised at these prices .... but it tells a story doesn't it - supply and demand ?

 

[iand]

Hi All,

the same guy bought them all, needless to say, I didn't buy any bees

Regards
CD

I made do with a couple of books

 

[user 6228]

I'm not surprised at these prices .... but it tells a story doesn't it - supply and demand ?

At those prices it wont be a choice of Cedar or Poly but hardened steel or reinforced concrete for hive construction....

Where did I put that link for camoflage netting ...

 

[DontWorryBeeHappy]

At £5 a jar of honey thats..........

MAybe I shouls sell my hives now and buy some new ones when the weather picks up and the price of hives drops!

 

[VEG]

thats if the price drops

 

[richardbees]

and the price of hives drops!

I doubt hives with bees are going to get cheaper... but empty hives probably will.

 

[pargyle]

and the price of hives drops!

I doubt hives with bees are going to get cheaper... but empty hives probably will.

I think you are right ... with this lousy spring the build up is late and with very limited forage is bound to be slow - little chance of anyone having spare colonies or doing early splits so it's likely to be late in the year for any meaningful availability of bees in the UK ... assuming people are willing to sell with the prospect of another deadful season looming - then they are going to be expensive.

 

[Easy Beesy]

Hi All,

Our local BKA had their annual auction today, in the lots were 2 national hives with supers and bees, 4 colonies and one nuc.

Hive 1 sold for £260, Hive 2 sold for £230, the colonies went for £230, £270, £280, and £320 respectively, the nuc sold for £210. the same guy bought them all, needless to say, I didn't buy any bees

Regards
CD

Maybe just not awake yet but what's the difference between a hive with bees and a colony? And if its what it sounds like, why did the colonies without hives cost more?

 

[coffin dodger]

Maybe just not awake yet but what's the difference between a hive with bees and a colony? And if its what it sounds like, why did the colonies without hives cost more?

I'm not sure why either, for someone like me with a small car (Smart) I couldn't fit a hive with 2 supers in but could get colonies in the back, maybe other people had the same problem.

Regards
CD

 

[alanf]

I couldn't fit a hive with 2 supers in but could get colonies in the back, maybe other people had the same problem.

Just curious, how do the BKA define the categories nucleus, colony and hive? Auction descriptions elsewhere tend to be along the lines of "bee colony in a nucleus box" or "bee colony in a hive". Whether the box or hive is included in the lot or only supplied for transport on a deposit basis is part of the lot detail.

 

[coffin dodger]

Just curious, how do the BKA define the categories nucleus, colony and hive? Auction descriptions elsewhere tend to be along the lines of "bee colony in a nucleus box" or "bee colony in a hive". Whether the box or hive is included in the lot or only supplied for transport on a deposit basis is part of the lot detail.

Personally, I can't speak for the BKA but the auction listing just gave the number of hives, colonies and nucs, each item had it's own listing taped to the top giving full details of the contents, bees, bias, stores, inspection date etc. I believe from the description that hive refers to a floor, brood box, supers, frames, etc all ready to go, colony, a brood box with floor, frames, travel screen and/or roof, and a nuc being just that. in all cases each lot was complete, you bought what you saw there, all 'woodwork' and contents.

None of the above is anything oficial from my BKA, just my humble offering

Regards.
CD

 

[thorn]

CD, let me know if the purchaser lives toward West Yorkshire. I'll park my car near his home, with a bait hive on the roof

 

[sipa]

So I was right then !!

On the 28th March in my thread "Feed Yor Bees" I said nucs would make £200 and was deried by some for daring to suggest that bees would be short and prices rise , Ha...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

So I was right then !!

On the 28th March in my thread "Feed Yor Bees" I said nucs would make £200 and was deried by some for daring to suggest that bees would be short and prices rise , Ha...

Prices always go high at the beginning of the season - beeks panicking and wanting a head start with thei rapiaries once the mad rush subsides the prices tend to go down

 

[richardbees]

once the mad rush subsides the prices tend to go down

Jenkins, I venture to suggest that won't be the case this year.

 

[itma]

once the mad rush subsides the prices tend to go down

Jenkins, I venture to suggest that won't be the case this year.

Oh, I think prices will fall as the season progresses (unless its another stinker for queen matings).
However, the big question is whether or not prices will fall back to those of a more typical year.
My guess is probably not falling back to historic levels, but probably a bigger fall (in £) than usual between early spring and midsummer.