Originally Posted by DanBee
The best information a beginner can be given is to ask around to find a reputable supplier and this applies to far more than just beekeeping. You point out in your example that the local grapevine knows who the iffy beekeeper is and where he operates (and more beyond!) - most beekeeping associations are just the same. This forum is a case in point: beginners taking the time to ask "where should I buy a nuc from" this summer would have seen a number of threads advising extreme caution with a small number of unreliable sellers.
There are a number of issues with coming down hard on a small number of rogues. The first is that there needs to be proof of a knowledge that the colonies were diseased, then that this was concealed. To use a "three strikes and you're out" approach would require changes to legislation, and would risk forcing some fairly shadowy characters further from view. It also needs to be able to deal differently with those who are incompetent or unobservant from those who are deceitful
Danbee your posts a pleasure to read.
BUT don’t let’s tar and feather every breeder.
I know of a commercial beekeeper who makes his living as a sole trader by selling live bees, he has records of every sale going back to 1900. He works yearly with Dafra bee inspectors, His nuc frames are no more than a year old eliminating diseased brood,
He is and has” been doing all the right things for years, his hours of advice is given free BUT not always what you want to hear.
He has given the best, bee educated to his young staff by sending them overseas in the winter months to other countries, to gather expert hands on experience that’s not available or cannot be obtained in this country?
Others should take a leaf from his book.
Instead others with envy contemplate he /she can make and sell nucs The consequence has been a disaster. (Example Epping see WPF post,)
Some large Bee Equipment Suppliers! “Don’t keep or breed bees” they look for the best price they can buy nucs for, They have to make a profit and end up buying from Tom Dick Harry diseased bees at ridicules prices then sold on to the newbee 3 / 4 months down the line the bee inspectors get called in and can not trace the breeder.
The most common mistake made by both newbees and knowledgeable beeks. “There’s only 1or 2 frames of brood in the 5 frame nuc? or the queen is dead?”
Both fail to realize the brood has hatched also the bees/ Queen don’t like stress and can die during traveling / delivery,
Yet the breeder gets ostracize by natures natural occurrences and thinking they can do better.
