Overwintered Ayrshire Nucs

[Beehive]

I may have some overwintered nucs available in late Spring, early Summer. National brood box, roof, open mesh floor with 2011 mated queens. Treated for varroa with Apistan going into winter. A nice dark bee.

Available on a first come first served basis.

 

[Easy Beesy]

Aye, sounds good - prices would help....

 

[munch]

Any chance of the price soon lol.....

 

[Beehive]

I would be looking for £250 each. For that you would get a roof, crown board, brood box full of drawn foundation and an open mesh floor. The queen would be clipped and marked as we do this during our first inspection of the season. The hive parts are all Th**nes cedar seconds however, we have had no problems with them. I wouldn't part with them unless I was happy that they were strong enough and you were happy with what you were getting.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

I would be looking for £250 each.

Good luck with that

 

[Beehive]

I've attached a link for a 6 frame nuc from *** priced at.... I'm looking to part with colonies in cedar hives on 11 drawn frames that were nucs in 2011. We've cared for them over the winter and they will be good colonies of nice dark bees by the time they are ready to go.

 

[drumgerry]

Maybe you should be describing these a bit better - as full colonies and including a hive. From what you've said they don't really sound like nucs as they'll have built up into full colonies by the time you sell them. £250 is a high price though - not one I'd be willing to pay.

 

[BeeJayBee]

I would be looking for £250 each. For that you would get a roof, crown board, brood box full of drawn foundation and an open mesh floor. The queen would be clipped and marked as we do this during our first inspection of the season. The hive parts are all Th**nes cedar seconds ...

The going rate for the new season's bees seems to be about £150, rising to £200, and that's without a hive to put them in. It seems a fair price for a complete starter package.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

If I recall correctly, at our local auction last year nucs were going from £60-£120 and full colonies around £80-£140. Including hives. Price drop of nearly 50% from the previous year.

 

[Hivemaker.]

full colonies around £80-£140. Including hives.

That sounds way too expensive,i imagine they were brand new hives for those prices.

 

[countryman]

i went to the first auction here in the south at reigate and they reached 365 quid for a 5/6 frame colony in hive, more like nuc just transfered over, but buy the time of greatham they had more than halved month later buy mid summer there were so many colonys/nucs they were being picked up for less than 100 quid, picked up one 6 frame bulging at the seams with bees and checked for 50 quid,so 250 with hive he stands a chance with a newby maybe but why be so keen just wait and the bargains will come later when there are so many available prices will tumble

 

[Chris B]

"A swarm in May......."

The principle behind this little ditty is still true today. The value of any bees should reflect the date they are sold. The bees described have a lot more honey-making potential in early May than they would mid-June.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

That sounds way too expensive,i imagine they were brand new hives for those prices.

Not quite up to your standards HM the one I bought the previous year was an old solid floor, pretty grubby brood box and splintering roof - now relegated for swarm catching duties

 

[Beehive]

Hi

This is Beehive’s partner.

Firstly, to make it quite clear, Monsieur Abeilles’ post has nothing to do with our bees.

The bees, potentially for sale, are last years nucs, which as drumgerry said, will effectively be colonies when sold. Last year there was “apparently” a greater than normal number of badly mated queens, which led to failed nucs - one of the major problems for beginners who quite often incorrectly start with one hive. These bees will have made it through the winter and the queen will have shown her quality by the quantity of brood observed this year.

Morphology of the bee wings was undertaken by a prominent and respected member of the Scottish bee keeping community 2 years ago and it fell well within AMM requirements. The said person took one of our nucs and flooded their apiary with its drones the following year.

With their “dark” AMM inheritance, these bees are out flying in typical “Scottish weather” when the “bright” foreign strains (that people are so keen to import) are sitting at home waiting for the temperature to rise whilst using up their stores - your potential honey.

As Chris B pointed out, these bees have the potential to produce honey this year, given some suitable weather. Something which every beginner appears desperate to harvest but will be unlikely to get from a 2012 nuc.

As for the price, £250. Collection in person or you may wish to arrange for a courier at your expense. The hive parts were all new national cedar seconds last year. Cedar hive parts will last for years.
Roof £16
Crown Board £10
Deep £15
Open Mesh Floor £12
11 frames fully drawn with stores. What’s that worth to a beginner?
Total £53 plus the drawn frames. So “bees for £50” doesn’t even cover the cost of the hive parts.

Alternatively, make a nuc box from whatever timber you have, then all you need to buy are the frames and foundation. See if you can get the ear of a helpful beekeeper to tell you when a swarm is reported. Hopefully your helpful beekeeper, and new best friend, will give you some drawn frames to get your nuc off to a flying start. Then make yourself a hive and get some more frames and foundation. Ask the old-timers how they got started. It might be a good year for swarms and then again it might not.

A final comment. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there is no-one more opinionated than a beekeeper!

If you would like one of our last years nucs, please PM.

This thread is now closed.

 

[BKF Admin]

Thread closed at request of thread starter.
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