Price of honey bees :(

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Jafer2

House Bee
Joined
Sep 10, 2017
Messages
131
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0
Location
Birmingham
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
3
Anyone know why bees cost stupid ammounts to buy??

Appart from the farmers banking on the increase because of the publicity?

I have heard people talking about them costing £20 to £50 for a nuc but now around £200 mark and can see it only going up because thats where the money is at in beekeeping.

I presume that is part of the reason for the decline in beekeepers due to these big costs and losing a hive can add up.

Anyone want to give me a free nuk ;) ... worth a try

Thanks
 
Put yourself on the swarm collectors list, price of bees zero.
Build yourself a bait hive, price of bees zero
Price of nuc £200 next year after artificial swarm, it now works out at £100 each, year after drops to £50 :D
£20-£50 probably the price of a queen
 
20 - 50 quid? Are you having a laugh?
I find 'easy come' is far more likely to become 'easy go'. And that's the trouble these days, people want something for nothing.
Maybe take up a different hobby?
 
Economics lesson #1

High demand, high price. It's that simple and nothing to do with a shortage.

Actually I for one welcome the price as it acts as a barrier to the idiots who think its easy and get in over their heads and then need rescuing, and at often considerable inconvenience and pain to the general public. Not to mention negative publicity for those of us who have a reasonable idea of which way is up.

I an totally confident that the OP has read in depth and plans on attending a course before parting with the hard earned money?? Or am I utterly incorrect?

PH
 
Economics lesson #1

High demand, high price. It's that simple and nothing to do with a shortage.

Actually I for one welcome the price as it acts as a barrier to the idiots who think its easy and get in over their heads and then need rescuing, and at often considerable inconvenience and pain to the general public. Not to mention negative publicity for those of us who have a reasonable idea of which way is up.

I an totally confident that the OP has read in depth and plans on attending a course before parting with the hard earned money?? Or am I utterly incorrect?

PH

Entirely correct PH! I have had interesting conversations with folk who I declined to sell Nucs to as they had 1. never been near honeybees, 2. had never been to a beekeeping association meeting never mind done a beginners course 3. did not have time to do a course and 4. only had a nuc to transfer the bees to. My general rule is to only sell to folk who are paid up members of an association or who already have a mentor.

For those doubting the value of a Nuc, just go and price 6 assembled and waxed frames and then price a mated and laying queen. For those who don't see the value of a mated and laying queen, try raising 30 or 40 and keep track of your time and expenses.

A friend enlightened me in the Spring when he advised that a frame of bees was valued at £25.00 in his association during 2016.

Is the OP referring to purchase of a "Nuc box" at £20 to £50 rather than a "Nucleus colony" of honey bees?
 
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Supply and demand, same as anything else! The market clearly supports this price.

Depends on time of year too - in April the seller has taken the cost and risk of overwintering the colony, and the buyer gets the honey crop, so the price is high.

If you want a cheap nuc you might get one through your association in July/August, but you'd have to wait a year for a crop. And there's always a chance it wouldn't survive the winter.
 
Do you blame somebody selling quality livestock for a decent price?
As above. You can catch your own.
 
Never bought bees. Was given a nucs after finishing the beginners course at local association. Have only ever bought in two queens in my early days, but now raise my own. If you get it right and the bees behave, you soon have too many bees. I give over wintered nucs to beginners, who have done the beginners course, or those I take under my wing. I am not in this for the money, and like to help others get started, the same as I was helped.
 
I hear tell of one so called "Master Beekeeper" selling swarms for £200!
Sad thing is the bees will probably swarm again next season... what Finnie our own dear little Scandinavian keeper of bees calls.... catch and release!
:calmdown::calmdown::calmdown::calmdown::calmdown::calmdown::calmdown:


Yeghes da
 
Entirely correct PH! I have had interesting conversations with folk who I declined to sell Nucs to as they had 1. never been near honeybees, 2. had never been to a beekeeping association meeting never mind done a beginners course 3. did not have time to do a course and 4. only had a nuc to transfer the bees to. My general rule is to only sell to folk who are paid up members of an association or who already have a mentor.

For those doubting the value of a Nuc, just go and price 6 assembled and waxed frames and then price a mated and laying queen. For those who don't see the value of a mated and laying queen, try raising 30 or 40 and keep track of your time and expenses.

A friend enlightened me in the Spring when he advised that a frame of bees was valued at £25.00 in his association during 2016.

Is the OP referring to purchase of a "Nuc box" at £20 to £50 rather than a "Nucleus colony" of honey bees?
I fall into the category that i highlighted, i am into my third season, i started of with an angry 5frame Nuc colony that was put in a national brood box, them bees are no more and i am ticking over nicely and going into this winter with three strong colonies of very calm productive bees, it obviously depends on the person in question but if i was not given the benefit of the doubt to start with i may not be where i'm at now with thanks to the help this year from a fellow forum member .
 
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Anyone know why bees cost stupid ammounts to buy??

Appart from the farmers banking on the increase because of the publicity?

I have heard people talking about them costing £20 to £50 for a nuc but now around £200 mark and can see it only going up because thats where the money is at in beekeeping.

I presume that is part of the reason for the decline in beekeepers due to these big costs and losing a hive can add up.

Anyone want to give me a free nuk ;) ... worth a try

Thanks

Cost of 5 frames and foundation.. Approx £10
1 frame of honey say 3lbs worth £15
1 queen worth £35
I correx box or a wooden nuc £10 to £50 say £30

Total so far £90..
(and that excludes bees)

And you think £20- £50 is more reasonable?
 
Cost of 5 frames and foundation.. Approx £10
1 frame of honey say 3lbs worth £15
1 queen worth £35
I correx box or a wooden nuc £10 to £50 say £30

Total so far £90..
(and that excludes bees)

And you think £20- £50 is more reasonable?

Not to mention the fact that a good nuc brought on early in the season is probably capable of becoming a colony that could generate 30 - 50 lbs of honey in the same season and twice or three times that the following year. Or ten times that if you live in Finland .... so at an average fiver a pound for the honey - real cost of the Nuc (assuming you are capable of keeping them alive !) NOTHING....

Beekeeping is BLOODY expensive in the UK - but there are plenty of threads on here to show how costs can be reduced or limited with a bit of DIY and creative purchasing .... and at the end of the day - a honey crop which has a very good value to offset against the cost.

OP clearly not done enough research ... should be pointed out that for many of us it's a hobby and you usually expect to find there's a cost attached to most hobbies. Beekeeping is one where at least some of the costs can be recouped as there's a ready market for local honey.
 
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You pay for what you get, Good decent stocks cost but pay dividends in the long term. Winds me up that people want good stock/honey yet try and knock the price down hagglers get told to clear off but 80% come back which suits me.
 
Cost of 5 frames and foundation.. Approx £10
1 frame of honey say 3lbs worth £15
1 queen worth £35
I correx box or a wooden nuc £10 to £50 say £30

Total so far £90..
(and that excludes bees)

And you think £20- £50 is more reasonable?

Bulk bees in those places that sell them go for around 35 to 40 pounds a kilo...you need about that amount.......so add 40 quid onto your costs...so you are at 130 on your figures.......but

The nucs we sell are 6 frames. They will have a good bit more than one frame of honey.

They will have brood in at least 4 bars, plus a home reared queen AND enough bees to cover all active frames (min 5, normally 6).

We will have sacrificed production the summer before. We will have treated it for varroa and fed it for the winter, and again in spring.

So frames and wax.....with assembly and wiring costs you are not far off at 12.00 (for 6 against your 5)

Feeding 3 times, so 10 litres...14Kg...of invert......about 10.00

Home reared queen 30.00

kilo of bees..... 40.00

Labour and fuel costs over 9 months.........est. at 15.00

Varroa meds 3.00

That's 110.00 just to cover this lot.

Hours of answering calls from the nervous worried (usually needlessly alarmed by doomsayers in their own association or on the net) comes free. (Business idea...a premium rate advice line!!) No allowance for production loss.

Now realise I am too cheap lol. 2017 price WAS 140.00 without the poly nuc box, 160.00 with, and 20 back if you return the box.

(Disclaimer...no refund on boxes that have been hacked at by 'improvers' who chop out the feed compartment, or change the bee space, and think they are doing me a favour. One guy thought he would still get his 20.00 back after a rat in his shed had made a meal of the box......seriously! There was as much hole as wall left on one side.)

If we have empty hives to fill, the nucs are worth considerably more to us kept for ourselves than the price we take for selling them.

Guys just stripped a set of last years nucs at the heather. Estimated 35Kg average on that group...so c £280 of honey. Minus costs of the years management, around £110. Thus sold it would have been worth 140...its honey alone is 170...plus still have the bees and gear, so must have retained its value at least and is a full colony now.

Selling £140. Keeping and producing...earnings and asset value added together £310. In many ways a no brainer but shows that even at £200, unless you are being sold rubbish, its still a decent deal.
 
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Love reading the posts ;). As for me yes have gone to hands on lessons, watched countless vid, read many articles and got some advice from local bee keepers. I also have a empty hive 14x12 poly ready for next year. Also have a bait hive but i know that comes at a risk in what your going to get but hay its free :) also about the guys selling the hives im not complaining and i know its a business so wouldnt expect any less. What i was asking is why the sharp rise in bee cost in the last 10 years? As for the cost of a nuc with 5 or 6 frames of bees with a queen i could get for around 150 to 180 which is fine by me as it a hobby that i want to get into hopefully.
 
Love reading the posts ;) What i was asking is why the sharp rise in bee cost in the last 10 years? As for the cost of a nuc with 5 or 6 frames of bees with a queen i could get for around 150 to 180 which is fine by me as it a hobby that i want to get into hopefully.

Can't see that there has been a really sharp rise in the last ten years, no more than with anything else, looking back to 2009 nuc prices the average price was around £110
 

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