Sourcing bees

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sheena

New Bee
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
42
Reaction score
0
Location
Tighnabruiach, Dunoon
Hive Type
National
I've no bees following crazy wasp season in the autumn. I'd rather get up and going again as soon as possible rather than waiting on the offchance of a spare swarm.

I got an email about ordering bees from here however I'm not sure about ordering from abroad and besides that I have national hives and I'm not sure if any of these would be compatible? However they are a lot cheaper than ordering over here. I can't come up with the £350-£400 for a couple of nucs here.

Anybody ordered from abroad? ( Looking for 2 nucs) Any recommendations? Advice? Thoughts?
 
Are you a member of your nearest Assoc. Get on the swarm list NOW. Nudge the swarm co-ordinator every 3 days asking politely. (worked for some when I did that job). Swarms start fairly soon late April if you are lucky. Never pay unless absolutely nec.
Please don't buy from abroad :nono:.. that is how varroa arrived-imports.
British bees for the Brits
 
Hivemaker and Chris b are two I know of that are commercial probably a few others exist and there will be some hobby beekeepers with overwintered nuc's to sell. Both Hivemaker and Chris b may even do packages if you fancy that route.
 
As the crow/raven flies but not as close by road!) Helensburgh and District BA generally manage to supply their beginners with bees so it would be worth contacting them for locally-sourced locally-adapted stocks. Some of their members are on the Rosneath peninsula and are breeding native dark bees. I can PM you a Rosneath contact if you are interested in local advice (he is occasionally on this forum).

Costs of locally sourced bees are usually a fraction of the commercial sources, often £25/frame although in some places people are more generous than that.

There are also groups in Glasgow including one in Kilbarchan, not so far from Gourock.

G.
 
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Please don't buy from abroad :nono:.. that is how varroa arrived-imports.
British bees for the Brits

Don't get me started on the grey squirrel again!:hairpull:
 
Hivemaker and Chris b are two I know of that are commercial probably a few others exist and there will be some hobby beekeepers with overwintered nuc's to sell. Both Hivemaker and Chris b may even do packages if you fancy that route.

Thanks. Is Hivemaker this hivemaker ?

Is a package where I would get the package and queen separately and then introduce her?
 
As the crow/raven flies but not as close by road!) Helensburgh and District BA generally manage to supply their beginners with bees so it would be worth contacting them for locally-sourced locally-adapted stocks. Some of their members are on the Rosneath peninsula and are breeding native dark bees. I can PM you a Rosneath contact if you are interested in local advice (he is occasionally on this forum).

Costs of locally sourced bees are usually a fraction of the commercial sources, often £25/frame although in some places people are more generous than that.

There are also groups in Glasgow including one in Kilbarchan, not so far from Gourock.

G.


Thanks, I'll contact them and see how I get on.
 
Are you a member of your nearest Assoc. Get on the swarm list NOW. Nudge the swarm co-ordinator every 3 days asking politely. (worked for some when I did that job). Swarms start fairly soon late April if you are lucky. Never pay unless absolutely nec.
Please don't buy from abroad :nono:.. that is how varroa arrived-imports.
British bees for the Brits

Thanks, I've asked to get on the swarm list. My instinct was that importing bees would be wrong but then commercial beekeepers import them all the time don't they?
 
I've no bees following crazy wasp season in the autumn. I'd rather get up and going again as soon as possible rather than waiting on the offchance of a spare swarm.

I got an email about ordering bees from here however I'm not sure about ordering from abroad and besides that I have national hives and I'm not sure if any of these would be compatible? However they are a lot cheaper than ordering over here. I can't come up with the £350-£400 for a couple of nucs here.

Anybody ordered from abroad? ( Looking for 2 nucs) Any recommendations? Advice? Thoughts?

It's even possible a retiring beekeeper could smile upon you and let you provide a good home to a colony ;-)
 
I've no bees following crazy wasp season in the autumn. I'd rather get up and going again as soon as possible rather than waiting on the offchance of a spare swarm.

I got an email about ordering bees from here however I'm not sure about ordering from abroad and besides that I have national hives and I'm not sure if any of these would be compatible? However they are a lot cheaper than ordering over here. I can't come up with the £350-£400 for a couple of nucs here.

Anybody ordered from abroad? ( Looking for 2 nucs) Any recommendations? Advice? Thoughts?


I was hoping to put native irish black bees in my hives but im having trouble getting someone to sell me them without joining an association. I can buy buckfast bees at a reasonable price butwas hoping more for our native bees. I know i should join the association and i probably will in the future but i dislike the fact that i "have" to join if i want these bees. Thats all well and good joining but theres a fee for joining then ive to take a beginers course before theywill sell the bees. If i cant source the native bees by may, ill just buy the buckfast bee.s instead
 
Hi Sheena,

Have you contacted Dunoon beekeepers association? I was over there a few years ago giving them a talk and I know they are keen in breeding from their local stocks and may assist in getting you a locally produced nuc. If they can't help then contact me at Helensburgh Beekeeping association. We are the next association to you and we do produce a number on nuc's each year for our members and also supply nucs to the West area beekeepers if we have any spare. We encourage all the members in the West of Scotland beekeeping associations to purchase local produced bees as we have a number of native Amm areas that we are trying to preserve.
 
Hi Sheena,

To clarify your point about commercial beekeepers importing bees into Scotland. Yes they do , however not in the West of Scotland as the area is not viable enough for them. The commercial beekeepers are usually found in the Perth area and to the East in Tayside
 
I was hoping to put native irish black bees in my hives but im having trouble getting someone to sell me them without joining an association. I can buy buckfast bees at a reasonable price butwas hoping more for our native bees. I know i should join the association and i probably will in the future but i dislike the fact that i "have" to join if i want these bees. Thats all well and good joining but theres a fee for joining then ive to take a beginers course before theywill sell the bees. If i cant source the native bees by may, ill just buy the buckfast bee.s instead

Just a thought . . . . I don't know if its the same with your association but certainly with my one the joining fee also includes insurance for the first 3 hives so it may be worth looking at.
 
I've no bees following crazy wasp season in the autumn. I'd rather get up and going again as soon as possible rather than waiting on the offchance of a spare swarm.

I got an email about ordering bees from here however I'm not sure about ordering from abroad and besides that I have national hives and I'm not sure if any of these would be compatible? However they are a lot cheaper than ordering over here. I can't come up with the £350-£400 for a couple of nucs here.

Anybody ordered from abroad? ( Looking for 2 nucs) Any recommendations? Advice? Thoughts?

Not that I know the site or have ever bought from them but I have just looked and the package bees are £100 inc VAT, seems reasonable to me.
S
 
But the delivery charge is significant. I don't know which area code for 'Royaume Uni' refers to Dunoon, but picking one at random gives 75 Euros for bog standard La Poste which may not be suitable for live bees heading for the west coast.

Anyway, local, adapted native or near native bees should be available not far from Dunoon through a local association at much less than the £100 mentioned above, so I hear. Do it that way and you'll make some friends, and avoid upsetting the locals by putting Exmoor Buckfast or French drones into the skies. The effects of non-native strains in a smallish area like this are often felt for a long time.
 

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