Morning,
Thanks for the very useful replies, I'll now write the story so far and how from my perspective it all unravelled.
I have been interested in beekeeping for about 4 years and have purchased many books and gathered what information I could off the internet. The problem was that I lived in an appartment in a town.
I moved to a rural location early this year and planned to start my hobby as a beekeeper.
I stumbled accross the Norfolk honey bees website and read it extensively as it provide some good information. I emailed the owner and recieved a very attentive reply that I found very helpful at the time. The email tooing and froing continued and all my questions were answered!
It was then that I took up an offer for:-
1 nuc of bees
2 brood boxes, 2 rapid feeders, 2 crown boards, 2 floors, 2 roofs, a queen rearing course with 3 one to one phone calls.
It was ment to get you going as a beekeeper with the ability to split you colony and turn it into two!
The deal was stuck and a collection date sorted, the date got put back due to the bees not being ready, apparently due to the weather.
I was also offered a suit and some tuition when I arrived! Of course at a price!
I went for collection and the tuition and at first all seemed ok. The bees had been in a sealed brood box from the night before and all the kit was put in my car. I was then taken some didtance to an apiary and this is when things didnt stack up.
All his equipment along with the apiary was filthy, varoa treatment tins scatered around etc. The 'tuition' lasted just under two hours and I learnt little. To be honest he couldn't get away quick enough.
I brought them home and put them on their hive base. The noise from the hive made me open the entrance block straight away as they were quite obviously distressed.
I left them be for 8 days and then did my first visit, the bees seemed very lively but there was a lot of uncapped cells.
I then received an email from a bee inspector in Norfolk asking me for my contact details. I then received a call for my local inspector who arranged a visit a day or so later. EFB was found and the bees destroyed.
Just to clarify a few points, I was totally devastated that I had been what I believe hood winked into bringing EFB into a clean area, but as the inspector said it was caught very quickly and dealt with so the chance of spreading it was less than minimal.
Beekeeping is big business for some and as I have learnt can be a big money spinner.
I believe I was taken for a ride and to be very honest didn't see this one coming as I viewed beekeeping as a civilised occupation. I have taken it as a lesson learned and have since had my faith restored by the people who have put their time and effort into getting me going again.
As I have already said the bee inspector could not of done more, and the chap that I bought my new colony off again put a shed load of time and effort into getting me going again with some tuition and a great nuc at a reasonable price.
Stu