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Wanted bee nuc in Scotland

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Keith

New Bee
Joined
Mar 19, 2009
Messages
16
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0
Location
Scotland
Hive Type
None
Hi all
Just starting out this year, start a beekeeping course next week, (fingers crossed as they have been overwhelmed with people wanting on the course)
Was wondering if anyone in Scotland will have any nucs for sale as the only ones i,ve seen are down in England and I don't want to put all my hopes on getting a swarm.
Many thanks
Keith
 
Hi Keith

What part of the country are you in? You should be able to find a nucleus locally - quite often those running beginner's classes can make suggestions, otherwise there are ads up on the wall at Thornes in Newburgh (give Brian a call) or I could give you the details of a guy in Angus who sells quite few nucs each year.

all the best

Gavin
 
If anyone is in Thornes in Newburgh any chance they could scrible down a few contact details for our Scottish members to obtain Nucs ?

Also Gavin if you here of anyone with Nucs for sale north of the border any chance you could let members know?
 
Its important to contact local beekeepers through the Scottish Beekeepers Association.


There's no varroa in my part of Scotland a new bee keeper bringing in a nuc would not go down well at all.

So please get in contact with the association and make sure by bringing in a nuc you are not bringing in varroa.

Dave
 
Its important to contact local beekeepers through the Scottish Beekeepers Association.


There's no varroa in my part of Scotland a new bee keeper bringing in a nuc would not go down well at all.

So please get in contact with the association and make sure by bringing in a nuc you are not bringing in varroa.

Dave

Is that a joke ?

Shall we ask Mike how many orders he has for your area this spring?
 
From what i read they had varroa in Argyll in 2000,so what have the varroa mites done, up and left.
 
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Hi all
Thanks for the replies,
Gavin i,m from just outside Edinburgh, hopefully will get onto there beginners course at the end of the month and get some local contacts but not guaranteed yet., so would be grate full for any contacts you have.

Its important to contact local beekeepers through the Scottish Beekeepers Association.


There's no varroa in my part of Scotland a new bee keeper bringing in a nuc would not go down well at all.

So please get in contact with the association and make sure by bringing in a nuc you are not bringing in varroa.

Dave
Looks like Argyle is the place to get your bees from.

Many thanks
Keith
 
There is no point in buying varrora free bees if such exist still. They are promptly going to get the little fiends anyway.

Argyll is a large place so it is possible that it is the case that they are free in places.

PH
 
Aye,could be true,or perhaps they've not spotted the wee things yet.
But, I hae ma doots.

Joke PH, very catchy saying that,bin using it all day,haha
 
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hi Keith if you give me your post code!! i can tell you how many nucleus and package swarms we have on order for your area, IF THAT ANY HELP?

all the best mike
 
I think the chap is being a tad naive to be truthful.

what bloody chance has Argyll got if Shetland is not even protected?

aye I too hae mea doots. ye ken......

PH
 
I think this sums it up?

BBC said:
The MPs also asked why a National Audit Office report had found only three reported cases of bee disease in Scotland - compared with 463 in Wales and 8,071 in England.

Bee health is a devolved issue, handled separately in Scotland, although Mr Hunter said they were in close contact with their Scottish colleagues.

He suggested the nature and levels of bee disease varied between different parts of the UK and said there was no evidence Scottish inspectors were missing vast numbers of bee disease.

But Mr Leigh said he was "amazed" at that explanation: "Disease does not stop at the border between England and Scotland."

Full text here

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7951009.stm
 
Hi All

Admin: I'll find out about the main one I'm thinking of and post details if he wants me to. And please be nice to the posters!

Dave: Just ignore them. Of course there are places in the W without Varroa.

Keith: Edinburgh has lots of Varroa, no need to worry about that. Mike in Gloucester might have pyrethroid resistant Varroa, and his queens are straight out of Slovenia (plus local nucs are usually cheaper). Ask Alan and Nigel and the others involved in running the course. I'll PM you details of the guy in Angus, should you need to come this far.

Mike: A breakdown of your sales into Scottish regions would be very useful, thank you very much!

all the best

Gavin
 
Gavin I apologise to ballibeg if my post seemed a little harsh.

Its just that the post seemed to have the normal pompous verbatum that we seem to be getting from north of the border from a couple of members that goes on to state that hives are free of verroa.

The only way I can imagine that there are bees verroa free is if they have some kind of super hygiene built in to their genetics.

If this is true then I would assume that the American beeks/BBKA inspectors would be all over the hives demanding samples.

Gavin I can understand that you would love it to be true but face facts the odds are very much against it.

Even if Scotland do have hives that are verroa free they will not be for much longer with the amount of english nucs being brought in.
 
Isn't it true though that bees that don't brood through the Winter tend to move into Spring with a lower varroa load. It is cold in Scotland... but not as cold as Finland and even Finman has varroa.

Is it possible to love your bees so much that you imagine that they have special powers and talents... I know a few irritating parents who are like that about their children anyway.:cheers2:
 
Hi Admin

I know some beekeepers in the NW quite well who are observant and knowledgeable and are sure that Varroa hasn't yet reached them. Apiaries in the Highlands are scattered and isolated and it is entirely reasonable that Varroa distribution is still patchy. It also seems entirely reasonable that those who don't yet have it would like to stay that way for a while.

Ballibeg is right that anyone bringing in colonies from the south would be doing so against the wishes of their beekeeping neighbours. OK, the relief may be short-term, but surely their wishes are reasonable?

However Keith is in the populous and Varroa-ridden SE.

On super-hygiene, yes Scotland has this, for sure! I have two such colonies in my apiary now for a better look. No American beeks (and BBKA have neither a remit N of the border nor inspectors!) but the source of these bees did have a visit from the Australian scientist Dennis Anderson. Plenty written on it on the other forum!

all the best

Gavin
 
Is it possible to love your bees so much that you imagine that they have special powers and talents... I know a few irritating parents who are like that about their children anyway.:cheers2:

Hey enough of that sort of talk K! :rolleyes:

John's bees *do* have special powers!

G.
 
Gavin I apologise to ballibeg if my post seemed a little harsh.

Its just that the post seemed to have the normal pompous verbatum that we seem to be getting from north of the border from a couple of members that goes on to state that hives are free of verroa.

Thanks for squaring that up. No intention of pompousness on my behalf! I'm still green with bees and contacted our local Bee Inspector prior to getting hives and have been in contact since. It was he who told me my neck of the woods was varroa free. I therefore had a long wait to get bees from a local source. No doubt it is only a matter of time unfortunately before varroa arrives and then I will be turning to ther vermin ridden southern members for advice!!!!

Dave
 
ballibeg I see you signed off with the name Dave.

Dave I am sorry if I offended you in anyway with my post,I should of worded things better,I have had a busy week and am being a little crass.

Have a cyber pint on me :cheers2:

One for Gavin as well :cheers2:

My bedtime I think...
 
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