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mikethebee

House Bee
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
331
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0
Location
Gloucestershire uk
Hive Type
None
I purchased a nucleus off you last year if you remember I was the guy in the Scottish Highlands.

Sadly last week I suffered the loss of the hive as discussed in the loss of hive forum.

Your web site states that collection only is possible until June is there anyway that I may persuade you to ship earlier possible two nucs as I would like a longer season to take advantage of the early blooms.
newmany thanks.------

ANSWER
HI ----- thank you for your email I hope you don?t mind me replying this way but it will help others to understand some of the difficulties we have to put up with, "Sorry about your loss."
YES I can send you two nucs to Scotland early in APRIL, BUT I have to warn you the problems about sending you 2 nucleus so early, that if the queen/s dies IN THE POST for any reason in transit, we cant supply EXTRA new queens this early in the season the queens we get are imported we buy only what nucleus we want to replace.
We have to pay good money for good stock at this time of year.
Do you want to take the chance?
Of course I will help out as best I can if it happens.

Send payment or minimum none return 10% deposit to confirm your order to:-
Mike Roberts Easybee Products High Meadow, Henley Bank, Green Lane,
Shurdington Rd, Brockworth, Gloucester, GL3 ? 4PZ
Phone 01452-862420 or 07971- 806670
Email [email protected]
website www.easybeeproduct.co.uk
Nucs are ?130.50 plus ?23.50 Mainland delivery
Please send;
Your Full Address-
Your Order-
full-payment! Chq as above--> no paypal credit card
Your phone contact numbers-
Your Email address -
State If Collect- Deliver
Your confirmation will follow by email
All the best mike
 
Hi Mike

As far as I can make out this request came from a novice beekeeper who lives in an isolated spot in the Highlands and who is even 7 miles from the nearest road. That implies to me that they live in a place without oilseed rape, maybe not many trees, probably exposed and certainly on the cold side. It is just the kind of place that if bees are going to survive they need to be that thrift hardy frugal slow-to-build up type you get in the Highlands.

Are you offering them local stock from a similarly challenged environment - or will the queen be an imported one, entirely unsuitable for this kind of environment? ?154 is a large amount of money to pay for an unsuitable nucleus, if that is what the problem was last time!

best wishes

Gavin
 
Gavin,

I got the original nucleus from Mike last year and had no problems except that I under estimated the amount of stored food and the number of bees that would over winter. I was surprised at just how many bees there were. During the spring we have plenty of gorse and late flowering heather as well as the willow. I have created two large areas specifically for borage and wildflowers, however the croft is covered with buttercups throughout the duration of the summer. And then we are back again to the Heather season. The hive is located in an old stone shed with windbreaks for the front of the hive. I have approached a copy of honey farms in scotland but as expected doesnt sound too promising.

Mike I will contact you next week to discuss if that is appropriate.

many thanks guys

Lee
 
Hi Gavin I DON?T HAVE TO answer to your snide remarks. If you could read and could comprehend (means to take in understand)? what I have said about where the queens are coming from you will find the country is far colder than the UK. Carniolan queens are from Slovenia.
Secondly! Read the post correctly the nucleus is ?130 each the postage is ?25.50 now as you know so much, Question!
If you can find a company to deliver the nucs to SCOTLAND or perhaps you?re self for less!
Please tell me I have only been sending bees all over the country for the last 7 years and I need to know these things. Pike:iamwithstupid:

My original post was to high-light the danger to others by sending the nucs by a courier early in APRIL and to advise to pick up if possible,

Floyd thank you for you reply.

All the best mike
 
Sounds to me like carniolans are ideal for our enviroment.even up north,and if Italians can do well near the arctic circle,then i'm sure they are.
 
Hi Mike

Please try to keep calm! I wasn't being 'snide', and my arithemtic was perfect according to the figures you gave previously. So there is no need to be so insulting.

Slovenia is a continental idyll for beekeeping. Cold, reliable winters, and a wonderful spring and summer with masses of forage for the bees. A croft in the Scottish Highlands is a *hugely* different proposition. There are so many grounds for recommending to Lee that your bees are given a wide berth. Not one of them is related to any personal gain (as you had implied, thank you very much). In fact I had offered Lee in a previous private correspondence the possibility of a queen for *free* (I'd even pay the postage). Now however Argyllbees in another thread is offering Lee the decent prospect of a nuc of West Highland raised, locally adapted bees later in the summer (I presume for free too). That was a wonderful offer, and I'd think that there is a better chance of a nucleus from that source surviving next winter than another central European queen-headed nuc from you.

There are many reasons why I would steer Lee away from your bees.

1. beekeepers in Lee's area will not like it (and I don't mean because they would want to sell bees!), and one day it might be useful to have them on-side

2. the Scottish Beekeeping Association voted to work towards stopping imports as part of the Bee Health Strategy. I was surprised at the boldness and the agreement of the membership at a meeting, but there we are. I agree with it.

3. the bees will be in a very challenging environment and will need to be well-adapted to their environment

4. other bees in the area will very likely be near-native, as that is what does best up there. The colony will either be isolated from other drones (when it comes to mating time) and will suffer inbreeding, or will cross with local drones (they can fly a long way) and *may* give very bad-tempered stock (very common a generation or two down the line from an importation), if Lee can keep them going.

5. there are three things that you can find in bees in England that could be in Gloucestershire nucs, unnoticed. Nosema ceranae (in England, not known yet in Scotland), American Foul Brood (outbreaks in Scotland are exceedingly rare and usually associated with importations from down south), European Foul Brood (rare N of the border and widespread in England) and Varroa resistant to pyrethroids (came from down south, present now in parts of Scotland but probably not where Lee is). All relevant to the first point.

Mike - did you read Lee's description of forage for these bees? A bit of willow, maybe a touch of spring-flowering heather (are these in a garden?). The possibility of some borage. Then heather. They will be indoors to give protection from the wind? This is the classic highland situation - if you are very lucky there will be enough to keep them ticking over until the heather flowers. The only bees that might thrive in that situation are those that can fly and forage in cold conditions (Amm), are frugal with their stores (Amm), and are long-lived, and so can be productive when brood raising is restricted (Amm).

Normally, I'm not an Amm fanatic, but I have seen these bees in action and that is what Lee needs, for sure.

Lee - just to complete the picture, borage is great for them, but you will need a big area to make much difference. Buttercups do little for the bees. Gorse provides pollen but little or no nectar. I wouldn't imagine that heather will give you much in spring, but will probably provide their main annual income in August. Maybe a little clover too?

best wishes

Gavin
 
Sounds to me like scotland is perhaps some different planet,italian bee's do well in the uk,and Finman uses them where they have long harsh winters and short summers,no problem,so i really cannot see why carniolans don't stand a chance in scotland,or italians considering where they allready do well.
 
GAVIN Read my lips this was posted to make aware to others the danger in delivering live bees in early APRIL. queens can and do die in transit. I don?t care about anything else I made me point.
As far as what forage the bees are being sent to has nothing to do with me. I just provide live bees to my costumers the bees can forage off the fence post for all I know.
It?s a funny fact we sold a good percent of nucs all over Scotland last year.
I?m not going to respond to your goading posts tonight my boy, another beer and I?m off to dream of big jucy imported queens,

Hive maker Sounds to me like carniolans are ideal for our enviroment.even up north,and if Italians can do well near the arctic circle,then i'm sure they are
.
Where up north?

All the best mike
 
As far as what forage the bees are being sent to has nothing to do with me. I just provide live bees to my costumers the bees can forage off the fence post for all I know.

Hi Mike

Enjoy your beer! I've had my allowance for the night.

Goading is not my aim. I'm trying to help Lee make the best choice, but I think that the best advice will come from the local beekeepers, and certainly not someone with the attitude expressed above.

best wishes

Gavin
 
that?s better lad, it took you a long time to compose that?
im off to get some sleep work tomorrow
all the best mike
 

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