# Betterbee's Nucs...



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Sure. High. Almost twice the going rate. They may sell fewer, but make more per each. As a Nuc seller I am glad to see someone pushing the ceiling higher. I suspect that these are not just your ordinary nucs. There must be something special about them.

I'm booked. Don't try to order any from me.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

I think the price is too high, but I guess that depends on how badly folks want bees and what the market will bear. $195 for what? A five frame nuc? With what? A spring split? A spring split made in the south and given a queen and sold in NY? Inquisitive beekeepers want to know.

If he actually sells out at that price this spring for 5 frame nucs, I'll be asking for more $$ for the 500 I plan to make and winter this coming summer. 

Mark, maybe nothing special. Perhaps he's buying them from someone else and charging more...who knows?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I imagine that is so, buying and selling. Isn't that what bee supply companies do? I think it is nice that they have their own bees, but, maybe they should concentrate on their money making business, bee supplys. But, what do I know?


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Yeah I will be selling all mine at 200 next year if they sell out. Gee I think last year I was selling complete singles ready for second box for $150.00 per hive. Now I am seeing the error of my ways. Lets see how they do over the course of the spring.


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

At that price, I will throw in some hands on bee management classes.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

IT is strange how prices work. Mark is a good example. Higher price must mean better. This works more often than not. My bet is as many new beekeepers will make that determination. These bees must be healthier, stronger, more bees in a nuc or something. But somehow it makes my chances better if I buy the higher priced nuc. Plus I am sure there are plenty of people out there that simply don't know any better. $100 seems high to me. That is unless I start selling nucs.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Well, I don't know if any of that is true, but, higher priced items do imply higher quality, even if there is no truth to the assumption. Maybe they want to be the Neimun-Marcus of Bee Supply Companys.


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## ctgolfer (May 4, 2011)

More power to them if they can get it! Think about the average BB customer, buy 2 packages that may make it or one nuc that will make it....hmmm. If these nucs were local, overwintered nucs with Kirk Webster or Palmer or Michael Bush chemical free bees then I would think the greenie, hippy types would spring for these nucs and smoke something funny all the way home. If these are southern put together with a queen this spring nucs then it is a rip-off. It can only hurt bee keeping because the success rate will be lower and help to discourage bee keepers for getting into or staying in the bee world.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

stoweski said:


> So how do we all feel about Betterbee's nucs? More specifically the price... $195.


Where did you hear of this price? Has it been verified by BetterBee? 

Is there any description of what one gets w/ a nuc of such a price? All new wood frames, foundation, drawn comb w/ 4 out of 5 frames brood, new queen of one's own choice in a new nuc box delivered to one's own home via UPS?

There is usually more to a story than just the price of an item.

I think it a safe bet that the queens in these nucs aren't Michael Palmer or Michael Bush queens. Kirk Webster I doubt, but who knows.


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

Make that *Starting @* 195.oo
Good for them 
I guess :s

This below is from the web page

5 Frame BeeMax® Nucleus 
Colony with Carniolan Queen
NUC1
Starting at $195.00


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## Nantom670 (Jul 29, 2011)

withdrawn


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Well the nuc box alone is 30.00 so that is part of what they are charging for.

I think they are trying to move into the European bee market.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

I wonder if it includes the woodenware- the nuc box and all. We see prices in the mid Atlantic inching up as well- but nowhere near $200. Some of these include woodenware, and some don;t. We also see an increase in an educated customer base, much of this from our own educational efforts and those of our neighboring clubs, so folks are starting to ask nuc producers about queen stock in the nuc, etc. On the flip side, there is also a group who is intentionally keeping the price low (under $100) for first year students only to encourage them to purchase nucs- and they are using hygenic queens. 

CT GOLFER- seriously? I wish you could see all the Marine Corp. Colonels and other folks from the Black Ops world flocking to my back yard buying top quality nucs.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I tried to post a comment on their blog, but they are censoring them... too bad.

According to their blog these are all produced by them locally. They are on Peirco frames and in Beemax nuc boxes... Prices range from 195.00-250.00.

They are giving a delivery date of early May to mid June and if you purchase from them you have to pick them up within 24 hrs of them notifying you in that time period. I guess they figured out how to not have delays, they eliminated delivery dates completely.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

winevines said:


> CT GOLFER- seriously? I wish you could see all the Marine Corp. Colonels and other folks from the Black Ops world flocking to my back yard buying top quality nucs.


Not to be a jerk but that is Marine Corps vice Marine Corp. The p and s are silent.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

I used to be in the flute business.

One time, at a convention James Galway was asked to try an instrument that someone was considering purchasing. He picked up the instrument as if to play it, and noticed that both the seller and the potential buyer were watching intently....he asked, "would you like my buying tone or my selling tone"?

deknow


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

They probably have limited supply so they want to get the most they can or they have another purpose for the nucs if they all don't sell.
look at honey sales, from under a dollar to as much as 10 per pound. Is the 10/lb better than the 1/lb? The consumer decides. Is a cadillac better than a Chevy?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Acebird said:


> they have another purpose for the nucs if they all don't sell.


Which is true for any beekeeper who sells nucs. What you don't sell you use.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

BMAC said:


> Not to be a jerk but that is Marine Corps vice Marine Corp. The p and s are silent.


Maybe he thought that Marine Corp. was an abbreviation of a Military Corporation.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Link:
http://www.betterbee.com/Products/Live-Honey-Bees/5-Frame-BeeMax-Nucleus-Colony-with-Carniolan-Queen


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## libhart (Apr 22, 2010)

"Payment is in check only"

Always a little leary of this too....remember Busy Bees last year? Those who paid w/paypal or credit card and didn't get bees at all were able to dispute the charges and get refunds. Pay in cash and you're out of luck. Would be a little different if it was an all cash business, but they take cards for everything else.


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## woodguyrob (Jul 29, 2010)

CTGOLFER:

-I'm a greenie hippy type. Have not smoked in 20 years or so. I hear lots of different people busting greenie hippy types. But when they show up at the farmers market to buy the organic vegetables, local honey, locally made art work etc. etc. etc. everyone is happy taking their money. 

And no I wouldn't pay that kind on $$ for a nuc.

sorry off topic but I did mention bees!


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

Maybe I should seriously jack up the price of my small cell treatment-free bees. I've already been raising it $25 a year.


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## Matt NY (Jan 14, 2006)

They are making these up from their own bees and queens in the spring. Over wintered would be a plus IMO, but northern stock is a big plus again, IMO. I don't feel that this justifies the high price though. I didn't ask about the "starting price". I wonder if the first batches will be more, like they did with their packages?

My guess is that they feel compelled to offer something, but that they really don't want to sell live bees. This is going by the high price and an overheard conversation between Justin and Larry Connors a few years back. 

The nuc box thing ticked me off: being forced to buy the box because they thought it would spread less disease. I feel it was just because it was a pain for them to collect deposits or fill customers own nuc boxes as they had done in the past. They had a history of customers that never returned the boxes for the deposit, but rather brought it back the next year to be filled with another nuc.

Giving internet customers priority over long time walk in customers really stinks. They don't start taking orders untill they are closed for business on Saturday.

I wonder if Bob Stevens is rolling in his grave? Now he was a class act.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Well so maybe they did the pricing in such a way that its an incentive to look elsewhere. That has been known to happen. Say if I dont really want to sell 55 gallon drums of honey I would set the price at $3.50 per lbs in the drum. For sure I wouldn't sell many drums that way.

So you are correct about the internet only sales. There is nothing like face to face time with your customers. It makes them feel good, it provides feedback to the seller so they can fix their errors and all around is great customer service.


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## JohnAllen (Jul 2, 2010)

I notice that on Betterbee's nuc page they brag about "Award Winning Customer Service". Does anyone here know who gave them an award?


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

BMAC said:


> Well so maybe they did the pricing in such a way that its an incentive to look elsewhere.


That is exactly what I thought. Given their abrupt shift away from packages, I suspect that their supply is not that great, but for some reason they still want to be live honey bee suppliers, so a way to throttle back demand is to jack up the price. That's my guess. Our club standardized on $125 for a 5 frame deep nuc last year and some of the old timers nearly had a stroke. They thought that $125 was totally outrageous...can't wait to see their reaction to $195. Personally, I believe that you would have to be VERY desperate for bees to cough up $195 for a nuc. You can easily buy two packages for that price.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

JohnAllen said:


> I notice that on Betterbee's nuc page they brag about "Award Winning Customer Service". Does anyone here know who gave them an award?


LOL... You should email them and ask... I think we have given them multiple awards for customer service in the Consumer Report forum on here


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## stoweski (Apr 1, 2008)

As I thought. Not one who thinks it's on par with nuc prices. Didn't think so. 

But it does make me want to go out and do more splits so I can sell a few nucs next year!

Oh, and their "starting at" price is $195. All that means is they could increase the price (up to the $250 "list price") if they so choose.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

I notice their quality standard is: bee max nuc box, five frames, and an actively laying queen. How many frames of brood? How many frames do the bees cover.

$55 discount indeed


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

They are smart enough to realize that beginner beekeeping hysteria is going on for another season and that they will be able to sell to a lot of beginners at that price. I sold my bulk honey at twice what I charged last year. There are single story hives here on Craigslist selling for $350. with a plywood lid, last years swarm catches.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I had seen some singles here last year for $250.00 of craigslist. Gee for $250.00 bucks that queen better be laying millions of little gold eggs or ready to produce one heck of a honey crop.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

To a person that is looking for a ready made hive and not really interested (at first) in being a beekeeper buying from a well known local source has value. I am sure every one of you would be willing to sell your nucs for 300 or better if you could. So test the waters and see what you can do.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

After pollination I'd love to sell half of my hives for $300.00 each. Two deeps on bottom boards w/ plywood migratory covers. Any takers?

I know beekeepers who have an "everything is for sale" mindset. A couple of them have sold their entire outfits a number of times over the years. Another part of their business plan.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I have seen that, but never really understood the advantage to selling everything and rebuilding. Maybe Im just a packrat!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Never sell everything at once, just don't be so attatched to anything to a point you miss selling what you have at a profit. Sell some things every year and you will turn over your operation at a profit.


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

If they can make that much cash, more power to them. I haven't seen the price of bee stuff going down lately, have you? Nobody's prices are out of line, just maybe in the wrong year.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What my Dad advised many years ago, when I said I was going into beekeeping as a profession, was, "Get into the equipment end of the business. People will always buy equipment." His experience in agriculture was in Iowa where he noticed that so many farmers were in debt to the tractor and ag equipment suppliers, often until they died. Makes sense, doesn't it. We all buy bee equipment at some time. Unless we build our own.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

So Betterbee has "sold out" of their Nucs for the season.. The word on the street is that they didn't accept orders for any.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I acquired a copy of the email they sent out from a customer who said he ordered as soon as the sale started, this is the reply he got from betterbee



> We have processed the large number of requests for nucs and received your interest in ordering one.
> 
> Thank you for your interest, however, given the volume of requests received we quickly sold out prior to receiving your request. Never fear, we have a tool located on our website to help you find some other places you might be able to get honeybees for this season.
> 
> ...


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

It looks like a good business strategy to me.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

It has left me scratching:scratch: my head. I guess they are just collecting names of people interested and doing it in a very strange fashion.


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## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

Ok I was kidding. But hey they have their reasons. We are just here wondering.


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## suburbanrancher (Aug 5, 2011)

Interesting. Maybe Betterbee was just "testing the waters" to see how many people would bite. If enough showed interest then they have a plan for next year... Just a guess.


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