# Beehive Kit Order Delays



## Budvar (Feb 5, 2008)

Well, I did a lot of research, finally deciding on Betterbee.com. Ordered their 8-frame starter kit and an additional add on kit, as well as all the extras (hive hardware, wire, crimper, extra suit, etc.

I ordered a couple weeks ago, the next day, got an e-mail, saying the hives were on backorder, would be another 10-15 days. I was nice, waited until today (13 days later). The order girl said it would be 10-15 days. She couldn't give me a ballpark answer, either of when they would be realistically be available. Tried their information line, and an older lady answered, didn't know anything about bees, said I had a wrong number.

I just wonder if I'm going to be putting myself in a hole. As a newbee, it's going to take me some time to put all this stuff together. As it is, I'm picking up two packages in 6-7 weeks.

I haven't heard of any problems with Betterbee, and their prices and 8-frames were what attracted me. Just hope I made the right decision.


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## MrGreenThumb (Apr 22, 2007)

I think you should have PLENTY of time to put together the hive and get everything else ready before the bees arrive. The hive can be put together, minus the painting, in about 2 hours.


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## jasontatro (Feb 6, 2008)

I'm right there with you Bud. I ordered from GloryBee in Eugene. Not getting nervous yet, but not looking forward to assembling 60+ frames at the last minute. I think I'll use the time wisely and build a frame nailing jig.


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## Budvar (Feb 5, 2008)

Thanks for the pat on the back, guys.

Guess I'm just nervous nellie. I've done all the winter reading, and continue to read. Built a nice hive stand for the hives, with a small side fence to ward off the prevailing summer/winter winds. 

Basically all that's left is to get the hive bodies and frames, build them, paint, practice a bit with the foundation/wiring.

Jason, I'm with you regarding the frame jig. I also read where someone was using a jig to build hive bodies.

Trying to be patient,

Chris
E. Washington state.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

jasontatro said:


> Not getting nervous yet, but not looking forward to assembling 60+ frames at the last minute. I think I'll use the time wisely and build a frame nailing jig.


Don't forget to make a foundation board also. It really speeds up installing foundation.


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## jasontatro (Feb 6, 2008)

I found that assembling my hive bodies was not all that difficult. They seemed to square up nicely on their own.


Berk,

I'm not familiar with a foundation board. Got a link to one?

Jason


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## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

Betterbee is a good company to do business with. They will generally go out of there way to make sure you have a good experience doing business with them. Being a couple of weeks late shouldnt hurt you if you have 5 to 6 weeks before you get your bugs.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

jasontatro said:


> I found that assembling my hive bodies was not all that difficult. They seemed to square up nicely on their own.
> 
> 
> Berk,
> ...


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

Budvar if you ever get to Portland Ruhl Bee has a good selection of stuff you can pick up without ordering. They have a web page to. Prices aren't whole sale but not to bad with shipping cost so high.


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## bdrowe (Feb 25, 2008)

*Order Delays*

Can anyone who's ordered 10 frame deeps or galvanized covers from Betterbee (Feb. 08) post if they get their order shipped? I ordered 5 weeks ago, still back ordered.


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## Budvar (Feb 5, 2008)

Still backordered here (Betterbee, ordered Feb).


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## Eyeshooter (Mar 8, 2008)

*New hive arrived in 3 days*

I ordered my BeeMax starter kit from Betterbee on Wednesday. Saturday morning, Fed Ex Home pulled up and dropped everything off! Granted, I live about 2 hours from Greenwich, NY.

It took me about 90 minutes to assemble the kit. I used woodworkers glue for strength after reading numerous posts in this forum. Again, after reading numerous posts,( I LOVE this forum!) I put my first coat of exterior latex on the exterior of the boxes. It took almost 2 hours and I plan on doing at least 1 more coat next week. 

Betterbee was very helpful with all of my questions and the lady I spoke with spent time telling me about her results since she started last year. I was very impressed with the customer service and the quick delivery. For once, seems my timing was good!

Bees arrive May 3rd and I can't wait. I extremely grateful for all of the excellent discussions on this forum. This is heaven for a BK newbie.


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## CraigFromMA (Mar 12, 2008)

*I cancelled my order after waiting almost 6 weeks*

I decided to get into beekeeping to provide polination from my small orchard and garden. I have quite a bad taste from my first order experience from BetterBee.

Now maybe all beekeeping supply vendors work this way but my experience with vendors supplying other industries is that if they say a product is backordered (like the wood beginner's kit I ordered on Feb 4, 2008), the time frames that they supply for when the product will be available are accurate.

BetterBee indicated that the product would be available in 10-15 business days. 3 phone calls and almost 6 weeks later they still said they didn't have the product i.e. the product wasn't shipped (and "it should be in this week" --for the 3rd time). At this point I cancelled my order.

I will either find my supplies elsewhere, hopefully someplace local where I can drive to and get what I need all at once, or delay beekeeping for another year when I can find a vendor who can supply product in a timely fashion.

I wish I had done more research up front on vendors and seen some of the delivery problems that BetterBee seems to be having. I would have ordered elsewhere in that case.

I'm glad others have had good service from BetterBee. I hope everyone in this situation continues to have good experiences. I know I will go elsewhere.

Obviously, as a first post, take this for what it is worth. I do have a difficult time putting into words how frustrating this has been.


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## PerryBee (Dec 3, 2007)

CraigFromMA
Sorry about your frustration with your first order, don't let it dampen your enthusiasm. Hopefully you have time to find another supplier, don't put it off for another year By the way, I live in Lunenburg as well, just that it's in Nova Scotia, Canada


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## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

Maybe underestimating the recent surge in people interested in bees?


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

hi craig,

we live in the next town over (leominster). 

my favorite local place to do business with is warm colors apiary (dan and bonita conlon) in deerfield. it's a bit of a ride (about 1.5 hours each way), but a pretty ride on route 2. dan practices and teaches good beekeeping, and is always a pleasure to do business with. he does us all a great service by keeping equipment and queens in stock and available.

rick reault (nebees.com) is in tyngsboro, and also has a good selection. i simply haven't done much business with him, so i don't have more to say.

if you simply need a few deep boxes and frames, feel free to get in touch with me, as i have extra equipment stockpiled in the basement (we drove to maine last year and bought direct from humble abodes).

i make my own tops (with top entrances, and built in slot to install an entrance reducer), and my own bottoms (basically a shim with galvinized hardware cloth stapled to it). i don't likely have time to build anything new before late april...but i could probably temporarily loan you some of my equipment if need be.

have you ordered bees yet? get right on that, as they are likely selling out most places. if you really want to start with bees this year, we will get you the equipment one way or another....don't worry about what the supply houses can get to you.

are you in bee school? you should be attending thursday nights in worcester:
http://www.honeybeeclub.org/

deknow


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## Budvar (Feb 5, 2008)

*Same Here.*

I also cancelled my order. The girl on the Betterbee line said they were frustrated, as well. 

On the bright side, I talked the wife to driving across the state to Portland, where there is a fabulous bee store. Ruhlbeesupply.com They bent over backwards to help me, modifying my starter kit to fit my needs. I got two complete hive setups and the works, even saved a couple hundred dollars, and the money stays local. Wish I had done it sooner. 

With the money we saved, we stayed in a nice B and B, and bought a cheap airtank/nail gun setup.


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

*related to end of year inventory?*

This is just a theory, but I was wondering if lack of stock is due to companies not ordering early. It seeems like many places try to reduce inventory before the end of the year. They probably have to pay taxes on inventory, but this makes it tough on us consumers who want to get a jump on assembly and painting. I know a few items that were out in late november weren't restocked till after the first of the year. When I start MY company I will make sure that I have things when people need them.


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## jasontatro (Feb 6, 2008)

Hey Budvar,

Sorry to hear about your experience but glad you got yourself squared away after all.

For future reference, GloryBee is up here in our neck of the wood (Eugene, OR). I had a great experience with them and would go back any time.

Jason


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## MixWizard (Dec 11, 2007)

Hi Craig,

There is also Lagrant's in Ware, MA. He has a full woodworking shop on site. I also ordered 2 nucs from him. I'll give Betterbee another week for my order to get shipped or I'll just cancel and get everything from Lagrant's.

I'll second Deknow's statement about beeschool. This is my second year as a student and first year as an actual beek! Great bunch of people and a vast wealth of know-how. 

Now I just need to find a similar organization here in RI and I'm good to go!


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## CraigFromMA (Mar 12, 2008)

*Thanks for the advice!*

Thanks for the help, everyone.  I got all my equipment and hive setup, plus put in my package order last night from Rick Reault at NEbees in Tynsborough. From what little I know, it looks like a good setup -- I just need to paint it and make a stand to keep the skunks away.

For anyone who's wondering Rick has a small inventory of supplies but he did have everything I needed to get started in stock and gave me some pointers on how to get started. I would recommend that anyone considering driving there, that they call first as the hours aren't necessarily correct (fortunately I called first so didn't have to make an extra trip). He also has some online videos at his web site which explain better than words ever will how to install a package and set-up a hive.

My brother-in-law is in his second year of beekeeping so I should be able to get help from him if necessary (I don't have time at this point for bee school -- too many hobbies and other commitments).

PerryBee, I've always wondered about the "other" Lunenburg up north. I always see it when I do a search for local town info. I'll bet its mighty cold up there...


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

CraigFromMA said:


> PerryBee, I've always wondered about the "other" Lunenburg up north. I always see it when I do a search for local town info. I'll bet its mighty cold up there...


Which Lunenburg would that be? Vermont or Nova Scotia?


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## belt152 (Feb 21, 2008)

*BetterBeee Back-Up*

Hi,

I have also grown really frustrated with BetterBee. I ordered 3 Galvanized Tops and 2 Slatted Racks in the start of February. I also got the back order email stating 10-15 business days before shipping. I called Friday which was 22 working days and was told they were still on back order! I was connected with a defensive and quite brash lady who couldn't tell me anything but they were still back ordered. During a heated discussing with the lady over selling products they couldn't fulfill I lost the call. When I called back 5 minutes, they had miraculously had another order "canceled" and was able to come up with the 3 sets I had ordered and had already sent the order to the shipping department....

Humm......


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## bentonbee (Jan 31, 2007)

*slow in getting beehive wood orders*

My wife and I were down at Dadant's in Hamilton IL last week. They were out of deep frames. They said it has been very busy, with many people starting as hobbiests, because of CCD...
Mike


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## pdman (Apr 19, 2006)

CraigFromMA said:


> Thanks for the help, everyone. I got all my equipment and hive setup, plus put in my package order last night from Rick Reault at NEbees in Tynsborough. From what little I know, it looks like a good setup -- I just need to paint it and make a stand to keep the skunks away.
> 
> For anyone who's wondering Rick has a small inventory of supplies but he did have everything I needed to get started in stock and gave me some pointers on how to get started. I would recommend that anyone considering driving there, that they call first as the hours aren't necessarily correct (fortunately I called first so didn't have to make an extra trip). He also has some online videos at his web site which explain better than words ever will how to install a package and set-up a hive.
> 
> ...


I agree Rick runs a good outfit and provides another local place to get bees and equipment


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## MapMan (May 24, 2007)

bentonbee said:


> My wife and I were down at Dadant's in Hamilton IL last week. They were out of deep frames. They said it has been very busy, with many people starting as hobbiests, because of CCD...
> Mike


Try B&B Honey Farm just north of you in Minnesota, near LaCrosse, WI. I just picked up several hundred frames from them - good quality, good service, reasonably priced. They will Speedy Delivery Service them to you for about 1/2 price of UPS, too. You'll probably get them the day after ordering. 

B&B HONEY FARM
5917 Hop Hollow Rd.
Houston, MN 55943
Ph: 1-800-342-4811 (order only)
Ph: 1-507-896-3955 (info)
(7am-5pm M-F, 7am-12 noon SAT.)
Fax: 507-896-3955
Email: [email protected]

MM


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## Sailmariner (Mar 31, 2008)

*Betterbee performance*

I agree that Betterbee's performance is spotty and they could improve a lot of what they do. I happened to luck out with my initial main order of woodenware, including their kits, which shipped promptly in December. By March, with my subsequent orders, I was getting a lot of back-ordering, etc.

In general, the well-run companies on the Web will tell you at the time you are ordering whether the item is in stock. If it's not in stock, they say so on the product listing (not later). The BAD companies think it's okay to ignore all this because once you have placed the order, you are reluctant to cancel it.

Lately, I have noticed a string of BAD companies and it's looking like a trend. I order many different things, but camera stores (especially around NYC) are just liars. I just had a pack frame order from C&C outdoor, where they delayed me about 12 days claiming they had shipped it, and had not. I placed the order with REI and they shipped it the following day.

So one of the big tests is, does the company tell you when the product has shipped and provide the tracking number? A BAD company has lots of words and excuses when you ask this, and it's a dead give-away IMHO. A good company just gives you the tracking number.


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## MichelleB (Jan 29, 2006)

Bud, I'm really glad you came over to Ruhl Bee Supply, and that you had a great experience! 

I've been a member here at Beesource since I began beekeeping three seasons ago, and I'm a new hire at Ruhl (Wonderful folks, the new owners and long-time staff are busting their butts to keep up) It's been crazy busy. Took my first day off in about 10 days today to fix a plumbing issue here at the house and rest the dawgs =)

I've also been a frequent (and overall, happy) customer of Betterbee as well as the other major online suppliers. Right now, I have some specialty gear on order (my own purchase) with two of the best, and both are claiming an additional two-week turnaround. I figure that's in addition to the normal spring delays, due to everything from backlogs to weather. 

There are TONS of new beekeepers getting on board, many of whom placed last-minute orders. Also, it seems that lots of sideliners and commercial keepers are rotating into their operations a higher percentage of new equipment. I know some suppliers of these companies are having some issues and they, in turn, are backed up. 

Doesn't excuse bad communication, of course, but I really think that the comment about suppliers underestimating the explosive new interest in beekeeping was on target. I lost my voice and perhaps the majority of my charm Monday (Package Day!) calming the nerves of beekeepers whose shoes I was in only a few years back--but the best part was fielding calls (when I could get to the phone) from triumphant newbs crowing about the rush of their first package install =)

Patience---your stuff will get to you! And if you're in the Portland area, come by Ruhl Bee Supply and say hello. Just don't ask for 100 assembled hive bodies filled with assembled wire/wax frames and expect to walk out the door with them...especially if the gimpy redhead with the hoarse voice is anywhere in earshot. She's deadly with a staplegun.


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## Aisha (May 2, 2007)

Me too. We will both know for next spring to order early.

I have a newly packaged hive of bees missing a bottom board and a top. I have them jury rigged with a ventilated top for the bottom and a piece of wood for the top, but I sure wish my order would arrive.


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