# Why are peole selling beehives on Craigslist at the end of August?



## splach (Aug 11, 2014)

Hey guys,

Just curious about a trend I am noticing. I have been watching for surplus equipment on Craigslist and I am seeing several people selling 10 - 100 nucs and hives at premium prices ($200 plus). They don't seem to be anything special, not loaded with honey for winter, etc. Are these just scammers hoping people don't know the season is over or what? Is there some reasonable reason for buying hives at this time of year? I am wondering if people are just extracting all the honey from their hive brood boxes and selling off what's left on craigslist.

Casey


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## Chemguy (Nov 26, 2012)

I think that in some operations it makes better business sense to buy packages, use the bees for pollination, take all of the honey and then sell the bees. This eliminates the costs associated with overwintering. If there is enough honey, it may even make economic sense to kill the colony instead of selling the bees. What you've related doesn't sound like a scam, just a business plan.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

They do it because they can. And if they don't sell it doesn't matter. They will Winter them themselves. I wouldn't buy bees off of Craigslist unless I checked them myself. But if I wanted more colonies, buying them in the Fall is not a bad idea, if one can Winter them.

It used to be that one could buy a nuc in the Spring for $60.00 and an established hive in the Fall for not all that much more. The thing is and always has been getting it through the Winter.

If someone sells on Craigslist, what they sell is always for sale. It doesn't matter when someone buys it. Not to the seller. Scams happen, but I don't know why that would be so here. Not to the weary person.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I agree with the comment "Because they can". Just becasue a product does not meet your requirements does not mean nobody wants it. I have a lot of people calling me this time of year wanting hives. I see it is for two reasons.

1. Many seem to think that this is the time of year to get them so they can be ready in the spring. They feel getting them in the spring is to late for the bees to properly build up. They seem to want more control over how they are wintered.

2. they want to send them to Almonds. Some of these are even looking for hives in large numbers for no other reason then to get them ready for Almonds and that is actually their beekeeping year. They will be looking to sell those same hives next March. Something of a buy low sell high situation.

I look at it a little differently. If you are goign to buy bees does the time of year matter all that much? Do you plan to buy them in May and loose them by the end of the year? If not then does it really mater if you buy them in October? I see it more of an issue of is it a good colony. A colony needs to be in a condition to winter well. Is it? I also see it a matter of if you find quality or a deal do you take advantage of it. or are you pre disposed to thinking it is the wrong time of year.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Bees used to be worth very little in the fall. Almond pollination and the general state of bee health has changed that. Caveat emptor. Late summer is a time when bees generally look pretty good before the predictable fall shrink and sometimes wholesale collapses begin to take place. To the uninitiated who would assume that any hive that looks good in August must surely be a good one on February 1st I has only themselves to blame. The beekeeper who attempts to sell bees in the late summer is hardly doing anything unusual or unethical.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> Scams happen, but I don't know why that would be so here. Not to the [HIGHLIGHT]weary[/HIGHLIGHT] person.


Or maybe to the *wary *person? 

I mention this because it was just the other day that Mark was taking a poster to task for using "weather" when the person most likely meant "whether". 



Sellers (on Craigslist and anywhere else) have varying opinions of the value of their offerings. Thats what makes it a '_free market_'. But price/value is established where the buyer and seller BOTH agree on the price point - otherwise its a _No Sale_. It appears to me that there are plenty of items on Craigslist that are never sold anywhere near the asking price.


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## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

as sqkcrk stated a above but I would place a bit more emphasis on being aware of scams. there was a bad one in this area starting about now for "promised" spring nucs. beware of no honey for winter in the hives.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Or maybe to the *wary *person?
> 
> I mention this because it was just the other day that Mark was taking a poster to task for using "weather" when the person most likely meant "whether".
> 
> ...


Thank you, Graham. I really do appreciate the correction. You are correct, that's what I meant. Though it could work either weigh.  Spell Check didn't like waery or warey so weary worked and I was too lazy to check. Or is it cheque?


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Mark, As you might note from many of mi posts I'm not much of a *Czech*-oslovakian either.




Back on topic.......... They are selling because people are buying. 

Around here I'm open to parting with anything at the right price. Well almost everything....Let me clarify. That's "everything is for sale" except the Mrs.!!!

She might want to part with mebut that is a different thread.:waiting:


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

"Everything is for sale but the Wife and the dog. But I am open to negotiations."

Hey, I know I am a butt head when it comes to spelling. Mostly because I am not good at it myself. I rely on spell check (isn't that supposed to be one word? Spellcheck doesn't like Spellcheck) and then I Google the spelling. I don't know if it makes me look smarter, but I feel better. My Mom would have sent me to the Dictionary.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

On the original subject - bees that you get in spring are not likely to build up enough to take advantage of our main flow in May - yes you *might* get a super of honey in some cases if you rob them blind, but for practical purposes they will have to be overwintered before you get a good crop. 

Any healthy overwintered hive is much more likely to be productive. So if you figure that you generally need to have overwintered bees for them to be productive anyway, then buying them in late summer could be a good choice.

Also this - it appears to me that hobbyists (including me) lose as many - or more - hives in summer as they do in winter, so the anxiety about overwintering may be exaggerated a bit.


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## Tim KS (May 9, 2014)

sqkcrk said:


> "Everything is for sale but the Wife and the dog. But I am open to negotiations."
> 
> Hey, I know I am a butt head when it comes to spelling. Mostly because I am not good at it myself. I rely on spell check (isn't that supposed to be one word? Spellcheck doesn't like Spellcheck) and then I Google the spelling. I don't know if it makes me look smarter, but I feel better. My Mom would have sent me to the Dictionary.


I have a grown daughter that majored in English in college....she has made me aware of many of my own & other people's spelling errors over the years.

The mistake that seems to bug me the most is when people misuse the words "then" & "than". (Mine is bigger then yours.) ...but then there is their, they're & here, hear & wear, were, we're & lots more to confuse most typists.


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## beesohappy (Jun 3, 2009)

I hear about guys down here buying hives so they can feed them early and split them right before almonds. I'm not trying to sell them here but I have some listed on craigslist right now. I would like to put money away for the holiday season and give my wife a little piece of mind. The problem I'm running into is no one has money right now.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> I rely on spell check (isn't that supposed to be one word? Spellcheck doesn't like Spellcheck) and then I Google the spelling.


I primarily use the Chrome browser. With the spelling/syntax check built in, one has the option to add your own words to the dictionary. For example, "Beesource" is not a word in a standard dictionary, but it was easy to add it to my Chrome dictionary. (Just make sure the word is spelled correctly when you add it to the dictionary.) If you chose, you could add "spellcheck" (with no embedded space) to your personal dictionary.


There is another current thread asking "Is there a demand for nucs in the fall?" Well, the answer to that should be clear - that _depends on the *price*_. If nucs were available for $25 right now, I'd be standing in line - hopefully 1st in line. But if the selling price for those nucs is $150, well, I'm not interested.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

On the one hand selling nucs this time of year - for a reasonable price - might be a good part of a profitable business model, but if I did that they would all have some number of hive beetles visible and I think the negative impression that might make on some people could be more costly than it would be worth.


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## BeeManiac (Feb 26, 2012)

Last year i sold 10 double deeps going into fall ready to go. I had several of them call me in the spring and ask why their bees were hanging in the trees. After 40%+ loss this winter. Id say they made a good investment (if they knew what they were doing). I sold them at 250$ each. 
The ones that knew what a honey super was and when to use it were very pleased with their purchase. Lets say things go wrong. You have drawn comb. You have your wooden ware. Id say your package will be very pleased to do half the work to build up in the spring.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Beemaniac - are you doing that again this year? If not, why? If it was a one off thing because you decided to cut back then that explains it completely, but if it was a business experiment I would be interested to hear your thoughts.


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## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

on the spelling side of this post, besides poor spelling, I have a touch of dyslexia too. I have to wait a few minutes and reread to make sure I am proof reading ok. some days are better than others but I can not tell until waiting and rereading.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

I sell single Deeps in the fall to folks with Almond contracts. Its a great deal for the buyer, and puts money in my pocket. ---


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