# Is this statement really true?



## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

Beeculture had a few pages of pictures some # of months ago, they had randy oliver sitting calmly, and one of the pictures was of the air conditioned trailer trucks of one of the Calif. producers, that the caption said was to transport packages to the east coast. they also had a picture of the producer his wife, dogs, and workers, just can't remember the name.


----------



## Stonefly7 (Nov 3, 2005)

4-all,

1. I don't know. Never purchased a package in my life.

2. Yes, six years on Allstar/Buckfast.

Kind regards


----------



## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

No, I could give you at least 4 others I know that haul on the west coast and 2 on the east....


----------



## dfaulkner (Mar 26, 2011)

I believe it was Olivarez.


----------



## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

dfaulkner said:


> I believe it was Olivarez.


true the oct 2012 bee culture pg 44. caption but look at this trailer this is what they haul packages all the way to the east coast, air cond. lots and lots of sensors, excellent ventalaion and very, very big. id scan the picture in but no way to post it.


----------



## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

yes, ray is one of the bigger guys with a special hauler, I don't like to pick out names without there permission, but there are 4 major players in the same town as Ray's, and they all have trailers....... So does Koehnens.


----------



## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

When the Canadian border closed to US imported package bees the goose that laid the golden egg was slain.There was divorces,family breakups, times were tough on US package bee producers, they had to find other sources of income, most survived and came out ahead of the game.Ironically that border may open again if a lawsuit against the Federal gov't, and its CFIA is successful,the only other sources of packages for Canada is Australia and I think we all know what kinda stuff comes outta there.Winter loss survey's are a long ways from complete at this late winter stage, but demand is way up for packages.In fact there will be a shortage on account of new blueberry pollination growth in the Maritime 's and Quebec.One province down east is paying for the hives and you buy the bees, and I think the packages are subsidized too .Ontario had high winter losses from what I hear and here in Manitoba some keepers had disastrous losses, over 50 %...Honey is selling for $2/lb, it ain't hard to figure out


----------



## Nick Noyes (Apr 28, 2005)

So your saying maybe I should buy one of those fancy trailers? What would the crop share be on a 3 lb. package?


----------



## irwin harlton (Jan 7, 2005)

Well there has been a tremendous growth in hobbyists and wanna bees, they outnumber commercial beekeepers at all the conventions........somebody 's got feed that growing demand


----------



## Nick Noyes (Apr 28, 2005)

Maybe I said that wrong. What would the crop share be on 500 3lb. packages?


----------



## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

The OP asked:

As per their claim that they have not used any mite treatments in over a decade I was wondering if there are any of their long time queen customers that will certifiably verify they have been able to do the same?


Get a hold of StevenG. I believe he has used their queens and has not treated at all for mites. I have spoken in person with him, and believe he can speak knowledgeably on the subject.

Crazy Roland


----------



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

Will do...


----------



## cerezha (Oct 11, 2011)

irwin harlton said:


> ...Ontario had high winter losses from what I hear and here in Manitoba some keepers had disastrous losses, over 50 %...Honey is selling for $2/lb, it ain't hard to figure out


 Strange. I just come across the article, which used Australia and Canada as an example of thriving bees without CCD but with neonics. The rationale was that neonics do not contribute to bees lost because Australia and Canada both heavily use neonics and at the same time have no problem with bees. I do not remember the reference to the article - it was here at beesource.


----------



## StevenG (Mar 27, 2009)

To reply, yep, I've used their queens and packages, and highly recommend them. Since re-starting in beekeeping with two of their packages in the spring of 2006 I have never treated for mites, nor even done mite counts. The hive losses I've had have been either due to absconding or starvation. I blame myself for those problems. I have done walk-away splits with their bees, and not treated the splits... my losses have ranged from 6-18% annually. This year unfortunately will be different as I've neglected my bees for 18 months now, and am in the process of relocating myself and my bees 150 miles north of my current location.

I've tried B. Weaver bees, Purvis bees, Russians, MnHyg bees, and Russell bees. At this point I'll only use B. Weaver or Purvis in the future. Unless another breeder comes along with something to test out.

The caveat, except for my trailer of 20 hives (ideally) which I move from pasture to soybeans in the same county, I'm a stationary beekeeper.

Will answer any and all questions.
Kindest regards,
Steven


----------

