# Shipping packages and nucs



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Trying to figure all this out.

I just got off the phone with UPS. They say they do not ship live bees at all. I am certain I've seen package bees priced to ship with USPS and UPS and UPS was the more expensive route.

Also, Buckeye bees offers to ship nucs. Does anyone know anthing about how to ship nucs? Does the USPS do this? Anyone who knows anything about UPS or USPS shipping bees and how to go about it, I would love to hear from you. Seems I have a more people interested in my shipping bees than picking them up, so I'm trying to research this.

Thanks.


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## Scot Mc Pherson (Oct 12, 2001)

Mike,
Considering the interest in your bees. Would it be prudent to place orders now?


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## WineMan (May 16, 2003)

I know for a fact that UPS ships live queens. However, not sure about the quantity. Mine have come in priority-overnight packages which are just an envelope mailer. And yes it is fairly expensive....$25 is what I recall.


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## Jane _nu_B (Oct 11, 2002)

I ordered 2 queens from Kelly. They came in the regular mail,postage was 60 cents.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

Yep,Glenn sent me some russians that came UPS.I told the driver they were Russians and he said that explains the singing i heard.I said they are ok if you can keep them away from the vodka.


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## beeman 202 (Jan 8, 2003)

Michael: Call Northwest Airlines in Omaha. I believe they can ship your queens in their V.I.P. package shipping program. Usually a package shipped will reach its destination in hours rather than 2+- days.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Considering the interest in your bees. Would it be prudent to place orders now?

It would be helpful to me to plan for spring. I have to get them ready now so I can overwinter them. I can't build up early enough in the spring otherwise. If you want nuc's it would help to know what size frames you want them on. Mine are all on medium wax coated PermaComb. Also, since we now have no required inspections, I have to pay for the inspection out of pocket to get a certificate. I will be real disappointed if I shell out the money for that and no one out of state buys them.









Sounds like several of you have gotten queens (still now one saying they got package bees) from UPS but the person I talked to insisted and I insisted he check and he did and read me the regulations that they don't ship any live animals including bees. Wish I could find the person who knows the real answer.


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## rogerd (Sep 14, 2002)

Two years ago I recieved 2 packages of bee's by united parcel.The driver brought them right to my door.


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## WineMan (May 16, 2003)

Michael

I would call Tom Glenn and ask him how he does it. I am sure him or Suki can get you in the right direction


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## cochran500 (May 20, 2003)

I believe that I read somewhere(sorry I couldn't find the source) that UPS no longer shipped packages but USPS still ships them.

Marty


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

That is possible. I kept asking the UPS representative that I was talking to if there had been a change in the policy but he was totally ignorant of anything other than reading me the policy.


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## Iowabeeman (Mar 9, 2003)

UPS handles both queens and packages. They usually come next-day or second day air. Queens cost about $20 a box from California. It doesn't matter how many queens are in the box. We usually get quite a few so the cost per queen is pretty low. They always arrive in good shape. I have had a lot of trouble with the Post Office. One year my queens laid in the Des Moines post office for two weeks. I have been trying to get set up with the local post office to be able to mail queens in state. I am getting a lot of resistance.

I think your problem with UPS is you are dealing with someone who doesn't know bees. Somebody suggested you get in touch with someone in California. I think this is a good idea.


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## Scot Mc Pherson (Oct 12, 2001)

Michael,
Well tentatively put me down for 4 or 5 nucs.

I am going to be placing them in my KTBHs, so I am not sure how I am going to accomplish that yet without seriously stressing the bees and endangering the queens. I might end up creating a sort of rack that lets me hang the frame's lengthwise (but semi enclosed for proper brood insulation) within the TBH closer to the back, and hang fell foundation on the first 2 or 3 bars. This is actually a problem I have been considering for some time, and I think I just now figured out what to do. I will have to consider it further and think about the ramifications.

Anyway, what are the costs?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I can think of a couple of options. One is to build a modified KTBH with a 6 5/8" vertical wall and then a sloped one. It' makes more of an arch rather than a straight slope. If it's the width of Langstroth then you can put medium frames in if you like. The PermaComb would then work and they already build on the bottom of the PermaComb. It would just be a good solid top portion of comb that is always small cell and it won't shear off.

Another is to put the medium nuc box on top of one end of the TBH and leave the front bar out for communication. When the nuc gets too crowded they will move into the top bar hive on their own. Depending on the width of your hive, you may need to just drill a large hole in the bottom of the nuc box (1" diameter or so) or, if the TBH is Langstroth width, you could just take the bottom off of the nuc box.

I've been using my regressed hive to get shaken swarms to populate my TBHs and my Dadant Deep experiments. You could just leave them in the nuc box until it's crowded and do a shaken swarm into the TBH.


[This message has been edited by Michael Bush (edited August 18, 2003).]


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

Michael, Check with Fedex. They have ground service now that has been cheaper than UPS for me. I've always had good service with them. I should add, I don't know if they have a problem shipping bees, but I have shipped some strange things with them with no questions asked.

[This message has been edited by Ross (edited September 25, 2003).]


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