# Spring prices



## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I'm glad we don't get raped locally around here, it not to often you find local bees but my last nuc was an 8 frame med busting at the seams with wooden hive body included for $150 and I also bought a split for $5 a frame plus $20 for a new queen and I supplied my own box


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

With the cost of rising inflation every year we see it here too.
CL 5 frames nuc sell around $200 to $220. One frame of bees cost $35. And they do sell too.
Expensive early bees huh. That's why I make my own overwinter nucs. A lot cheaper for me.


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

It's the same way over here too. Sometimes you can find them at 125 for 5 frame deep NUC, but prices have gone way up this year. Most are being sold at 150 to 210. Packages have all taken a steep increase as well from last year. They have gone from 95 last year to 120 this year. 

Economics 101 again.. Demand goes up, so does price.. When more and more people are getting into the pollination in CA making 150 to 180 a hive it drives up the demand and price. Not to mention the sideliners and straight up honey producers.


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## LoneWolf (Feb 25, 2014)

Prices went up around here by 10% this year. Packages were $99 last year and $109 this year. 3 Frame Nuc w/new CA Queen were $115.00 and 4 lb Package w/new CA Queen $112.00. I got lucky and got a few packages for $93 and a few others for $98 for spring. I think things are going to get worse.


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## cwood6_10 (Apr 17, 2012)

I was lucky to order 30 4 frames for $140. Beeweavers has them for $235 and they will be sold out. These prices will hint why I will be producing and selling bees and honey in the coming years.


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## thebeemanuk (Oct 16, 2014)

I think prices have remained fairly steady over the last few years here in the UK & State side as so many jumped on the band wagon selling packages & nucs only to find it was not as easy as it looked. Now the customers are finally aware what a good nuc or package should be a lot of the sellers are dropping by the way side so the price increases as supply drops. I think it is important if your selling bees or Queens you educate potential customers as much as possible what a quality nuc should be if they buy elsewhere you have done your part.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Those within driving range of Spokane Sunrisehoney.com has five frames full of brood, honey and bees and a caged queen for $110 pickup only. They give good value but check them for swarm cells as you hive them. They have one pickup day in Yakima and near Spokane in early April.


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## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

Vance G said:


> Those within driving range of Spokane Sunrisehoney.com has five frames full of brood, honey and bees and a caged queen for $110 pickup only. They give good value but check them for swarm cells as you hive them. They have one pickup day in Yakima and near Spokane in early April.


Thanks for the heads up. Been trying to find other suppliers as i was not too impressed with my nucs last year.

Have you dealt with the people you mentioned? Does not seem right that they would not introduce the queen and get her laying before passing her off to the customer.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

The price of honey has been good recently, the price of bees rises proportionately, it's as simple as that.

Over many years I have seen the same thing in my country, as honey becomes more or less valuable, so do bees.

Don't be sad about it, it's an opportunity. Make some money out of the hobby, sell some bees.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

It is the way they do it. I have bought their nucs three times. They are the same nucs they use themselves to produce a honey crop. However I would make sure there are no swarm cells in addition to the caged queen when you hive them. QUOTE=hex0rz;1200150]Thanks for the heads up. Been trying to find other suppliers as i was not too impressed with my nucs last year.

Have you dealt with the people you mentioned? Does not seem right that they would not introduce the queen and get her laying before passing her off to the customer.[/QUOTE]


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## Michael B (Feb 6, 2010)

As someone who sells bees I like when prices go up and my costs stay the same! Unfortunately, I sell overwintered nucs for $175 and Spring nucs with a mated queen for $150. It is common around me to have nucs range from $125 to $150.


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## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

hex0rz said:


> Thanks for the heads up. Been trying to find other suppliers as i was not too impressed with my nucs last year.
> 
> Have you dealt with the people you mentioned? Does not seem right that they would not introduce the queen and get her laying before passing her off to the customer.


Sounds like a good supplier to me. Swarm cells are not an indication that the queen has not been accepted, but rather they are plentiful and running out of space. 2 for the price of one, great deal.


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

All of the prices I've seen on Craigslist are extremely inflated.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

The cells happen because the nucs are made up and they are good ones and they start an emergency queen before the presence of the cage queen suppresses that impulse. So if you just hive the nuc and leave the cells, the virgin may kill the queen coming out of the cage or swarm. Neither are a good outcome as these nucs will make a good crop first season if some idiot doesn't convince the newbie not to super them because bees won't make a crop the first year! You need to let the bees tell you what they are doing and you have to be looking to see that. 



rookie2531 said:


> Sounds like a good supplier to me. Swarm cells are not an indication that the queen has not been accepted, but rather they are plentiful and running out of space. 2 for the price of one, great deal.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I hived one nuc June the 18 that capped a deep of honey. That is the most exceptional I have seen though.

Last year 4 frame nucs in Ontario were getting close to 200$ Can. I dont worry much about the sticker price as I often drive a 1000 miles round trip to pick up bees, drop some at my sons, and bring some to my place. I dont know what they will be next spring but dont expect we will be needing any! Famous last words, eh?


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

beepro said:


> With the cost of rising inflation every year we see it here too.
> CL 5 frames nuc sell around $200 to $220. One frame of bees cost $35. And they do sell too.
> Expensive early bees huh. That's why I make my own overwinter nucs. A lot cheaper for me.


It's not inflation, it is price gouging. 

Inflation has been about 2 percent for the last several years. 

Meanwhile I have seen nuc prices rise from $100 to $150 over the last 4 years. That is about 8 percent per year (4 times the inflation rate).


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

I sold my extra over wintered nucs last spring as 5 frames in a cardboard nuc box. This year I might go up a little bit, but I will not even know if I have any to sell until sometime in March.
Dave


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

A thing is worth exactly what a willing buyer is willing to pay. So price gouging is hardly in play. If your pencil tells you it won't pay, don't buy it. And inflation has far exceeded the guvmint figures you cite.


Nabber86 said:


> It's not inflation, it is price gouging.
> 
> Inflation has been about 2 percent for the last several years.
> 
> Meanwhile I have seen nuc prices rise from $100 to $150 over the last 4 years. That is about 8 percent per year (4 times the inflation rate).


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Vance G said:


> And inflation has far exceeded the guvmint figures you cite.


:no:

What, these figures?

http://www.multpl.com/inflation/table

Looks like it has averaged 2% or less since 2007. 

I do agree that it cant really be price gouging. I think a lot of people have figured out that selling nucs can be more profitable than selling honey.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Locally, I'm seeing 4fr med nucs and 5fr deeps for $140. Tight supply.


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## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

Vance G said:


> Those within driving range of Spokane Sunrisehoney.com has five frames full of brood, honey and bees and a caged queen for $110 pickup only. They give good value but check them for swarm cells as you hive them. They have one pickup day in Yakima and near Spokane in early April.





Vance G said:


> The cells happen because the nucs are made up and they are good ones and they start an emergency queen before the presence of the cage queen suppresses that impulse. So if you just hive the nuc and leave the cells, the virgin may kill the queen coming out of the cage or swarm. Neither are a good outcome as these nucs will make a good crop first season if some idiot doesn't convince the newbie not to super them because bees won't make a crop the first year! You need to let the bees tell you what they are doing and you have to be looking to see that.


Well you did say swarm cell, not emergency cell, which made me think the nucs are given a queen cell or in a cage well before selling and out laying for a good while. Isn't that the norm with nucs?That they are observed laying for a couple weeks before selling.

Back on topic, I have seen advertised prices range from last spring prices to an increase. Just my opinion that if you don't order before the new year, those sellers will jump on the increase bandwagon. Which if they go too high will cause more and more beeks to start raising there own and the supply will out weigh the demand and prices will come back down. Maybe even cheaper than what it is now. The big suppliers need to be careful of raising prices too much, it could hurt everyone. Its not like every beek needs them.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

Nabber86 said:


> It's not inflation, it is price gouging.



I hear about Nucs for sale that aren't worth $100.00 from time to time.
You should be able to find some of those for $95.00. 

I've got a couple that don't look like they are worth $80.00. 

I'll let you have them for $75.00 
Five frames, no exchange installed in your equipment.
I'll take cash all sales are final. 
:lpf:


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Vance G said:


> A thing is worth exactly what a willing buyer is willing to pay. So price gouging is hardly in play. If your pencil tells you it won't pay, don't buy it. And inflation has far exceeded the guvmint figures you cite.


I agree 100% Vance. Its simple economics, supply and demand. If you dont want to pay you arent forced to buy. I get sick of hearing people whine about the cost of supplies and bees. Build your own and catch a swarm. Just quit whining. G:shhhh:


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

bought a package from Kelly Bee today for $135 shipped to my door with a marked queen. That is about what I paid for packages 2 yrs ago from a different supplier.


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## McBee7 (Dec 25, 2013)

Last year I bought 12 packages for $87 instead of the packages from a reputable dealer for $100 with good stock,
Mine were terrible and made 1 super of honey between them all...I do have 7 of them left to overwinter, and they did get their act together JUST before winter set in...
Any way I should have spent the extra $13 for each of the packages and it would have been a bargain ,,, I would pay the extra $ for a nuc from a reputable dealer with good stock....

==McBee7==


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

Harley Craig said:


> bought a package from Kelly Bee today for $135 shipped to my door with a marked queen. That is about what I paid for packages 2 yrs ago from a different supplier.


How many days will it be from the time they were shook to the moment you install them? Delay and heat are the dreadful enemies of a package and the queen there in contained. As per kelleys 

http://www.kelleybees.com/Blog/1/Healthy-Bees/241/Postal-Claims-and-Your-Package-Bees

you are on the hook for the insurance paperwork and claim as needed. 

I went to their website and it says that zone 2 and 3 shipping is less money than zone 1... A fact I find somewhat Interesting? 
\


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

They ship on Saturday, should be to me by Monday Tue the latest. I orderd packages 2 yrs ago from another supplier that shipped on Saturday and they didn't make it to me due to a PO delay till Wed and all was well. It's still pretty cool in april here.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Weather is always a factor. We are having a mild winter so there will be less beekeepers needing replacements and more nucs surviving the winter. The best time to buy might be the spring.


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## xphoney (Nov 7, 2014)

Nabber86 said:


> :no:
> 
> What, these figures?
> 
> ...


One should be careful about anything reported by the government when there is an agenda.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/periann...l-rate-of-inflation-dont-bother-with-the-cpi/


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

I find it interesting that many posters on here perceive that higher bee prices are a negative yet I don't ever recall anyone making an argument that honey prices are too high. As a beekeeper I find it encouraging to hear that bees continue to be valuable.


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## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I'm selling my 5 Frame nucs for $125 and packages for $105. And it seems to be in line with what other locals are doing here in North Fl.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"

Will we say one day "Beekeeping pre-varroa cure/elimination was a good time to make money. You had to manage your hives and be good at controling varroa but that's why we got good prices. Beekeeping used to be difficult and require more skill"


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Pretty good point Mbeck.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Mbeck said:


> I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"
> 
> Will we say one day "Beekeeping pre-varroa cure/elimination was a good time to make money. You had to manage your hives and be good at controling varroa but that's why we got good prices. Beekeeping used to be difficult and require more skill"


I have been saying that for some time now Matthew. Others have been saying that too. What we are getting for pollination and honey and nucs has never been higher.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Nabber86 said:


> I think a lot of people have figured out that selling nucs can be more profitable than selling honey.


"If you want to make money in beekeeping sell beekeepers what they need." Wm. H. Berninghausen


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Nabber86 said:


> It's not inflation, it is price gouging.
> 
> Inflation has been about 2 percent for the last several years.
> 
> Meanwhile I have seen nuc prices rise from $100 to $150 over the last 4 years. That is about 8 percent per year (4 times the inflation rate).


What the market will bear. It's economics.


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## Ray4852 (May 27, 2011)

Overpriced bugs. Swarms are better.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Acebird said:


> Weather is always a factor. We are having a mild winter so there will be less beekeepers needing replacements and more nucs surviving the winter. The best time to buy might be the spring.


Early days yet Brian.


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## Mbeck (Apr 27, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> I have been saying that for some time now Matthew. Others have been saying that too. What we are getting for pollination and honey and nucs has never been higher.


It would make an interesting thread for the commercial forum. Varroa management is to some degree a thinking mans game. All things equal (they never are) without the varroa factor production would be easier and you'd need to produce more to make the same money?

You'd have to handle more boxes for the same or less $$$.

Basically less Yak more stack.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Mbeck said:


> I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"
> 
> Will we say one day "Beekeeping pre-varroa cure/elimination was a good time to make money.


One day? Shoot I have been saying that for some time. With the exception of a one year spike in the late 90's, raw honey prices were still under a dollar a pound until about 2007 and not too many years before that almond rental prices were hovering around $40. You could buy a pretty good "turnkey" bee operation in the late 90's for around $100 a round.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yes that's just about what happened here.

You have it exactly right, suss varroa management & there is a definite advantage over those who don't, and compare favourably to pre varroa times also, less yak more stack you are on it.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

sqkcrk said:


> What the market will bear. It's economics.


:thumbsup: G


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## dleemc1 (Dec 31, 2012)

I will sell some 5 frame nucs for 100.00 but people have to wait till up in april or may till I have them ready, its good for me and good for them. if we have a good year that nuc will make them some honey the first year I can go to sleep with out feeling like I robbed someone


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> "If you want to make money in beekeeping sell beekeepers what they need." Wm. H. Berninghausen


Is that where you make your money Mark? You and ever other beekeeper would starve selling beekeepers what they need. The money in beekeeping is selling what the animal produces; honey, wax, pollination and the bees themselves. Except for the bees everything else goes to a consumer that is not a beekeeper. The more experienced a beekeeper becomes the less you will sell to him. So when all the newbie hippies get disenchanted with bees like you all say they will the less you will get for your bees.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Here we go again.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Acebird said:


> Is that where you make your money Mark? You and ever other beekeeper would starve selling beekeepers what they need. The money in beekeeping is selling what the animal produces; honey, wax, pollination and the bees themselves. Except for the bees everything else goes to a consumer that is not a beekeeper. The more experienced a beekeeper becomes the less you will sell to him. So when all the newbie hippies get disenchanted with bees like you all say they will the less you will get for your bees.


Oh, well, of course you are right Brian. I will tell my Dad that the next time I see him.

Brian, when it comes to Farming, who do you find driving the nicest new cars, the guy that puts the seed corn in the ground or the guiy that sold him the tractor and seed? That was Dad's point.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

> Here we go again.


I hear David Bowie singing "Space Oddity" in the background.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

:thumbsup:


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"

It definitely will be once the Tropilaelaps arrive...


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Would you rather be the one with what someone else needs or the one who needs what someone else has?


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Michael Bush said:


> >I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"
> 
> It definitely will be once the Tropilaelaps arrive...


One positive I get about them vs varroa, is they only need a 3 day brood break to die off. That being said, I hope we never have to find out if that is fact or fiction. G


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yes, kind of interesting how varroa have enveloped the globe, but tropilaelaps not. Maybe tropilaelaps a bit less resilient so less easy to accidentally transfer.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I hope we never have to find out if that is fact or fiction. 

Amen to that... but all the other mites made the trip...


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Michael Bush said:


> >I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"
> 
> It definitely will be once the Tropilaelaps arrive...


If detected it looks like you can cure the hive by culling the brood and pulling the queen for just three days. The bad part is you might have to do it for all the hives you have in your apiary.


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Acebird said:


> If detected it looks like you can cure the hive by culling the brood and pulling the queen for just three days.


:thumbsup:

That was easy!


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

But is it a treatment?


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Acebird said:


> If detected it looks like you can cure the hive by culling the brood and pulling the queen for just three days. The bad part is you might have to do it for all the hives you have in your apiary.





Oldtimer said:


> But is it a treatment?


At a minimum, it sounds like a major intervention!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Oldtimer said:


> But is it a treatment?


I disagree. It's a management technique.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

sqkcrk said:


> I disagree. It's a management technique.


:thumbsup: G


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Oldtimer said:


> But is it a treatment?





sqkcrk said:


> I disagree. It's a management technique.


You disagree with a question?

:scratch:


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Intermintent dyslexia


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Regardless of whether it is a _treatment_ or a _management technique_ or an '_intervention_' Ace will need to seek a different option as "pulling the queen" is not something he can do .... 



Acebird said:


> I cannot find a queen and cannot see eggs.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Mbeck said:


> I wonder if this is "The Golden Age of Beekeeping"


Wether or not it's the 'golden age' is a matter of opinion. But when a technology oriented magazine starts doing reviews on various types of beehive bodies, then almost certainly we can say 'something is different'.

Title:- WIRED tests out three beekeeping kits.

http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2015/01/gear/buzz-feeders


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Oldtimer said:


> But is it a treatment?


If it is a treatment then all of beekeeping is a treatment like putting bees in a box for instance.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> Regardless of whether it is a _treatment_ or a _management technique_ or an '_intervention_' Ace will need to seek a different option as "pulling the queen" is not something he can do ....


I would have to sift the hive through an excluder. If I had more hives I might be able to bait the queen up to the top box by putting a frame of brood from another hive in the top box. I would at least try it.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Acebird said:


> If I had more hives I might be able to bait the queen up to the top box by putting a frame of brood from another hive in the top box.


I don't get it. :scratch: Why would brood from another hive drawn the queen away from her own brood?


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

Its a _non-intervention_ technique of combining something he read in one of Cleo Hogan's _Trapout _posts with something else he read but hasn't done either!


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Acebird said:


> If I had more hives I might be able to bait the queen up to the top box by putting a frame of brood from another hive in the top box. I would at least try it.


Do you really think that would work? And what does how many hives you have have anything to do with doing something like that? And, why do I bother asking?


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## j.kuder (Dec 5, 2010)

so what was this original post about?


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Mike Gillmore said:


> I don't get it. :scratch: Why would brood from another hive drawn the queen away from her own brood?


Smell of another queen. Isn't that the premise of the Cleo Hogan's trap out method?

Mark, if you only have one hive you can't draw from another. I think you know that.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

I didn't know we were discussing trap outs. 

"If" this did work, how would you know the queen was in the top box if you are unable to locate a queen or see eggs?


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

I wouldn't Mike, but it would be the first box to go through the sifter. Then I could tell you how well it worked. I could also get an idea how useful it would be for a trap out without doing it. Maybe someone else could find the exercise useful who can not see queens.


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

Mike Gillmore said:


> I don't get it. :scratch: Why would brood from another hive drawn the queen away from her own brood?


because acebird can't find the queens and with his luck the frame would have the queen from the other hive on it


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

If you can find the queen through a sifter, why do the extra steps?


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

cg3 said:


> If you can find the queen through a sifter, why do the extra steps?


So you don't have to go through 5 boxes.:scratch:


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Acebird, you certainly help to break up the monotony of winter hibernation. It's like endless cliffhangers ... can't wait to see what might be next.
Carry on.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What's the difference between an orange? Ducks flying sideways.


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

Mike Gillmore said:


> Acebird, you certainly help to break up the monotony of winter hibernation.


No monotony in my life but I am winding down on my last renovation. My wife doesn't want to buy another house. She helped her daughter buy one in FL so her daughter will be making the big move soon. I suppose I could be flying to Fl and doing some reno in the near future.


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