Nuc outyards

[Perry]

Thought I would share a few pics of a couple outyards where the nucs are piling up. I have even had to resort to using cardboard boxes and a friends borrowed nuc boxes for a couple of them.

[Jen]

Beautiful rich greenery that your bees get to live in 

[riverbee]

nice pix perry!
when those bees gonna get real digs instead of a cardboard shack?!..........

[Jen]

Maybe those are his bees from the hood  Bees From The Street, now there is an interesting title to a book or movie 

[Perry]

I have a list that is quite long as far as those wanting nucs. Ironically, I am making my way through it quicker than I had thought because quite a few of the people I have contacted are not ready for them, or want them in 2 weeks, and a few have changed their minds altogether and decided to wait till next year (thanks for the heads up).
I have to tell them that I am going to the next person on the list and they can contact me when they are ready and if I have some available I will accomodate. I cannot keep these bees cooped up too long in these boxes. I have 4 frames of bee and comb, 2 with brood, and a fifth empty frame to use up the space (4 frame nucs are what I sell). Some of these nucs now have brood on 3 or more frames, as I wait till the queens are released and proven before I let them go.
I have sold some already and have close to 30 waiting to go. Another bunch have queens just installed and waiting to be released and prove themselves. Next year I may have to revisit my policy and start asking for a deposit.

[Jen]

Amazing beekeeper you are Perry    just keeping track of all that

[LazyBkpr]

nice looking yards, and the apple? trees are blooming..
   There comes a time when you need to start covering your expenses and labor Perry, and its been sounding like your very close.  IF... I end up with nucs that are not picked up or have no home, I will probably hive them and sell them as started hives rather than nucs. A little more money, but keeping them in nucs will get labor intensive with that many,  if they stay that way too long.

[Jen]

 Starter hives... hmmm... just learned something new ~ Thanks Scott 

[Dunkel]

I want to give a person who is buying a nuc that is busting at the seams and ready to be hived.  I hate it when they drag their feet and I recheck and find queen cells.  I hate to refuse to sell it and give them another and have to deal with the situation they caused.  Nucs are a very perishable product.  I plan on selling more next year but I will require a deposit and an estimated time within a week or two. I don't want to climb upon a soap box but I want to sell the very best product I can and the variables involved make it frustrating. 

[Jen]

Honorable Dunkle! Last year there were several on the forum, newbee's, that recieved really poor nucs and packages. I haven't sold anything yet, but it seems I would be very concerned if the buyers had no bee experience.

But that is what happened to me. One day I came home with a hive, No Experience At All, I just wanted to try bee stings for pain relief. The first three years I had so many casualties. I don't know why I kept up with it. Determination I guess. Then this forum was offered to me going into my 4th year, and I finally started to learn some very valuable stuff.

How can you possible tell everything to a nuc buyer? If they lived in town, I could make house calls and tutor a bit, that's the only way I can think of to help keep those bees I sold alive.

[pistolpete]

I guess Nucs are just like honey.  Selling 200 pounds is really easy, selling 2000 is pretty hard.   Selling 10 Nucs is a piece of cake, I had a line up of 7 people for my last one.   Selling 50 is a chore.  Perry: Our bee club usually orders about 30 Nucs every year as a group order from a town 5 hours away.  You might want to contact several clubs and make plans for next year.  Let them sort out the list and all you have to deal with is one cheque.   The Nuc delivery usually coincides with a "field day" where all the club members attend for a potluck lunch, a nuc hiving presentation, and to pick up their order. 

[LazyBkpr]

Dunkel, you cant take responsibility for what happens after the buyer takes delivery. You are spot on with producing a quality product. i agonize over which nuc I am going to sell to whom, and then worry that something bad will happen, the queen will poop out etc..
   If they let the nuc swarm, that is up to them. If the queen does poop out, then I will replace her. Honesty is getting harder to come by these days, and many have decided that if they are going to be lied to and cheated then they might as well call it even and do the same. That attitude doesnt cut it here. We may pay the price for honesty, when it seems so few are honest these days. To me, it doesnt matter how dishonest others are. I take some pride in others coming to me because I am honest, but what really matters to me, is how I feel about myself.
   Do the best you can for them, and let them learn from their own mistakes.