Picking up your bees or having them shipped? Part 6
Today’s blog will discuss the pro’s and con’s of shipping bees. This is a necessary form of transporting most bees in the USA.
I want to take a look at package bees. A package of bees is simply a screened plywood box with two screened sides and about 16 oz. of sugar water for the bees to consume. The sugar water normally will last for approx.. 7 days under normal circumstances. The package of bees will have some bees perishing as the bees die naturally. This perishing will happen regardless if the bees are in the box or out in nature flying around.
The next matter is how will the bees be shipped? This is critical!!! I have found USPS as the most reliable shipping source and serve’s a great service for the buyer and seller. We ship all our packages with shipping insurance up to the amount of the package price. Postal Insurance serves the best interest of the buyer and the seller. We also send our packages via Priority Mail, so that the bees are handled better and get delivered quicker. The buyer is responsible for any claims against USPS. If you can afford it, you can have your bees shipped 2 Day Express.
By the way, all major USPS facilities actually have “bee rooms” to keep your bees at a good temperature of approx.. 65 degrees.
This is not available for everyone and maybe only 10% of the lower 48 states can pick theirs up by day two of the “shake” day. This is probably the best way to purchase bees due to there is no significant temperature changes and minimum bee loss.
Let’s now talk about nuc shipments. This is one topic I have had many conversations with UPS, FedEx, and USPS. In most cases, USPS will ship a nuc BUT the nuc must be shipped via ground shipping. When the USPS denotes “ground shipping” that means a nuc could be delivered up to 2 weeks from the ship date. Semi-trucks do not offer air conditioning to keep your bees cool and that means more stress to your bees. This means your nuc will be very stressed when you receive it. Also when “ground shipping” happens it means the seller cannot insure this nuc. There are a few small companies that do ship nucs and there are good stories and really bad stories. So there is risk when purchasing a nuc via any form of shipping. That is why most bee wholesalers and retailers will not ship nucs.
Here are my 4 Commandments you should consider.
1. Always make sure your packaged bees are insured to protect your investment.
2. Stress to the company you are dealing with that you want your bees shipped within 24 hours of the “shake” day.
3. Bees should be sent via Priority Mail.
4. Get a tracking number to keep up with your bees.
If you have any questions, feel free to write me at ra*@****************ey.com
Ray