Buying bees from Tractor Supply Co.???

Anyone ever buy from them . They are advertising 3 lbs Italian for 179.99 shipping included. Looking for options.

Whoa very expensive, $110 here in Wi, $150 for nuc..

That is pretty expensive...I get nucs just outside of Morrisville NY for about a buck twenty (four frames).
http://johnstonshoneybeefarm.com/beefarm/

That is very expensive. $110-125 for both nucs and packages here. Nucs are better to start with if you can get them.

https://www.kelleybees.com/live-bees.htm...ees_12%2F1%2F17

I can get 3lb packages for 75 picked up straight from the producer. Nucs run 135 here.
I wouldn't bother with TSC. What kind of support do you think they would give? Bad or dead queen?

Years ago, you could order them from a Ranch/Home Sears Catalog.

Thanks

https://www.thehoneybeefactory.net/

learn how to make splits and nucs (and/or catch some swarms) and never buy bees again.

Please find a couple local bee keepers in your area. Find one who raises and has success in overwintering bees in your area and learn the art and science in keeping bees. The cheap southern bees are typically not very hardy up north. Find a local bee keeper and work with them it will save you much headache.

They are taking orders here in Alaska for spring packages $240. !!! I hope my hives make it.

After my last chicken buying experience with TSC, I'm done buying critters from them. Sales person kept complaining about having to handle the chickens, and then he had no idea what breeds they were, and now they don't sex them....

The people who work there are for the most part, just retail sales people and shelf stockers. They don't have an expertise in any specific field. All they know is what they were told to push and the talking points.

Best thing is to go to a specialized dealer or someone in the specific business and make sure you are getting exactly what you need and exactly what is going to fit your purpose and skill level.

Not to hijack the thread but at the Illinois Specialty Crops Conference last week I went to all the pumpkin growing seminars and they recommended bumble bees over honey bees for pollination. Fly in wet, cold, cloudy, etc conditions when honey bees won't. If you are using the bees for honey than totally different story. Bumble bees do not overwinter so you have to buy new each year. Even with the disadvantages if you are looking only at pollination they said bumble bees are an advantage.
If you deal with bees you probably already know this, I don't know anything about bees except I want them around when my pumpkins are blossoming.
our local farm store is putting on a beginning bee keeping seminar in February and I plan on going to that just to learn more.

my wife has been trying to get us into honey bees for a while.
she did a introduction meeting last night put on by the local beekeepers - and has decided, we are doing it this year. I'm sure I'll be here for questions as well.

http://www.queenrightcolonies.com/

There is actually a TON of great information on YouTube in regards to the topic of honey bees. (and of course so not so great info) Michael Palmer might be a little over your head (and confusing at this point) but very informational. Just stay away from the "Natural" bee keepers like Michael Bush

why would you stay away from Michael Bush - most of what he says is very good - myself, I am treatment free, I do not believe you need to dump chemicals of any kind to "treat" bees

Why raise bees when you can buy honey In the store with out all the hassle?
I can buy a lot of honey for $140.00 LOL

Beav. Helps for marketing at farmers markets.

I see.

if he is going to buy package bees he better treat some how. If he catches a wild swarm he may get by with out treating.

Stupid kids near here knocked over enough hives they lost 500,000 bees, can't insure bees, locals donating money to bee guy

Pick up the book "Bee Keeping for Dummies" it has a lot of very good information for new beekeepers...

Holy crap Jeff $240 for a 4lb 1 queen? Are u buying from steve victors or steve here in fairbanks?

Speaking of packages. I took a break from bees last year. But years prior and observing buddies hives. I’ve noticed a very high queen failure. Has anyone else seen this the past few years? Unmated, injured, hive refusing to accept them. To the tune of 60-70% failure rates for packages

Are you Alaskan guys taking your bees Inside during the winter? My Daughter lives In Delta and she always killed her bees before winter set In. Seems a bit expensive to do that but I guess It Is what It Is.

Because he's a huckster and snake oil salesman. I say that having tried almost all of his "cures" and not only were they failures some like narrow foundationless frames made the hives almost unworkable.
He's made a small fortune making the rounds of bee meeting with the fees he charges to speak.
Of all his hype only two have limited merit.

One, local stock is the better adapted to survive local conditions. However local as in feral stock is rarely the best stock for the keeper wanting to produce surplus hive product (honey/wax). Most ferals survive varroa pressure by limiting brood production (small colony size) and regular swarming. This means no surplus honey for the keeper.

Two, overwintering nucs. With today's ills colony increase is a vital part of raining sustainable. Besides using his methods means you will need alot of replacement bees.

True, bumbles and better yet native squash bees are the natural pollinator of squashes most of which are new world crops. However the sall colony size of native bees and small forage range renders them less than ideal for commercial production of curcubits. One colony of bumbles may be ideal for an acre of squash but not for a 400 acre melon patch.
Bumbles also excel in specialty applications like greenhouse cultivation.

I love my bees! I caught a swarm early summer. They really piled the honey up which I left alone for the bees to get through the winter. They are really mean. If you get anywhere near them they will pile out of the hive and wear you out. My mentor has sixty hives and you can work them with little equipment. Mine you have to prepare for defcon 5.
I’m looking to buy two or three nucs from the north. I’m going to split the meanies and ad a couple more hives this spring.

I ordered mine - and bought hives etc. - through Runnings, Inc. Anxious to see how it goes

Beav its simply not the same. Not even close in some regards.
There is NO legal definition for honey in the Unites states. Which means anyone can put anything in a jar and call it honey.
There is also more demand for honey than we produce. Where does the rest come from? Its not honey. Lots of "organic" "local Honey" doesn't taste like a lot of our REAL honey either.
My Girlfriend had some "organic local honey" that she paid well for. She compared it to mine and she tossed hers in the trash. I thought it couldn't be that bad so I retrieved it and tasted it. It was that bad in comparison. I'm cheap so I'll use it in coon bait.

Most processed honey is also pasteurized...which means much of the good stuff is killed off. Many a people have gotten over allergies altogether by eating raw pure honey. Can't do that with the processed/pasteurized stuff.

Netflix has a documentary on right now called Rotten. One episode is allocated to honey. Shows how China is shipping their crap to the US, etc.

As far as Michael Bush...Pffft. A girl down the road used his methods and thought treating was the devil (most naturally occurring in honey anyhow BTW) Well her hives never seen the second year as always full of mites.

Beav.

Unfortunately wintering ‘north of the range’ is not a viable option. Ive tried a few times. I know they do it in russia, but little is written about it.

I considered building a climate controlled shack but figured costs out weighed packages. My last package 3 years ago ( not 2) ran 175/180.

Wish there was a better solution. I tried a hive heater as well. With no luck. This winter would be the winter to pull it off!!! Waaaarm city.

I agree with most of what you said about Bush but about overwintering nucs. I believe that works. Bush doesnt have many hives anymore for a reason. TF is not the path beekeeping should go. Micheal Palmer explains overwintering nucs and i think he knows what he is doing.

Tradbow that was Keith's prices and going up more later he said. I have two three deeps that are still alive and two nucs that are in question, it can be done, I hope.

Michael Bush gives a lot of good advice. Beekeepers, like all farmers (whether they raise plants, animals, or bees) should work toward beekeeping without chemicals. I'm not totally against chemicals but treatments cost money and are labor intensive. Package bees may need treatment, but requeening from a farm that practices limited treatments will change the gene pool.

As far as going naturally and bees dying from mites, you can't just stop treating bees that have no natural resistance to mites. It's no different than stopping deworming goats that have no parasite resistance. It takes times to build resistance. It's a process.

And Tractor supply is just a middleman with employees that (with a few exceptions) don't know much. I can say that as I worked at one years ago. Difference was I was an ag major who raised livestock and had worked in the industry so I actually tried to help people.

And the price is too high.