Matters of concern.

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Alastair

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I took a look at the Treatment Free Facebook group yesterday. The US one started by Solomon Parker. 58,000 members and 10 posts a week.

Although might have something to do with nearly all of them losing their bees and quitting.
 
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Matters of concern ....ish.

I put our bees up for sale last year and got no replies. I put 'em up for sale this month and got two replies, so things are lookng up. One man wanted to buy an extractor. Another wanted to buy twenty hives and a honey dew site .... leaving me with 1280 hives to sort out.
Oh well.

Which brings into question this whole succession thing about what the heck do you do with an asset that a few years ago was my kiwi saver worth over a million bucks, and now is gonna cost me a coiple of bucks to hire a digger to scoop out a big hole and bury 'em.

In my life I've had two incurable diseases ...... Beefever and Wanderlust.
Both are apparently not terminal, but are unfortunately incurable.

What to do.

It seems a waste and a shame to bury 1280 hives in a big hole.
One mans junk is another man's treasure ....
So here is the perfect opportunity for some keen gun to give me a call and strike a deal, peppercorn lease, profit share, luv 'em while I seek healing from the terrible condition of Wanderlust !

I feel for you @James. Gotta suck. Tell you what though, you should consider being a freelance/regular columnist… like my old English teacher did, doesn’t teach anymore.

I guess the “value” is in the sites (but the owners may be happy with you, not necessarily the next person) and the hardware. The bees hold some value, but I bet most potential buyers are new to owning and >1000 hives is rightly intimidating.

Here in Canterbury, a beek couldn’t even sell 2 nucs cheap on trademe. So the hobby sector is slow too.
 
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Alastair

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Few weeks ago saw an advert from a respected commercial beekeeper selling hives for $50 each. Few years ago these could have fetched $450.00.

Questioned about why he is selling so cheap he said he's got a new job, can't also care for the bees, they got to go.

Don't know if he sold any.
 

Alastair

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Friends did a South Island trip just recently, told me they saw "huge trucks loaded with bees" on the ferry heading northwards.

So I guess there must still be some folks chasing the flows.
 
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it used to be that the sites were probably more valuable than the bees but now that there are so many beekeepers who respect nobody and nothing, sites no longer have much real value. There appear to be some corporate beekeepers who are still buying hives but from what I can gather they are more for replacing hives that they have killed rather than increasing numbers. Given the huge stockpile of manuka which has to be well in excess of a thousand tons I'm surprised they are still bothering. It has been a disastrous season for manuka in Hawke's Bay and probably in most of the North Island from what I hear. This may be a good thing in the long-term as some people may be finally able to sell some honey.
FYI I have seen worse times and have been offered large numbers of hives for free. It will get better but I don't know when.
 
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Few weeks ago saw an advert from a respected commercial beekeeper selling hives for $50 each. Few years ago these could have fetched $450.00.

Questioned about why he is selling so cheap he said he's got a new job, can't also care for the bees, they got to go.

Don't know if he sold any.
heard of others offering $150.
why would you buy nucs when you can buy hives.
however be careful of what you buy.
 
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8,865
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maungaturoto
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There appear to be some corporate beekeepers who are still buying hives but from what I can gather they are more for replacing hives that they have killed rather than increasing numbers
i doubt that. they can breed replacements cheaper than buying in, unless they have massive amounts of AFB.
more than likely they are buying up them up to get the sites.
 

Dansar

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Deciding if we need to feed hives or if the flow will magically start. Or I some case, harvest has started.
 


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