PBKA auction

Just so no ones caught out, the pbka auction is on the last Saturday of April rather than the first in may this year.
https://pbka.info

Should be a good one - quite a lot of items due there according to Barbara.

I wonder if your live bee sale prices will be as high as in west sussex this weekend.

All lots went for over £300 even the nucs bar one and the highest went for £370.

Always interesting to see the bee auctions - firstly the number of hives is an indicator of how the winter went then the prices. By what I've been hearing of winter losses the prices are likely to be high.
I'm guessing that Tom Pegg's bees will all be there if they didn't all go at the end of last year.

dpearce4 said:

I wonder if your live bee sale prices will be as high as in west sussex this weekend.

All lots went for over £300 even the nucs bar one and the highest went for £370.

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Cant imagine it myself, not so many beginners as there were a few seasons ago and there's been no significant winter losses that I've heard of in pembs.
If they were likely to achieve that sort of price I'd put a load in to make a quick buck.

mbc said:

Cant imagine it myself, not so many beginners as there were a few seasons ago and there's been no significant winter losses that I've heard of in pembs.
If they were likely to achieve that sort of price I'd put a load in to make a quick buck.

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Lots of losses down here in the south east of England this winter. Some beekeepers I know have lost all their hives, I lost 50% for one reason or another, but past years when others have had high losses but I didn't so its swings and roundabouts. Others have lost 70%+.

not sure what things in London have been like?

dpearce4 said:

Lots of losses down here in the south east of England this winter. Some beekeepers I know have lost all their hives, I lost 50% for one reason or another, but past years when others have had high losses but I didn't so its swings and roundabouts. Others have lost 70%+.

not sure what things in London have been like?

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Ever thought of crowd funding to pay for replacements? You'll need to come up with a good story but apparently, it's do-able.

CVB

I must eat a few tins of beans to make lots of wind lol

Sent from my HUAWEI Y560-L01 using Tapatalk

dpearce4 said:

I wonder if your live bee sale prices will be as high as in west sussex this weekend.

All lots went for over £300 even the nucs bar one and the highest went for £370.

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Crikey! I was thinking of making the trip over to the Meon Valley Auction next month, but not for that sort of price.

dpearce4 said:

Lots of losses down here in the south east of England this winter. Some beekeepers I know have lost all their hives, I lost 50% for one reason or another, but past years when others have had high losses but I didn't so its swings and roundabouts. Others have lost 70%+.

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Some reporting 50-75% losses whilst others haven't lost any - and not all the latter are the very experienced beekeepers.

Local conditions vary such a lot, so there are pockets where it's been very cold (and still is) and very wet (and still is) and where blackthorn is still flowering and the trees are still bare, but just a couple of miles away the hawthorn is starting to flower - but it's no use to the bees in the cold spots, because they aren't venturing out.

How do bee auction organisers check the authenticity of bees and equipment put up for sale. Just wondering after all my hives were stolen in April last year. I was an idiot for not branding them - something that has been rectified since.

Lucky Bee said:

How do bee auction organisers check the authenticity of bees and equipment put up for sale. Just wondering after all my hives were stolen in April last year. I was an idiot for not branding them - something that has been rectified since.

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Nothing much they can do - bees get checked by the SBI's the day before and that's it -can't really tell one hive from another. Most hives that get stolen get the bees taken out and put in new kit anyway and the hive (and frames) get torched.

Lucky Bee said:

I was an idiot for not branding them

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don't beat yourself up, those bees will be long dead by now, you'd have to be in there every couple of days to keep them all marked

Listening to others at the Sussex auction many locals reporting significant losses and only five lots of bees for sale

I'm hearing more lots bees will be available at Meon Valley auction in May - 12 mentioned but haven't seen the catalogue as yet

Worldsend said:

I'm hearing more lots bees will be available at Meon Valley auction in May - 12 mentioned but haven't seen the catalogue as yet

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Any idea when the catalogue is published?

jenkinsbrynmair said:

Nothing much they can do - bees get checked by the SBI's the day before and that's it -can't really tell one hive from another. Most hives that get stolen get the bees taken out and put in new kit anyway and the hive (and frames) get torched.



don't beat yourself up, those bees will be long dead by now, you'd have to be in there every couple of days to keep them all marked

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Phew, I'll cancel my bulk order of microchips then

jenkinsbrynmair said:

Nothing much they can do - bees get checked by the SBI's the day before and that's it -can't really tell one hive from another. Most hives that get stolen get the bees taken out and put in new kit anyway and the hive (and frames) get torched.



don't beat yourself up, those bees will be long dead by now, you'd have to be in there every couple of days to keep them all marked

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Not to mention the time it takes to brand each young bee and the anguish of the kind hearted beekeepers.

Talking to Paul Eades the pbka apiary manager, losses here in pembs seem to be averaging 30%...at least.
One large apiary in the south of the county lost 75%
Prices could be high...
We are thinking:
Poorly mated queens due to bad summer
Mild winter leading to persistant varroa issues

BeeJayBee said:

Any idea when the catalogue is published?

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Not sure but entries were due to close on 22nd April so may be on website soon

Always a few changes on the day

Where in Hants are you roughly?

Worldsend said:

Where in Hants are you roughly?

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A good hour from where the auction is.

I checked the Meon Valley website earlier today but there's no sign of a schedule, I suppose it'll be uploaded some time next week.

A lot of items im the auction this afternoon
Most I've ever seen. Over twenty lots of bees as well

Good prices for pembs i thought
Bees on frames with marked Qs 2015 seemed the priciest averaging £185 11 frames with about 6 frames brood.
The twenty lots of bees sold fast with two or three bidders clearly keen to replenish winter losses.