How much to charge for complete hive with bees.

[user 3509]

Apologies if this has been asked before. One of our out apiaries is situated on a government office site. The staff have now asked us if they can buy the two hives, complete with bees, with a view to looking after them themselves with the help of one of the staff members who is already an experienced beekeeper. How much would be a reasonable price to ask for the set up? One hive is 3 years old and the other is 1 year old and they are both in excellent condition. Both hives are nationals made of cedar. Each hive consists of a stand with landing board, open mesh floor, brood box, wire queen excluder, super, acrylic crown board and gable roof, Hoffman frames, dummy board, mouse guard and of course bees with this year's queen. Any suggestions would be appreciated as to what a fair price would be.

 

[dpearce4]

£500 each then negotiate.

 

[dexter's shed]

work out what the hives would cost now if they had to buy, divide by 3 and times by 2, will give you the second hand value, plus the colony of bees on top

 

[td4bees]

£400 each is my price in spring time, if you sell now and they don't winter well, you will be the worst in the world.

 

[Millet]

Personally if i was allowed to put hive's on the sight for free i would give them it for free and help them.. that is if if i knew what i was doing..
If i knew what i was doing and they charged me for keeping them there .. i would sell them..

 

[For want of a better word]

£500 each... will put something towards all your hard work and expertise in setting up the apiary.

Then charge them £20 per hour when they all get fed up with having to care for them and squabble about who has all the honey! [ or wonder why there isn't any?]

May sound harsh, but have been in the same place meself!

Yeghes da

 

[madasafish]

I charge TBH nucs - bees only on bars, nuc returned - at a cheap £100.

So anything less than £400 is too cheap.Ask for £500 each and settle £900 for two.

And offer 3 hours free help and after that charge..

(which sounds very generous but in reality will disappear very quickly)

 

[Beanwood]

In my limited experience, money can cause problems in this sort of situation. I doubt they are expecting £500 price tags even though that seems fair.
How about providing them the exact spec of equipment they need, including frames, and even a reputable supplier. They can then construct them over winter (An essential part of beekeeping) and they can buy a colony from you at a sensible rate in spring.

they get to realise the true cost involved, but without you being the bearer of bad news. Indeed they may want to try one wooden,and one poly so they can compare and contrast? You also get to provide a reasonable colony that may need less of your time to manage.

 

[mbc]

In my limited experience, money can cause problems in this sort of situation. I doubt they are expecting £500 price tags even though that seems fair.
How about providing them the exact spec of equipment they need, including frames, and even a reputable supplier. They can then construct them over winter (An essential part of beekeeping) and they can buy a colony from you at a sensible rate in spring.

they get to realise the true cost involved, but without you being the bearer of bad news. Indeed they may want to try one wooden,and one poly so they can compare and contrast? You also get to provide a reasonable colony that may need less of your time to manage.

Good post.

 

[bontbee]

Good post.

Ditto

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Did exactly that with the DVLA this year - just gave them a shopping list and let them decide what they wanted

 

[enrico]

Another possibility is to charge them what it would cost you to replace all the items as new and then throw the bees in free. That way they feel they are getting something, you can replace all the equipment with new stuff and everyone is happy!
E

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

In my limited experience, money can cause problems in this sort of situation. I doubt they are expecting £500 price tags even though that seems fair.
How about providing them the exact spec of equipment they need, including frames, and even a reputable supplier. They can then construct them over winter (An essential part of beekeeping) and they can buy a colony from you at a sensible rate in spring.

they get to realise the true cost involved, but without you being the bearer of bad news. Indeed they may want to try one wooden,and one poly so they can compare and contrast? You also get to provide a reasonable colony that may need less of your time to manage.

Brilliant

 

[Tom Bick]

Another possibility is to charge them what it would cost you to replace all the items as new and then throw the bees in free. That way they feel they are getting something, you can replace all the equipment with new stuff and everyone is happy!
E

And a whole lot less than £500 each

 

[mintmoth]

Ever the sceptic - are you sure the staff really want to look after them? Or is it a ploy by the beekeeper among them to try and get two good hives/colonies for a "sympathy price", up and running?
Or am I just too suspicious and untrusting?

 

[For want of a better word]

Ever the sceptic - are you sure the staff really want to look after them? Or is it a ploy by the beekeeper among them to try and get two good hives/colonies for a "sympathy price", up and running?
Or am I just too suspicious and untrusting?

Surrogate beekeeping never works

Nos da

 

[mintmoth]

Surrogate beekeeping never works

Nos da

No, but you can have a lot of fun.