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We are thinking of buying hives after the Almond pollination. Has anyone had any experience buying these hives? Are they good wooden wear, are the bees okay or worn out. Any information would be good for us. I would like to buy, but not if it's a bad deal.
Well I have bought several nucs that came from an pollination (fruit trees) business. They break down some of their hives and sell them off as "nucs" by adding a queen (the are upfront about what they were calling a nuc). I had no problems with them and my only concern was they were very light on stores, so they required feed. I would do it again, if I needed to.
Until you know the supplier and his track record, it is a crap shoot. My favorite nuc supplier gives fantastic quantity of bees and broods that come off pollination but last year his queen supplier let him and his customers down. So it was indeed a crapshoot for him and the end customer. Consider the equipment as valueless, like a shipping container. If you are willing to pay the asking price for just the bees, you are more apt to be happy. Bees are farming and farming is totally dependant on the weather.