Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: TwT on September 30, 2005, 08:53:39 am
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http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=003954
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I am interested but the link appears to not work
Chrid
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This was posted in 2005. I doubt they are still there.
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You never know.......
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Chris, if you want free bees keep an eye on Craigslist. At least around here, there is usually somebody trying to get rid of “free” bees every couple weeks.
Just beware, what sounds like a great deal (its “free” after all!) may only be a good deal if you have lots of spare time and money; especially this time of year. As has been discussed in other recent posts, it can take a lot of time, effort, and money to get “free” fall bees to survive until spring. Your time and money might be better spent just buying a $100 box of bees come spring from a bee keeper. Multiplying bees in your own bee yard is much easier then doing cutouts.
Free bees this time of year is akin to finding an old heavy CRT based TV sitting along the road. Not something I want; even for free.
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Thanks everyone...never even noticed the 2005...
Chris
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I love FREE bees. That are bees that the homeowner wants someone to come get for free. And most beekeepers are so accustomed of doing nothing but collect FREE bees, they are not willing to do much more than knocking a swarm in a box. And nobody wants to extract FREE bees from a wall.
So what happens is homeowners are left with no beekeeper willing to come out and get FREE bees when there is a little work involved.
So in the end, I go out, and do the work. This Saturday, the bill was 653.50 for the same bees others wanted for free, but were not willing to get them. Glad the homeowner, who was told by other beekeepers that they would be "collected" for free until the beekeeper looked at the house and suddenly decided free was not a good thing, understood that free also meant that nobody really wanted them.
I got the "Free" bees, and was paid 653 dollars to get them. ;)
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I got the "Free" bees, and was paid 653 dollars to get them. ;)
I'm glad you got a check for them because unless they are jumping into a hive body when I get there, I dont even want to mess with them. No telling how much gas Ive wasted going to bee calls, explaining the time and effort the job would require only to be hit with the same old 'well I'll just go buy a can of spray' or the 'I thought bees were endangered so you should do it for free to save the bees'. I even got hit with the "how much will you pay me to come get them" spill before. I'm truly envious of someone that can get paid to do a bee removal because I'm not having much luck with it.
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K9,
We get lots of the same stories. My favorite was the homeowner(s) who state that they were told by the last beekeeper that came out to the house that "It would be free" for the service. I try to say it without to much of a smile, that perhaps they should call the last beekeeper up and get him to come back. ;)
Half of my calls involve folks who tried to kill them off a week or two earlier, but could not. This makes any comb or honey a waste. And most pest control guys will not do extractions. And the days of them spraying the hole with sevin dust, and leaving behind a hundred pounds of honey in the wall, while walking away with a nice check, is mostly over.
So many of the calls are the "last resort" type, from homeowners who tried various things, prior to calling me. If I am the first one called, I know they will balk at the fee. But after a few good questions, I know the story. And to be fair, I sometimes suggest they contact a local club to see if anyone wants to do it for free. Then I nicely state that if they can not get anyone else, then they should keep my phone number handy.
I run into all types of situations. Like you, I have had some state they want paid to allow me to come and get them. The bee industry has degraded an important service over the years and continue to feed the idea that beekeepers should drop what they are doing, go out and spend hour upon hour, trying to "save" the endangered bees. It is a great angle for homeowners who could care less about bees, yet want something for nothing.
And yes......half of my calls are for yellow jackets and hornets. Since I charge a fee even for swarm removal unless it is close by or near one of my yards, I just go ahead and take care of these problems also since I have the equipment and I am there anyways.
I outline our services on this page. http://www.bjornapiaries.com/beeswarmremoval.html (http://www.bjornapiaries.com/beeswarmremoval.html)
It keep the number of calls down except those needing a service they are willing to pay for. We don't spend so much wasted time.
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Is anything really "free" ? Everything in life if you think about it costs something, except perhaps a smile. ;)
...JP
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Is anything really "free" ? Everything in life if you think about it costs something, except perhaps a smile. ;)
...JP
Even a smile costs...I come from a long line of natural born scowlers and to make my rather disdainful looking face do something its not used to, takes considerable effort. LoL.
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:lau:
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20 plus calls this summer for cutouts 1 willing to pay. Had 1 lady give me 20 bucks for gas as i drove 40 miles to get a swarm that was hanging for 3 days. SOME of these calls were 150 miles round trip still did not want to pay.
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I tell them I charge a fee for removals before I leave the house. I also ask them to email me a pic if it sounds like the "bees" might not really be honey bees. That has saved some effort on my part a few times this year. I had plenty of calls only a few truned out to be something other than honey bees. I did 20 bee removals this year....one yellow jacket removal because I was there. I did have some people balk a bit about paying but once I explained to them the future results of they're moment of spraying they wanted me to get everything out of the wall. Only 2 guys declined to have their bees removed when the called me. I look forward to hearing from them next year. :)