So who are those on time, a week late, and those who are a month behind?
I ordered mine from Hardemans on December 1, 2010 42 minutes after they started taking orders. They asked me what week I wanted bees. I passed on earlier dates in March and scheduled for 9 April. At this time, I am looking at 7 May, as a "we might have bees on this date" and if they do, they already stated they will cut my order in half, with the other half being ready at some future time after that.
It would not be that bad except the guy down the street, who already had his entire order filled last week by "H&R" or "H&L" (some letters like that) was allowed to add to his order with an unscheduled pickup due to extras, and is making another run tomorrow. Meanwhile Hardemans has gone to a "We don't schedule anymore....we just have a big list and fill them as we can" type setup. I sold based on marketing Hardemans, had a tentative date (I know there are always delays), and now can not even tell my customers when to expect the bees as Hardemans refuses to actually schedule a date, even though for several weeks now it's been "Maybe next week" which just seems to be pushed further and further back.
Hard to believe one supplier is on time and some have extra packages, while the guy down the road has a 5 week delay. I'm not convinced that "weather" is the main culprit. Overbooking, management, and playing favorites to long standing customers probably has something to do with it.
I'll be filling some of my earlier nuc orders well ahead of the time we may get our packages from Georgia. And we have had crappy weather as well. :roll:
