I have two 3lb. packages arriving the week of 27 April. They are insured and the supplier's policy is to replace DOA packages one time. My concern is in evaluating the packages when they arrive. What are the criteria for deciding that a package did not make it? Is there a ratio of dead to live bees that marks some decision making threshold? I don't want to call a package dead that will actually survive, make a claim and then, essentially steal a free package from the supplier. By the same token, I don't want to accept delivery of a package that is doomed, simply because I don't have enough experience to know that enough bees didn't make it alive. Any advice would be appreciated.
One last question: I assume that if a package is declared 'dead' at the post office, it will still have some live bees and possibly a queen in it. What happens to those bees? Does the post office keep them, does the customer keep them, do they go back to the supplier? Thanks for any help.