Selling hives?

[Aroc]

In our state hobbiest are really only allowed to have 10 hives per household.  To be quite honest, don?t really want more than that. 

I know this is a hard question to ask, but any ideas how much a hive might sell for?  Not a nuc but a 10 frame hive, single deep with new queen.  Fully drawn comb and good laying pattern for about a month now.

Just thought it might be a way to make a couple bucks and lower our inventory.

[Acebird]

If you are a back yard beekeeper be happy if you can get half of what they are worth.  Most likely they will be purchased by a commercial opperator and he may just resell them for what they are worth.
Try for 1oo bucks.

[eltalia]

In our state hobbiest are really only allowed to have 10 hives per household.  To be quite honest, don?t really want more than that. 

I know this is a hard question to ask, but any ideas how much a hive might sell for?  Not a nuc but a 10 frame hive, single deep with new queen.  Fully drawn comb and good laying pattern for about a month now.

Just thought it might be a way to make a couple bucks and lower our inventory.

Trust this... when you operate at the lower end of a market you attract the
dregs of the marketplace, folk who never have and never will appreciate the
value of an item. Here (AUS) they are known politely as "tyrekickers" and are
the bane of those who slash pricing.
If I were in your situation I would seriously study methods to control numbers
aka "swarm control" in maintaining CM, anything else and 10 colonys could
turn into 100 in one season and so swamp your interest in selling to a highly
critical market.

Bill

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

In our state hobbiest are really only allowed to have 10 hives per household.  To be quite honest, don?t really want more than that. 

Aroc, what does the state do if a person has more than 10 hives???
Blessings

[beepro]

It is all about your local market.  Try to search on CL to see what they are
selling around your area.

Over here a 5 frames nuc hive with a new queen will sell from $130-150 in the
early Spring.  The price will drop somewhat by mid-summer as there are more bees
available.  A full double deep hive will sell for $300 in early Spring as they are hard to come
by then.   So the local market depends on the Law of Supply and Demand.  You can put
an ads on CL to see what will bite.  Set your price a bit higher so that there will be room to negotiate.   Who would not
want a $10 off.

[BeeMaster2]

I would not sell a 10 frame proven hive for less than $250. In your area, more like $300 or more. This past spring a seller in PA advertised 5 frame nucs for $225 if you pick it up. Add another $70 bucks to have it shipped.
Jim

[Beeboy01]

A complete hive with 10 frames and a laying queen goes for $250.00 or more around here in Florida. Don't forget you have around $75.00 of wood ware, foundation and assembly time in the hive also. $100.00 is way too little, don't sell yourself short, bees are a big seller.
  Package bees were selling for $189.00 and 5 frame nucs were going for $150.00 this spring so a complete hive should go for a lot more.

[cao]

Just my opinion, but if nucs are selling for $150+, I wouldn't sell a full box of bees for less than $250(and that would be giving them away IMO).  If you sell them for less you might as well keep them and sell nucs from them in the spring.

[Aroc]

We were thinking $275.00.  If they don?t sell not a big deal.  I?d never sell one for $100.00.  The woodenware is worth that much.  Thanks for the information.  You never know.

[beepro]

The only way to know is with a test ads!

[Acebird]

I just sold 2 hives, 5 medium boxes each for $250.  One had a lot of honey, one had a lot of brood.  I know it was a low price but I chose who got the gift.  I think $250 a piece would be fair.

[yes2matt]

We were thinking $275.00.  If they don?t sell not a big deal.  I?d never sell one for $100.00.  The woodenware is worth that much.  Thanks for the information.  You never know.

If you want 275, ask for 325.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

[Acebird]

If you want 275, ask for 325.

If your price is too high no one will answer.  They will think you are a dreamer and ignore the ad.

[BeeMaster2]

Brian,
I bet he will end up with more than person willing to buy it at the $325.
Jim

[Acebird]

Just saying Jim, I offered my hives to club members for 200 each.  Not one response at that price.  Plenty that would do me a favor and take them off my hands but not willing to pay for them.   Some of the boxes and frames were brand new.  Yes, I probably could have sold them to a newbie for a much higher price and walked away.  They would have been completely overwhelmed and most likely killed them with kindness.
Another option would have been to leave the hives right where they were and just come up every fall and extract 5 gallons.  As a beehaver for almost 7 years I consider that irresponsible and not wise for liability issues.
The magic numbers that you see on the net for bees are for those that have a history of selling bees.  You are not going to get those prices if you are a back yard beek with no previous history of selling bees.  It is no different than selling cars or what ever.

[BeeMaster2]

Ace,
Did you see Eltalia?s post about laughing at a for sale for 500 Aus  for junk hives that did not fit and then they were sold in 2 hours?
Jim

[Acebird]

I did.  I also got a feeling it was sold to unsuspecting newbies.  I don't feel good about that.  And I don't want to encourage that kind of behavior.  It gives me the feeling of one beekeeper stealing from another.  Bad karma.

[Aroc]

The wife and I have discussed not selling to a newbie.  Like ACE we?d rather not.  I don?t want to be responsible for someone else?s neglect.  Not that that won?t happen.  You just kind of get attached to these ?bugs?

[BeeMaster2]

If none of us sell bees to newbees, then for the most part our hobby will die. How did you get bees?  Someone sold them to you and then you had to learn how to take care of them. That is what this board is all about, helping each other learn about bees.
Jim

[beepro]

Jim is right.  If nobody help out the newbie then pretty soon there won't be anybody involve in this
hobby.   I will sell to newbie who's willing to learn the bee secret not to one that only want to collect
honey but neglecting the bees when the season is over.   

5 mediums selling at that price is very cheap.  If you price it at $300 I'm sure the hives will sell too.  Make sure you
can recover your initial cost when you price them.

[gww]

Saw.....

If none of us sell bees to newbees, then for the most part our hobby will die. How did you get bees?  Someone sold them to you and then you had to learn how to take care of them. That is what this board is all about, helping each other learn about bees.
Jim

Thumbs up
Cheers
gww

[Michael Bush]

>In our state hobbiest are really only allowed to have 10 hives per household.

How?  By legislation?  What would that legislation look like?

[Acebird]

http://agr.mt.gov/Bees

Hobbyist: An apiary placed by permission on someone's property and limited to not more than 5 hives per individual or 10 per household. There is no minimum distance required between hobbyist apiaries. Hobbyist registrations are voluntary, however, beekeepers who choose to register must pay all program fees.

Not very strong regulation because if you don't register how do they know how many apiaries you have?

[Aroc]

Thank you Ace. I was looking for that verbiage.

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Bee laws per state would make a great new topic.  I believe it is so pertinent that a new thread should be made.  Do it,,,,I?m gonna look up Arkansas law sobI can copy and paste.
Blessings

[Aroc]

I was about to start one.  Was thinking the same way.  I?m at work so it won?t happen for awhile if I start one