Photo above: small stingless bee colony from a rescue. Don’t buy this kind of colony.
1. Research
Ultimately it’s up to the buyer to research the subject and learn all about bees, boxes and conditions. There’s many stories of buyers asking for help after their colony has died out a few months after purchase. Learn where to place your hive in your yard for summer and winter conditions.
2. Buy from a reputable seller
If you’re not sure what you’re looking at it’s safer to buy from a reputable seller that can provide information and back up service. Most sellers are good and want you to have a good experience buying your first hive.
There are more and more instances of buyers getting scammed from the start. Paying online to a Facebook seller and then …. crickets. Even buying a colony on Facebook from someone that only has one colony and doesn’t know anything about native bees is a big risk as they don’t really know the condition of the colony they’re selling.
3. Make sure there’s some kind of guarantee on the colony
*There’s no legal requirement for the seller to offer any guarantee on a stingless bee colony.
It’s an accepted industry practice to sell recently split or transferred colonies. This is usually backed up by the sellers guarantee. Buying from unknown sellers might be cheaper, but also is higher risk of loss with no back up service or guarantee. Make sure there’s a 6 to 12 month guarantee on the colony.
4. Avoid recent “rescues/transfers”
I would generally advise against buying a recently rescued colony. You might think you’re doing something good buying a rescued colony and the bees may look good when you collect but the success rate for “rescued” colonies can be low and these can slowly die out over months. The weak colony should be allowed to grow in size and strength before being sold. This could take six months to one year. If you do buy a “rescue” make sure there’s a 6 to 12 month guarantee on the survival if you’re paying for it.
5. Established colonies
Some sellers will supply established colonies. This is a colony that they have kept untouched for a year or so and know it to be healthy and strong. The seller may say there’s no guarantee on it but will still offer support as long as you don’t mess with it.
6. Can’t blame the seller for everything
After all of the above, there is still risk of a colony dieing out and it’s not the sellers fault. Colonies can become queenless or go through poor conditions during winter and have a lack of resources in your area. There are pests that wipe out the colony quickly. The hive can overheat in summer and die. These are some things that you have to accept and can’t blame the seller for. See point “1 Research”.
7. Get the book!
Buy and read Tim Heard’s “Australian Native Bee Book“.
8. Read every article on this website! 🙂
Photo: small stingless bee colony in a water meter box. Don’t buy this kind of colony.
