I am just starting beekeeping and I was told by Dadant that I could contact a local distributor. I spoke with him this morning and he said that I may not be able to get bees because the post office isn't shipping them. Is this true? The man I spoke with is driving down South to pick up 250 orders to bring back to NJ. He said he would try to get more but won't know if they're available until the end of this upcoming week. I read in the catalogs that March 15 is the cut-off for placing orders and I don't want to wait until the last minute. Any suggestions? - Sheryl

-- Sheryl in NJ (all295@aol.com), March 09, 2002

Answers

the Post Office is still shipping them,, found out from the mail carrier today. There are places that will take orders after that date,, but your usually getting the "bottom of the barrell" of bees at that point. Another way,,is to find a local,, and buy a split from them

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 09, 2002.

You could also get on a list for "splits" this spring. There is generally a list of locals that will let you know if they find a swarm. Call your county extension office to find out how. Hives will naturally split up sometimes in spring and it isn't very hard to catch one. Of course, you'll have to wait a little longer for them to get started, but in the height of flower season, bees can work really fast and fill up supers at amazing speed.

-- Karen Braun (jbraun@one.net), March 12, 2002.