A lady phoned me today chasing a colony of quiet bees. She bought a Flow Hive, however she is allergic to bees & has to carry an Epipen. I assume by the vein of the conversation that she intends on working the bees herself. I’m starting to wonder if I should refrain from selling her the bees.
That’s the problem selling bees isn’t it Jeff?
The first lot I sold were promptly so mismanaged that the chap lost the queen and her replacement then the bees. He assured me he know what he was doing. Put me right off selling again. All you can do is offer her advice and maybe mentorship over the phone and warn her maybe keeping bees is not for her. If she is still set on it steer her towards immunotherapy? Good luck. Oh and how’s the winter so far?
Oh dear, I think I may have “lost” one of Jeff’s bees but his girls promptly made another queen for me. My eyesight is a bit ordinary these days. I’ve learnt to hold the frames over the open hive and be as gentle as possible.
I think you may have missed Jeff’s point a bit. I think the issue is selling a nuc to someone who is allergic to bees. I would be checking the person knows they must suit up with the proper gear as well as carrying the Epipen. My lovely lady has an allergy to ticks but I don’t try and stop her gardening whenever she feels up to it. Her Epipen is always handy and we know the protocol if and when a tick finds her.
I broadened the discussion. That’s all.
I’ll stick to the point, then.
If this lady has an Epipen as a contingency for a anaphylaxis then she must have pursued the possibility of being stung while keeping bees surely?
If Jeff doesn’t sell her the bees somebody else will. At least Jeff helps folk out and his post sales support is excellent, I hear.
Thank you @Dee & @sciencemaster. I think we’re into spring now Dee. I’m busy with swarm control at the moment. Also some of my hives got a bit run down, so I’m fixing them up at the same time. I think I spent too much time on the net as well as other things that distracted me.
I wonder if the lady with the allergy got drawn to the flow hive because of the misconception that you don’t have to disturb the bees. Then she thought that all she needs is a quiet colony.
Wilma got really concerned when I told her that the lady has to carry an epipen.
Getting back to your first question Dee, yes it is. I’m sure a lot of the colonies I sold haven’t ended well. A bloke ordered 2 colonies from me last year, he left me with 2 boxes & frames & a $100, however the frames were unworkable, I told him the frames had to be done again so he took them away & was going to bring me some replacements. That was last November & I still haven’t seen the frames yet or heard a word from him. There’s no point in me nagging him. If I did nag him, I might nag him into taking bees that will only end bad.
Wilma is a smart lady. But not all wannabe beekeepers are smart. I think that @Dee is absolutely right, if she thinks she wants to keep bees, that lady will get them from somewhere. Better that she gets them from a caring supplier with an expert nurse wife, than she goes wild somewhere else… On the other hand, I don’t know what the legal system is like in Aus. Maybe you could write out a disclaimer form and get her to sign it, absolving you from any responsibility in her allergic reactions? Sounds ridiculous, but it might be wise…
Hi Dawn, thanks, I think that’s a great idea. I’ve been busy the last couple of hours. Some irresponsible, cheeky, rude, selfish person dumped an old silk oak & ply wardrobe under the tree outside the gate of my main bee site. The timing was impeccable, I couldn’t believe my luck:), right when I’m scratching around for ply & bits of wood to make more bee bases & lids to replace some old rotten ones.