What makes a chicken coop easy to live with?

[TheChookKeeper]

Hello all,

 

I ordered my shiny new beehaus a few weeks ago, and got a delivery date of the end of April - due to the cold weather, the bees aren't available until then.

I ordered the bees through Omlet too, you see.

 

I'm still a bit unclear as to where the bees are going to be coming from? I understand Omlet aren't sending them out with the hive (probably just as well - my building skills leave a lot to be desired... and if they were waiting for me to build their house... they may be waiting a long time!).

 

I believe they arrange for me to collect them locally - is this the case? I assume they make sure they arrive on the correct frames etc.?

Speaking to the chap around here who "does" all the nucs, he seems to think the frames the beehaus uses are "hardly used by anyone around here". (In Kent, by the way).

 

So - who knows. I'm just a bit worried that I'll either get the BeeHaus, and then the bees will be waiting around for me to build it... which will make me do it wrong (!), or that I'll build it, be all excited... then have another 3 week wait while some bees are found for me?

 

Does anyone know how delivery of it all works?

 

Thanks!

[Egluntyne]

I think your best bet is to contact Omlet by telephone after the bank holiday weekend, for clarification.

[Kermit]

Bit of a problem this, as some areas are very wary of bringing in bees from outside. Around Whitby they are trying to sort out a strain that attack varroa and don't like bees coming in from outside. Other areas don't have varroa yet (Islands of Scotland etc). How are Omlet working around this?

 

I personally would prefer to have bees from my area - are southern lager shandy drinking bees up to the bitter windy Yorkshire Dales?