guy wanted to buy burr comb

[danno]

yesterday a guy called me looking for burr comb.  when I asked him why he wanted it he told me he didn't want to tell me.  I had a bunch in a bucket and money is money so I sold it for 5.00.  He then told me he was raising wax worms from greater wax moths to sell for fish bait. 

[Hemlock]

!I would have used him as fish bait!  Hope he had a long drive to get to your place.  However I have heard the worms are an excellent bait.

Still, something about that isn't kosher.

[jsmob]

I would sale all the wax to him that he wanted. Better to get paid for it.
Then giving the wax moth a free lunch! :evil: :-D

[BjornBee]

Price isn't dictated by use is it?

He was quoted a price, and paid that price. I think what he uses it for is his business. Asking him what he wanted it for, is quite personal in my opinion. Is that a sellers right or standard question? I can't see whether the details of the pudding would of changed the price, the transaction, or anything else.

If he said he was melting it down to make firestarters...what would the price be?

[wfuavenger]

I don't think that is the issue. Burr comb is kinda an odd request. I would have asked him as well. I think I might have sold it for more than $5 if it was a full bucket, for whatever use. It never hurts to ask. You might end up getting into business with him.

Sounds fishy to me though. If he didnt want to say, I probably would have told him it is $15 for unknown secret use. Waxworms is not really that "secret." makes me think he is doing something else.

[BjornBee]

And why would you care what he does with it? It sounds fishy? So what.

Do I ask what people are doing with my honey? I'm sure some eat it, some get kinky with it, some bake with it, shampoo with it, and so on. I could care less. I sell it, they buy it. Not my business to ask questions of my customers or determine what they do with it once it leaves my hands. I could never imagine me needing to ask why someone needs something, before deciding to sell something.

Still don't get why a seller needs to know what a buyer is doing with a purchased product.

I'm missing this completely. I'm not saying this to nitpick. I just simply do not get it.

[D Coates]

I guess he knew some beekeepers hate waxmoths.  I don't like them but getting upset at them is like getting mad at a buzzard for going after roadkill.

Personally I don't care what they're going to do with it unless it's criminal.  Considering what it is I'm selling it's all but harmless and I'll take the money with a smile.

[David LaFerney]

Waxworms that are used for bait will never infest a bee hive.  More power to him.

[beee farmer]

Easy Bjorn!!  You gotta admit burcomb / scrapings is a slightly odd request.   He probably simply asked in an effort to better meet his customers needs, the customer "might" have been wanting to make candles or somthing that where that type of wax would not be usable.  I seriously doupt that Danno was trying to get personal with him OR invade the mans privacy. No reason to nip at his booty!

[doak]

could be he just didn't want to pay market price for bees wax, #1 being 4+$ a pound. as for candles don't see why it wouldn't be just as good as comb wax. same thing. I don't think bees wax is on a contra ban list. :roll: :)doak

I am thinking of installing some drone foundation to raise some fish bait. :shock:

[beee farmer]

Ok ok  ..... "where that type of wax would not be usable" should read "where that type of wax would not be AS usable without more filtering"  gheezzz!  never mind ... I retract any comment ... you all just pick at each other .. I got better things to do .

[doak]

Also understand what bur comb is. It comes from the bees attempting to build more come in places where they believe is too large to seal up with bee glue, plus they are getting crowded and need more room. I stand by this. :)doak

[BjornBee]

beee farmer,
This is just another example of over reading the comments and being way too sensitive, as if almost always assuming the worst and thinking people are trying to be difficult.

My comments, if you read them, are not even directed at Danno, even though you state they do. One person, based solely on the details Danno gave, seems to want to tar and feather the buyer, because he did not answer a question. That to me anyways, seems to pry into his privacy.

Another reply suggests something was not "Kosher" and it sounded "fishy".

That is what I'm curious about. Why?

Why is it a sellers responsibility to know why a buyer is buying something. Danno told a simple story. Then it evolved into some rather interesting comments about sellers somehow given stance of asking buyers personal questions, or at least needing to know. I say Danno made a sale, got his asking price, and beyond that, it is a done deal. No need to know, no need to assume anything.

What kills me, is a seller can ask personal questions of a buyer, yet I can not ask the reasoning for asking those questions without it being taken as some sort of negative or an attack. If you feel that way about an open discussion on a forum, put yourself into buyers shoes, who are being grilled about why they are buying, what their intentions are, what their use will be and so on. Kind of a bit of irony..... ;)

[danno]

I dont feel like I have been slammed here.    This guy works at the local grain elevator about 1/4 from my farm.   I have bought feed from him many many times.  I wasn't getting nosey just more making conversation.  What he does with the comb doesn't bother me in the least infact I will most likely will start selling him my old culled brood frames instead of burning them

[wfuavenger]

I would ask merely out of curiosity. If someone went up to you and asked you if they could specifically buy Bounty papertowels and no other kind from your kitchen, it would seem a bit odd, and you might ask why specifically Bounty, but you would give them up anyway. Honey is pretty straight foreward when it comes to its uses. Specifically asking for "burr comb wax" and not "wax" is kinda specific.

It is also like beee farmer said, the gentleman might just be getting into soap making or candle making and not know any difference from burr comb and propolis. You should always do your part to help someone.

If it were me, I would have still sold it to him cheap no matter what he said, but I personally like to see what is going on in every area of the hobby. Raising wax moth larvae is one area.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Seems to me that the fella wanting to raise wax worms would do much better using old brood comb instead of burr comb.  The larva would have more protein in the cocoon castings and pollen left in the brood cells.

I know that some beeks will have moth hives just for the purpose of cleaning old frames.  I wouldn't like the damage they do to the wood so I don't think that is for me.

[Scadsobees]

That's a great idea!!  You can buy kits with the worms and special wax moth food, you can find these on reptile or frog websites.  But if its cheaper to just buy the burr comb...  In fact, I remember reading on one of the forums about somebody who kept an empty hive that he would just put old comb in there and the moth caterpillars would just chew all the wax out for him, and he'd take the grubs for fishing.

If I find more than a few of those dirty buggers (all I got is lessers) I'll feed them to my fish too.

I think his secrecy made it feel weirder and trigger more curiosity, but he was just afraid that the beekeeper would think he was consorting with the enemy.

Rick

[danno]

"consorting with the enemy"  is exactly what he thought so he was alittle sheepish about asking