Spring Nucleus Colonies In Your Area

[Ben Framed]

What are the prices of Five Frame Nucleus Colonies going for in your area?

[The15thMember]

Around me most places are in the $175-$180 range. 

[Pittwater Pete]

I just paid $280 each for my two new nucs. Sydney, Australia.
That included all new equipment I.e nuc box and frames/foundation.

Pete.

[Jim134]

A friend of mine makes about 10,000 nuc's a year.. This year's prices 2022 is $170..  If you are buying under 10.. Yes this is in New England.. USA


                  BEE HAPPY  Jim134   

[The15thMember]

I just paid $280 each for my two new nucs. Sydney, Australia.
That included all new equipment I.e nuc box and frames/foundation.

Pete.

Based on the exchange rate of US and Australian dollars, that's not that much more than around here. 

[Bob Wilson]

First year plans to sell. I was thinking of charging $120. I have people interested. Maybe I am lowballing.

[Ben Framed]

First year plans to sell. I was thinking of charging $120. I have people interested. Maybe I am lowballing.

"I have people interested."


No doubt you do. Of course you can sell at any price you wish. But you might want to reconsider, (if you have not already committed). Now, if you have committed your word should be your bond.  ..........
I just checked man lake and just their packages alone are listed as follows: 

Package Bees with Queen -

OHB Italian - Shipped
BE-999
Package Bees with Queen - OHB Italian - Shipped
$214.95 229.95

[TheHoneyPump]

Present wholesale value of a package of bees
Plus
Present retail cost of new frames
Plus
Present wholesale value of 10-12 lbs of honey
Plus
Present retail value of 3 lbs of pollen or sub
Plus
Present cost of the nuc box
Plus
1 hour of labour at present rate
Plus retail cost of treatments
Plus target business margin (20-60% pending your model)

A nucleus colony product is superior to a package in every way, to the buyer/receiver.  A nucleus colony product has the added equipment and labour, which have costs, and the price should always reflect that value.  Folks selling nucs at price comparable to packages either;  do not know what they are doing (willy-nilly), are looking for a spot to sink business losses, or are have excess/unwanted equipment to get rid of.

Do your own math on your operation. Know what your bottom line number is.  That is how you should price your stuff.

Around here (Cdn$, FOB truck tailgate) 2021
- packages 220-260
- nucs 295-330
- will be 6 to 9 % higher for 2022 due to inflation causing escalating equipment costs. 

Hope that helps.

[Ben Framed]

TheHoneyPump

Hope that helps.

It does thank you.

[Bee North]

I'm currently selling nucs for $220 up here in North QLD, $250 if you want to include a corflute box.

[Bob Wilson]

I stand enlightened and corrected. $120 is way off. As a hobbyist I can discount my time (which is substantial) and sell cheap, but I am trying to recoup some of my expenses for the last 3 years. I will reconsider, since I have not mentioned any prices yet. Thanks.

[rast]

$150.  Central Florida.

[Oldbeavo]

HP's comments are correct but in our case some other things come into play.

We split off nucs for swarm control, so from 350 hives this year we ended up with 110 nucs.
They grow there own queens.
There is a limited time in the season to sell the nucs, late Spring, they are sold with laying queen and capped brood.
So our pricing is set to sell about 60 of these nucs in a relatively short time.
Our price is $180 in the customers box, most are picked up at dusk and we load them into the hive and the customer tales them home.

[Bob Wilson]

Two well known Georgia beekeepers are selling for $175 and $230. Those may be last years prices on their websites.

[Brian MCquilkin]

This year overwintered nucs will be around $185

[cao]

The last couple of years I sold a few for $150.  I am selling too cheap but, I'm just selling a few for the extra spending money.  Most are selling for $175 or more, including the local bee store that is selling them for $190.

[Lesgold]

I sold 4 or 5 this season for $150 each. They were only made for swarm control measures and made their own queens.  No box was included in that price.

[Bob Wilson]

How much do you sell a second year queen (overwintered nuc) which is proven and in her second year stride, as opposed to a new spring queen nuc?

[Ben Framed]

How much do you sell a second year queen (overwintered nuc) which is proven and in her second year stride, as opposed to a new spring queen nuc?

Bob I haven't sold Nucs (yet), so I rely heavily on experienced beekeepers opinions which I 'trust' in areas I have a lack of first hand experience. 
I will add a quote from TheHoneyPump posted here past August 2021 for our consideration concerning spring nucs.

Adding when I started the topic "Spring Nucleus Colonies In Your Area" what I meant was, How much will nucs be going for in your area this Spring? I feel like a real "dummy" not being fluent in my choice of words. 
 

Phillip

TheHoneyPump

"All if my nuc sales are my overwintered 6-8 month old nucs. I will rarely sell younger queen as a nuc until she is at minimum approaching the end of her 2nd brood cycle. In this way I get very very few callbacks about problems.  With new queens, new nucs, those calls can quadruple if the buyers are novice or newbee.
All that said, in the end, whatever the customer wants I guess. Newer has to be better right?  (that has not been my experience). Buyers who insist on that brand new queen .. I pass them along to my competitors, and I move on to the next persons on the waiting list who knows and appreciates what they are getting in a well established nucleus colony."

[Bob Wilson]

Question about overwintering nucs.
The recommendation for a standard mid-Georgia hive is 30-35 lbs of honey to overwinter. But that won't fit in an occupied five frame nuc. How can a nuc colony survive the winter with less resources? Or if the nuc has a smaller cluster and can live on less honey, then why doesn't the queen of a standard size hive also decrease laying to create a smaller nuc sized cluster?