Beek Suppliers Betterbee / Mannlake

SystemShark · May 07, 2008, 06:52:00 PM

This is more for my venting purposes than anything but maybe this will be someone who has yet to purchase their equipment yet. I know its the busy season for them but still...

I ordered the majority of my hive equipment from BetterBee. The smoker I ordered was on backorder so they held the processing of my order for a day until I called them and told them to just upgrade me to a larger / more expensive smoker that they had instock. The lady there was really nice and rather than waiting and paying more shipping she helped me out and got the issue resolved.... until today when I get a phone call saying they held my order again because the underestimated the shipping by around 20$... so I had to give them the green light to charge my card again for the extra shipping =(

Today I got my most of my smaller items from MannLake. I ordered a few cardboard hiveboxes (high hopes!), a queen marker, queen catcher clip and the tube and two jackets /w hoods. The smaller sized jacket for my girlfriend came in however my jacket didn't. On the bill there is just a dashed line in the quantity shipped with no indication to its status. So i called in and as I guessed its on backorder... nplemo I'm a patient person...but now I have to pay a separate shipping charge >< I wish they would have called me like betterbee did.

Anyway everything looks really high quality and as excited as ever to get started. If I don't find a swarm soon I'll be getting my first bees from a guy at the beekeep club who is still making splits at the end of this month. Hopfully all my gear will be here by then and I will have some time to paint the hives.

Anyone else have similar issues with these companies? Happy or disapointed with their service/products?

Thanks for reading.. ahhh.. I feel better now =)))

JordanM · May 07, 2008, 06:58:15 PM

I'm buying the plastic pollen trap for betterbee and they shipped it yesturday and it should be here tommorow. No problems yet i hope i like it and it works.

Sean Kelly · May 07, 2008, 07:07:57 PM

I'm glad you feel better. Sometimes its good to vent to friends. lol

I've only had one small problem with Mannlake last year when they didn't send a book I ordered with everything else. No note or call why. I called them and they told me they were out of those at the California branch my order was placed at and that it was shipping from somewhere back east. Would have been nice if they would have just called or emailed or something. Oh well, I'm also patient and the book finally arived.

Never had any problems with Betterbee. Actually Betterbee is one of my favorite bee supply places, next to Walter T. Kelley and Western Bee. I love the Betterbee pro beesuit. I had a Mannlake smoker before and hated it. Got a "Smoker Cloud" from Walter T. Kelley and I love it!!

Just take a deep breath and know that it's all gunna be okay. Both these companies are really great places and they live for our business and beekeeping. I'm sure the last thing they want to do is upset their customers. We are definately deep in the middle of the busy season and no matter who you order from, I'm sure you're gunna have a few issues. Especially if you're placing big orders.

Sean Kelly

DaveKow · May 07, 2008, 07:16:39 PM

I feel your pain. It is our rookie season (preseason). It will all be good.

I just got out of my own personal waiting room. Three weeks late on my packages. Got them yesterday and all is good again. My first packages were almost as exciting as jumping out of a plane.

Anyway, good luck.

Dave

bassman1977 · May 07, 2008, 08:52:00 PM

I typically order from Mannlake and have satisfactory results with the exception of my last order. I bought about 100 medium wood frames. That was about a month and a half ago. I still have yet to get them. I called a few weeks ago and they said that they retooled the machine that makes the frames or some part of the frame, whatever and that they were 3 weeks back ordered. They need to get a move on because I am plum out and I have absolutely no more spare equipment.

BeeHopper · May 07, 2008, 10:01:16 PM

I have been buying from Betterbee since 2005 and I couldn't be happier, their customer service is top notch, I have a geographical advantage with Betterbee, I receive everything in one day. :-D

KONASDAD · May 07, 2008, 11:58:18 PM

I too order from betterbee and they are excellent. Once they didn't have something, but I usually get my items sooner than they say i will get them. Its a real busy season and more new beeks then ever before. This might explain why some of your items are un available.

johnnybigfish · May 08, 2008, 12:27:13 AM

I ordered 5 cardboard nuc boxes and 24 1 lb plastic bottles.....Came to about 53$
Today i got the entire statement....Freight was 26$
Thats about 1/3rd the cost of my order.
I bought wood stuff recently.....Freight was almost the same as the cost of equipment!
Fuel is gonna break us!

your friend,
john

indypartridge · May 08, 2008, 07:57:57 AM

I'm always recommending that beekeepers "get connected" with local clubs and/or other nearby beeks. One reason is buying equipment. Combining orders to save on shipping. Another, even bigger reason, is that I've often found that new beekeepers are ordering equipment from the (distant) big suppliers without knowing there's a small supplier nearby. Just earlier this week I was listening to a local beek complain about shipping costs on woodenware. He didn't know there's a distributor of bee supplies less than 8 miles from his house!

SystemShark: I don't know where in Western PA you're located, but I see there's a Mann Lake distributor in Chicora, north of Pittsburgh...

SystemShark · May 08, 2008, 10:06:53 AM

Quote from: indypartridge on May 08, 2008, 07:57:57 AM
SystemShark: I don't know where in Western PA you're located, but I see there's a Mann Lake distributor in Chicora, north of Pittsburgh...

Well darned, I didn't know that :p Probobly why I got my partial order so quick tho. Its only about an hour or so from me (i'm close to Pittsburgh) so maybe next time I can just drive up there myself for the adventure!

bassman1977 · May 08, 2008, 10:11:50 AM

QuoteSystemShark: I don't know where in Western PA you're located, but I see there's a Mann Lake distributor in Chicora, north of Pittsburgh...

Well darned, I didn't know that :p Probobly why I got my partial order so quick tho. Its only about an hour or so from me (i'm close to Pittsburgh) so maybe next time I can just drive up there myself for the adventure!

Shoot...I didn't know that either.

KONASDAD · May 08, 2008, 11:15:40 AM

Totally agree w/ Shawn. By joining club I know of multiple ways to get woddenware and save on shipping, by locally as well. Also, many major companies have drop sites where they carry Mann lake or Dadant for example. Mann lake has a drop site about 45 minutes from me and that beek makes woodenware as well.

BeeHopper · May 08, 2008, 07:50:52 PM

Quote from: KONASDAD on May 08, 2008, 11:15:40 AM
Totally agree w/ Shawn. By joining club I know of multiple ways to get woddenware and save on shipping, by locally as well. Also, many major companies have drop sites where they carry Mann lake or Dadant for example. Mann lake has a drop site about 45 minutes from me and that beek makes woodenware as well.

I'm stuck on Betterbee because I like the extra 1/8" thickness on their woodenware. Their deeps and supers are 7/8" instead of 3/4" for everyone else. :-D

stoweski · May 08, 2008, 08:13:51 PM

Another newbee here. I started beekeeping this year with my significant other. We found Betterbee and decided to go with them because of the fact that we are only an hour away. So even though gas prices are high they are nowhere near the price of shipping. :)

They have treated us great so far. They have made a few mistakes on our orders but have always come through and have straightened them out. I do believe they have grown to big for their britches, however. They seem to take in a lot of orders and sometimes make simple mistakes that could be avoided if they weren't in such a rush.

As for their backordered items, I wonder if it is them or their supplier who is causing the delay. I do know they just built a rather large addition on to their building that *could* serve as a warehouse. Maybe they are planning on keeping popular items in stock so that they lower the frequency of their backorders.

I think if there is one thing that I do have a concern about it's the fact that their bees have been delayed for a second week now. We were suppose to pick up our first package on the 3rd and it's been pushed back to the 17th. We're getting tired of waiting for our bees! We want to get things started!! :-D

Keith

BeeHopper · May 08, 2008, 08:41:18 PM

Quote from: stoweski on May 08, 2008, 08:13:51 PM
Another newbee here. I started beekeeping this year with my significant other. We found Betterbee and decided to go with them because of the fact that we are only an hour away. So even though gas prices are high they are nowhere near the price of shipping. :)

They have treated us great so far. They have made a few mistakes on our orders but have always come through and have straightened them out. I do believe they have grown to big for their britches, however. They seem to take in a lot of orders and sometimes make simple mistakes that could be avoided if they weren't in such a rush.

As for their backordered items, I wonder if it is them or their supplier who is causing the delay. I do know they just built a rather large addition on to their building that *could* serve as a warehouse. Maybe they are planning on keeping popular items in stock so that they lower the frequency of their backorders.

I think if there is one thing that I do have a concern about it's the fact that their bees have been delayed for a second week now. We were suppose to pick up our first package on the 3rd and it's been pushed back to the 17th. We're getting tired of waiting for our bees! We want to get things started!! :-D

Keith

Keith,

For next season, consider buying your Bees from Draper's ( www.draperbee.com). They are on Rt. 328 Millerton PA, below Elmira NY. They have been on time the last 3 years in the middle of April. Many of their customers are from NY.
It is a 4 hour drive from Phila for me, looks to be a little less for you if you're near Albany. Their packages are from Georgia and other areas and are of good stock, they sell out by March, so order early 2009. They are still taking orders for queens. The Drapers are nice and friendly :-D

bassman1977 · May 08, 2008, 09:11:59 PM

I order my queens from Drapers, but I get my packages from Rossman. There's a considerable price difference between Rossman and Drapers as far as packages go. I won't buy supplies from either one any more. The folks at Drapers are super nice though and they always give good advice and service.

Moonshae · May 08, 2008, 09:18:22 PM

I like Betterbee. I have found, though, that if I need something urgently, it ends up backordered. Presumably because enough other beeks found themselves not thinking ahead, either. Since this is a popular ordering time, especially for new beeks, it's inevitable that some things will be backordered.

Wes Sapp · May 08, 2008, 10:29:13 PM

Quote from: bassman1977 on May 08, 2008, 09:11:59 PM
I order my queens from Drapers, but I get my packages from Rossman. There's a considerable price difference between Rossman and Drapers as far as packages go. I won't buy supplies from either one any more. The folks at Drapers are super nice though and they always give good advice and service.

Bassman, Why won't you order supplies from Rossman? I'm about to give up on them myself. A order I made about two month ago was for 6-med. supers, 60-6 1/4" frames, 100 sheets of 5 1/2" foundation, and 80 6 1/4" end bars. What I got were the 6 med. supers with 60 deep frames, 100 sheets of 8 3/8" foundation, and 80 shallow end bars. When I called them they said there was no way to know who made the mistake because I placed the order over the phone so if I sent the wrong items back to them and paid the shipping they would send the right items and pay for shipping back to me. My attempts to explain to them that they had made the mistake didn't go over so good. I told them I was getting away from deep equip. and I've never even owned a piece of shallow equip. so why would I order either one of those items. Then I made another order with them last Friday over the web (that way if there was a mistake I'd have a record of it) on the confirmation page it stated that the items would ship in 2-5 business days. Called them today to check on the order and they asked me if when I placed the order didn't it show they were running 1 1/2 weeks behind? I just let it go and said OK ship it when you can. I think I'll start making what equip. I can.

bassman1977 · May 08, 2008, 11:19:47 PM

QuoteBassman, Why won't you order supplies from Rossman?

Only because I find Mannlake to be cheaper for just about anything. The only supply I don't get from Mannlake is small cell foundation, which they don't even sell. I get it from Dadant.

heaflaw · May 08, 2008, 11:43:31 PM

I've mostly ordered form Brushy Mountain. I'm very satisfied with the service, advice and quality of the products. Also, their catalogs are very informative for the beginner. I visited their warehouse once which is an hour away-I learned a lot just from their store/museum.