Suppliers that have screwed Me and who did right..

Well I have had some BAD luck with suppliers this year so I will tell you who I ordered from , Who SCREWED me, and who did ok by me..

So my first ANYTHING bee related I ordered 2 Hive setups from www.BeeBabys.com

WORST and WOULD NEVER USE OR RECOMMEND to be used. This was the story.

First week of April 2012 I order 2 complete hive setups and pay $220.. Mid March (4 weeks) I haven’t heard from or received anything I try to call, I get a pre recorded message that the Voice mail is full. So I email. The first one from the website no answer, the second one from Pay-Pal. Also no answer, so I called about 25 more times over the next 2 days. I finally opened up a claim with Pay-Pal and had a refund within 24hrs.  Now that’s not the end of the story.  I start a thread on http://www.beekeepingforums.com   ( http://www.beekeepingforums.com/threads/5993-WARNING-Do-NOT-buy-from-BeeBabys-com?highlight=beebabys.com ) To warn others. And some members knew Justin Cheesman (owner of Beebaby.com) they said he was posting on other message boards that he was swamped with orders and could not fill them. He had time to post on messages boards but couldn’t answerer an email? Real POS if you ask me so PLEASE NEVER USE BeeBaby.com. And a big FU to Justin “I am too busy on the internet to answer E-Mails” Cheesman.

Next was Walter T. Kelly (https://kelleybees.com/ ) Ordered Hive top feeder, hive tools and burlap for smoker. Shipping was slow (3 weeks), and high shipping price. I would use again if I could not find what I want from somewhere else.

So Now that I did not have a Hive and my bees would be coming in 3 weeks I was worried. I get recommended Honeybee Habitat ( http://www.honeybeehabitat.com ). Now I email and call (leaving a voice mail) and within 2 hrs I get a call back from Steve. I explained what had happened and how I need a hive fast. He assures me He can help and take care of me. So I order 2 hive kits and a smoker. The hives were ordered already fully assembled and painted. Came to about $75 more (without smoker) then the original order from BeeBaby.com BUT these were assembled and painted. Order went easy.  I received the hives in about 1 week from order. Only problem was the hives were not painted. I contacted Steve and explained that they were not painted. He was very apologetic and said that there were several orders that went out wrong and that he would refund the difference and a few extra for my inconvenience.  At that point there was nothing I could do so I accepted the refund and painted them myself. I WOULD give Honeybee Habitat another try.

On to where I got my bee’s

So being my first year in beekeeping I did not know you normally order bees in Jan for the following spring. I was looking in early March. Everywhere was sold out. I then found Bee Hive Barn in NJ (http://www.beehivebarn.com ) I call and spoke to Sally and she said she had some early May Nuc’s.  I paid my deposit and had one secured. . Fast-forward to today... Well if you have been following my issues with the queen from this week ( http://www.beekeepingforums.com/threads/6635-2nd-hive-inspection-Have-some-questions-need-advice?highlight=advice ) I am hoping that Sally comes through and re-queens for me or at least at a discounted price.. We will see. I will keep everyone posted.