FAQ - Häufig gestellte Fragen
Alles rund um das Thema Imker & Bienen
Bestellung / Bestellablauf Deiner Bienenbestellung
As a rule, this is not possible, as different products may be shipped on different days. However, you can inform us by email that you have multiple open orders, and we will check whether combining them is possible or makes sense.
If placing an order for bees or accessories online or by email does not work for technical reasons, or if you belong to the “pre-internet” generation, you are also welcome to place your order by phone. You can find our phone number at the top right of the page. If you are unable to reach us by phone, please send us an email at [email protected] .
Prepayment by bank transfer: After you have placed your order, you will receive your order confirmation email including our bank details. If you have not received this email, it is likely due to an incorrectly entered email address or because you did not complete the order process. To check this, you are welcome to contact us by email or place the order again. We will confirm receipt of the invoice amount in our account by email to the address you provided. The ordered goods will then be shipped during the delivery period you selected (for bees) or as soon as possible (for accessories). Please also note the delivery dates listed on the respective product pages. We kindly point out that delivery will only take place after full payment has been received. For orders exceeding €1,000, a reservation can be made with a 50% deposit. The remaining 50% of the invoice amount must be paid at least 15 days before the start of the delivery period to ensure timely delivery. Prepayment by instant bank transfer (Klarna): We especially recommend this payment method for very short-notice deliveries, as you pay directly via Klarna when placing your order and the amount is immediately recorded by us as “received.”
In general, you should try placing your order through our online bee shop. Good customer service is very important to us. Therefore, if placing an order via the shop is not possible, we can also process a manual order for you.
In general, you first need to select the desired product on our beekeeping shop website. On the product page, you then choose the appropriate delivery period (for bees) and the quantity, and click “Add to cart.” After that, you can click on the shopping cart (icon at the top right) and complete the order by entering your address and contact details (including a valid email address). If you choose prepayment by bank transfer, you will receive a payment confirmation, and your ordered goods will be shipped during the delivery period you selected.
Zahlung / Bezahlweise im Imkershop
We do not offer PayPal payments for orders that include bees, as the fees have become increasingly expensive and we would have to pass these costs on by raising prices. Since we aim to keep beekeeping as affordable as possible for you while maintaining consistent quality, we have decided to no longer offer PayPal payments for bees. However, you can still pay for our accessory items via PayPal.
We recommend making payment promptly after placing your order, as the binding reservation is only made once your payment has been received. If, in the time between placing your order and making the payment, another beekeeper places an order and pays before you, they will be given priority, and your delivery period may be postponed. For this reason, we strongly recommend paying your invoice amount as soon as possible.
You will find our bank details in the order confirmation email. This will be sent to you as soon as you have placed your order.
Ordering by prepayment gives you, as a customer, the assurance that you will receive the ordered goods on time. For us, it provides planning reliability, as we know in each period how many bees we need to supply and can therefore have the appropriate quantities available for each customer. In addition, over the past few years we have unfortunately had repeated cases where a small number of customers did not take payment of their invoices very seriously. To avoid the resulting administrative effort and to allow us to focus fully on our work with the bees and on you as our customers, we no longer offer the previously available payment methods of “invoice payment” or “payment after receipt of goods.” We kindly ask for your understanding.
Prepayment by bank transfer: After you have placed your order, you will receive an order confirmation email including our bank details. If you have not received this email, it is likely due to an incorrectly entered email address or because the order was not completed successfully. To clarify this, you are welcome to contact us by email or place the order again. We will confirm receipt of the invoice amount on our account by email to the address you provided. After that, the ordered goods will be shipped during the delivery period you selected (for bees) or as soon as possible (for accessories). Please also note the delivery dates listed on the respective product pages. We kindly point out that shipment will only take place after full payment has been received. For orders exceeding €1,000, a reservation can be made with a 50% deposit. The remaining 50% of the invoice amount must be paid at least 15 days before the start of the delivery period to ensure timely delivery. Prepayment by instant transfer (Klarna): We particularly recommend this payment method for very short-notice deliveries, as you pay immediately via Klarna when placing your order, and the amount is recorded by us as “received” right away.
Lieferung und Versand von Bienen
We usually ship your bees from Monday to Thursday, so that your package swarms or nucleus colonies arrive safely between Tuesday and Friday. Nucleus colonies or package swarms are not shipped before public holidays. For example, if Tuesday and Thursday are public holidays, shipping may not be possible during that week. Weekend delivery is generally not possible. For larger order quantities for professional beekeepers, exceptions can be made by arrangement, allowing for direct weekend delivery. Queen bees are usually shipped on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Depending on weather conditions, shipment may also take place on another working day. In any case, you will be informed by email about the shipment of your bees, whether package swarms, nucleus colonies, or queen bees. For queen bees, express shipping (maximum 24–48 hours) is also available and can be selected during the ordering process.
Queen bees can be delivered to other European countries. If you encounter any difficulties when ordering, please feel free to contact us by email. Package swarms and nucleus colonies are delivered only within Germany, as well as to Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Larger order quantities can also be delivered to France. Here you can find further information on delivery and bee shipping: Shipping of Bees
The shipment is announced by email. Please make sure that you check your emails daily, at least every evening, during the period before you receive your bees.
Pick-ups are generally possible in the Fulda or Frankfurt area, but they must be coordinated and confirmed with us in advance by email.
Queen bees are shipped via Deutsche Post as standard. Express delivery is also available upon request (for an additional charge). For international shipments, we recommend express delivery. Package swarms and nucleus colonies are delivered by a specialized overnight express courier certified for live animal transport, ensuring that the bees arrive in good condition. Accessories are shipped via DHL. Shipping costs vary depending on the product type and can be viewed here: Shipping costs
Our bee deliveries usually begin each year at the end of March or the beginning of April. If you require bees during the early delivery periods, we recommend placing your pre-order in good time.
In emergencies, bee deliveries can be postponed. To safely reschedule a delivery, you should inform us at least 10 days before the start of the delivery period. In general, short-notice changes are also possible; however, during peak delivery periods, very last-minute rescheduling may not be processed or stopped in time. Rescheduling is definitely no longer possible on the day before shipment, so you must ensure that someone is available to receive the goods.
Because the preparation and availability of the bees depend on the weather and can be prevented by conditions such as excessive heat, cold, snow, or rain, we only announce the shipment once it is “safe” to do so. For this reason, you place your order with a shipping period only, once it is foreseeable that the bees are ready and can be shipped, you will immediately receive an email notification. In this context, it is also necessary that you inform us in advance of any periods when you will be unavailable. We would also like to point out that you must enter your correct email address when placing your order.
Yes, we guarantee live delivery. In the rare event that the bees arrive damaged, please send us an email on the day of receipt with a photo clearly showing the damaged bee(s) and the packaging. If you do not send us an email with a photo on the day you receive “damaged” bees, the guarantee claim will generally become void.
The bees you have ordered will be delivered within the delivery period you selected. Based on our experience, many years of activity, and specialization as bee suppliers, the vast majority of shipments (around 99%) are delivered on time. However, in rare cases, bees may become available later than the selected delivery period, mainly because their availability depends on weather conditions, which can never be guaranteed 100% in advance. If this happens, delays usually do not exceed 7–10 days. Deliveries are announced in good time by email a few days before arrival (2–5 days in advance), but at the latest on the day before or the evening prior to delivery. You are therefore responsible for checking your emails daily during your selected delivery period and for being available on site. If you will not be available during a certain period (e.g. due to vacation or absence), please inform us at least 5 days in advance so that we can exclude delivery during that time. Overnight express delivery usually delivers the bees (nucleus colonies / package swarms) between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. In other countries, delivery may take place later (up to around 5:00 p.m.). If you are not available during these hours, please provide the carrier with a drop-off authorization, including a precise description of a cool and shaded drop-off location. It is also recommended to leave a note or sketch at the doorbell with your phone number. Alternatively, a neighbor may receive the shipment, provided you inform the carrier accordingly. It is important and your responsibility that the bees are cared for on the same day they arrive. For queen bees shipped by post, you do not necessarily need to be present. However, if temperatures are very high or very low at the time of shipping, we also recommend express delivery or ensuring that someone is present to remove the bees from the mailbox immediately.
Kunstschwärme aus unserem Bienenshop
A package swarm supplied by us consists of a ventilated bee box containing 1.5 kg of bees as well as a queen (usually kept separate from the swarm in an introduction cage). We offer the breeds Buckfast, Carnica, Dark Bee (from Norway), and Ligustica.
Bienenzucht-Profi supplies approximately 1.5 kg of bees together with a mated queen from the respective year. We do not offer other quantities, such as 1 kg of bees or package swarms over 2 kg. We consider 1.5 kg to be the optimal (minimum) size for starting a new bee colony. With only 1 kg of bee mass, the bees do not get established and active as well as they do with a larger swarm. If you would like to accelerate the development of a bee colony, it is also possible to order an additional package swarm without a queen and place it into the hive at the same time as the first package swarm.
There are various techniques and methods for installing a package swarm into a hive. If you already have beekeeping experience and have had success with a particular method, we generally recommend sticking with it. If you would like to read our recommendation, please click the following link.
The delivered queen bees are always from the year of delivery and are marked with the corresponding annual color. It is also possible to order tested queens from the previous year upon request. These are available for an additional charge.
Before your package swarms are delivered, they are treated against varroa mites. Therefore, you do not need to carry out an additional varroa treatment in spring or early summer.
The queen bee is shipped together with the package swarm in the same specially designed bee box. The queen is usually kept separate from the package swarm in her introduction cage, together with food and attendant bees.
Package swarm To establish a new bee colony, a package swarm can be used. For this purpose, the beekeeper brushes bees off a strong colony and collects them in a swarm container, this creates the new package swarm. The queen of the strong colony remains where she is. A fresh, agile, and mated queen is then introduced to the package swarm. Nucleus colony A young bee colony is also referred to as a nucleus colony. As a rule, at least three brood frames are taken from a strong colony and placed into an empty hive. In addition to the three brood frames, at least one food frame and one “new” frame for drawing comb should be added, resulting in a total of five frames. The worker bees present on the brood frames and the additional frames are transferred into the empty hive as well. The beekeeper then has the option of introducing an already mated queen that has been checked for egg-laying performance in an introduction cage, or choosing the more time-consuming and riskier method of allowing the bees to raise a new queen themselves. In general, we recommend introducing an already mated queen when forming a nucleus colony, especially if the season is already well underway.
The exact number can of course vary depending on the bee breed and the time of year. However, a rule of thumb is that one bee weighs about 1/10 of a gram, meaning that 10 bees equal approximately one gram. Based on this, a 1.5 kg package swarm would contain around 15,000 worker bees. After introducing a package swarm with an already mated queen, it takes at least three weeks for new bees to emerge, during which time the bee population initially decreases before rebuilding. To support the bees during this period after installation, we recommend supplemental feeding, for example with liquid feed. To further “strengthen” a package swarm, brood frames from an existing colony can be added to the new colony, or a larger bee mass can be used. In general, it can never be guaranteed that a package swarm will produce enough honey in the year it is installed to allow for harvesting. The primary goal when forming a package swarm is for the young colony to develop well, survive the winter, and become a strong honey-producing colony in the following year. Such a productive colony can easily occupy more than three hive boxes (or more, depending on the hive type). The number of bees can range from around 40,000 bees, and in very strong colonies up to 80,000 bees. This corresponds to a colony weight of approximately 4 to 8 kilograms.
A package swarm should be created and installed early in the season so that it can grow into a strong young colony and survive the following winter well. We recommend the months of April and May if you already know in advance that you would like to have a package swarm. If you decide on a package swarm at short notice (for example at the end of May), you can still obtain a package swarm from us in June and provide sufficient supplemental feeding if there is no nectar flow. After the first year, the former package swarm should have developed into a strong honey-producing colony.
Weitere Informationen
For accessories
Before returning any item, we ask that you first describe the issue to us by email and include the relevant photos, and then wait for our response. Please also note that we do not cover return shipping for items that are “in perfect condition.” For example, if you order gloves in different sizes and wish to return the sizes that do not fit, you would need to pay for the return shipping yourself. All accessory returns must be sent to the address of our warehouse:
Imkereibedarf-Profi GmbH
Kilianstädter Straße 50
61137 Schöneck
For bees
If there is any issue with your bee delivery, we are very sorry. In order to make use of our guarantee that your bees arrive safely, we kindly ask you to send us a photo on the day of receipt showing the bee(s) and the packaging. We will then contact you to discuss the next steps. Please do not return the bees to us unless we have explicitly requested this. With every delivery, we always provide a health certificate or certificate. If you have misplaced it or if it was missing from a delivery, you can contact us by email so that we can send you the corresponding certificate again by email.
Before returning any item, we ask that you first describe the issue to us by email and include the relevant photos, and then wait for our response. Please also note that we do not cover return shipping for items that are “in perfect condition.” For example, if you order gloves in different sizes and wish to return the sizes that do not fit, you would need to pay for the return shipping yourself. All accessory returns must be sent to the address of our warehouse:
Imkereibedarf-Profi GmbH
Kilianstädter Straße 50
61137 Schöneck
For bees
If there is any issue with your bee delivery, we are very sorry. In order to make use of our guarantee that your bees arrive safely, we kindly ask you to send us a photo on the day of receipt showing the bee(s) and the packaging. We will then contact you to discuss the next steps. Please do not return the bees to us unless we have explicitly requested this. With every delivery, we always provide a health certificate or certificate. If you have misplaced it or if it was missing from a delivery, you can contact us by email so that we can send you the corresponding certificate again by email.
Then ask a question at [email protected]
Yes, we also offer accessories and beekeeping supplies in our online beekeeping shop. You can view our product selection here: Beekeeping Supplies
Bienenableger / Bienenvolk
A nucleus colony generally gets off to a slightly faster start to the season than a package swarm, as it already contains brood that will soon emerge. The queen is already actively laying eggs. However, at the beginning of the season, the nucleus colony is usually available a bit later than a package swarm, so this “head start” theoretically balances out. Handling a nucleus colony after receipt is also somewhat easier than with a package swarm. The frames simply need to be placed into the new hive together with the bees, allowing the colony to continue its work immediately.
The queen in the nucleus colony is a queen with good egg-laying performance. She is usually from the current year, but may also be from the previous year. It should be noted that this does not represent any disadvantage for you. Tested queens from the previous year are more expensive than queens from the current year. Deliveries are made in the order of purchase/payment, with customers who ordered earlier being served first.
A nucleus colony consists of 3 brood frames, 1 food frame, and 1 empty frame or partially drawn frame (a total of 5 frames), including the corresponding bees and the queen. Of course, the queen is already integrated into the colony and moves freely, so your colony can get started immediately upon arrival. Everything arrives safely and professionally packed in a ventilated transport nucleus box. We offer the frame sizes Zander, Langstroth, and Dadant Blatt. Zander nucleus colonies are available as Buckfast, Carnica, or Ligustica. The other frame sizes are available only as Carnica nucleus colonies.
The first nucleus colonies are delivered from around mid-April to early May, depending on weather conditions. After that, nucleus colonies are usually available until June. We recommend reserving your nucleus colonies early, as quantities are limited. As long as you are able to select the time periods on the product page, nucleus colonies are generally available for that period: Buy a bee colony
Bienenköniginnen
We offer the bee breeds Buckfast, Carnica, Dark Bee, and Ligustica. Please refer to the additional information on the product pages regarding availability.
In general, scheduled deliveries are possible for an additional charge. You are welcome to contact us about this via the comment section of your order or separately by email (please include your order number).
Yes, we also deliver queen bees to other European countries. If you are unable to select your country during the ordering process, you can note it in the comments along with the correct address.
In the introduction cage, in addition to the queen bee and food, there are at least two to three worker bees. Usually, however, there are more, between four and ten worker bees.
No, we generally do not clip the wings of queen bees for several reasons. On the one hand, we do not support this practice, and on the other hand, the queen can be injured during the process.
We mark all of our queens. The queen is either marked with the annual color or fitted with a number. Island-mated Buckfast queens are marked in two colors, regardless of the annual color.
We deliver mated queen bees from the end of March / beginning of April until the end of August / beginning of September each year.
Under this link, you will find some information about queen rearing.
We also offer unmated queen bees. All queens we ship are checked for their health, and mated queens are additionally tested for proper egg-laying performance before they are dispatched.
Gesundheitszeugnis für Bienen
Of course, we provide you with a health certificate. If your health certificate is not included with the delivery or if you have misplaced it and later require a certificate confirming the health of the bees, you can request it from us at any time by email.
For every delivery, we always provide a health certificate or certificate as standard. If you have misplaced it or if it was missing from a delivery, you can contact us by email so that we can send you the corresponding certificate again by email.
Honig
To understand this, you need to look at the label and, as so often, read the fine print. In supermarkets,especially with very low-priced honey offers, you will often find the note “blend of EU and non-EU honey.” Translated, this can mean that as little as 1% (or even less) of the honey comes from an EU country, such as Romania, while the remaining 99% comes from outside the EU, for example from China. There are two points that stand out in particular: 1) The honey is often marketed as natural or even organic. Without reading the fine print, customers cannot visually distinguish it from high-quality honey directly from a beekeeper. 2) It is a honey blend, and in the end no one really knows exactly where it comes from or how it is composed percentage-wise. These are the two main differences compared to our honey. We know many local beekeepers personally, as a large number of them source their bees from us. Therefore, with every honey we offer, you know exactly where our bees produced it. This means you are guaranteed not to receive a honey blend, but fresh, high-quality honey directly from the beekeeper.