Local bee breeder has bees returned by Royal Mail.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Local bee breeder is angered that the Post Office in Castle Douglas refused to send his package of Buckfast queen bees

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A CORSOCK bee breeder was stung ... by Royal Mail sorting office staff!

Michael Waite, 46, has legally been sending bees to customers by post for the past 15 years.

So there was nothing to suggest his trip to Castle Douglas post office on Friday morning was anything other than routine.

He handed over three special boxes containing 18 Buckfast queen bees and went on his way.

But someone in the sorting office got a bee in their bonnet about the buzzing.

And later that day an SSPCA inspector arrived at Michael’s home to return the packages.


And she explained that a worried Royal Mail employee had been threatening to release the bees – a move which would have killed them.


“If they had been released most would have died within minutes and none would have lived for more than 12 hours at the very most,” Michael said.


“The bees would have either died from the chill or been eaten by swallows.


“In total there were 18 queen bees, worth at least £700, in three packages.”


According to Michael his business could suffer and he is potentially several hundred pounds out of pocket.


“At the end of the day, this is my livelihood and I now can’t send these bees again for a few weeks as they need time to rest,” he added.


“This has been very frustrating for me and these actions have jeopardised my business and the bees.


“Ultimately people and other businesses were waiting for these packages.


“It affects the reputation of my business and was completely needless.


“I sent an even greater number of bees away on Tuesday from Dalbeattie Post Office using exactly the same procedure.


“There were no problems and the packages were received fine on Wednesday morning.


“This whole situation has been extremely frustrating.


“It may have cost me hundreds of pounds – potentially over a thousand pounds if the bees were released.”


A Post Office spokeswoman said there had been confusion amongst branch staff over the packaging.


She said: “On this occasion the customer was unavailable to advise counter staff on the packaging used as the items had been left unattended within a bag at the counter at Castle Douglas post office.


“As the post office staff were unable to contact the customer by telephone, in the interests of the bees the SSPCA were called and they collected them and returned them to the sender.”


Michael started his bee breeding business after moving to Dumfries and Galloway from Oxford a number of years ago.


He added: “People have been posting bees safely and properly through the Royal Mail for over 100 years.


“I have been in this line of business for nearly 15 years now and never have I experienced a problem such as this.


“It is a perfectly acceptable thing – the bees are in aerated and safe packages and there is no danger to them or anyone else.


“This process is certainly not cruel. There was a large sticker on each which said ‘Live Bees. Handle With Care’, which may have caused concern to someone.”


The Post Office spokeswoman added: “Following advice received from the SSPCA, and the customer, our post office counter staff are now aware of the packaging used and foresee no future problems with regard to this service.”


Scottish SPCA Inspector Janet Proudlock said: “We liaised with the Post Office and the bee keeper and we are happy that the method of sending bees in the post is safe and secure.”

[mrlovepantsuk]

Nothing to do with sorting office staff then as mentioned at the start of the article.

[not me]

bit of a non story but whats the legality of releasing mail items to non RM staff?

[randompostman]

You can send inverts through RM. RM have no problem sending livestock as long as they are not verterbrates (creatures with a back bone) and have no chance of harming staff or escaping. These items should be sent SD before 12 and labeled as livstock. If a postal worker heard buzzing from a packet in normal post it would right for them to call attention to it and refuse to handle the packet! SEND SD AND LABEL CLEARLY WHAT IS IN THE PACKET AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

[Stormproof]

I delivered a bee last year, it was in a small jiffy bag with a warning label saying it was a bee. Posted it through the letterbox no problem. I have more a problem when we've boxes of baby tarantulas.

[not me]

You can send inverts through RM. RM have no problem sending livestock as long as they are not verterbrates (creatures with a back bone) and have no chance of harming staff or escaping. These items should be sent SD before 12 and labeled as livstock. If a postal worker heard buzzing from a packet in normal post it would right for them to call attention to it and refuse to handle the packet! SEND SD AND LABEL CLEARLY WHAT IS IN THE PACKET AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

which post offices have a Tardis?

[randompostman]

You can send inverts through RM. RM have no problem sending livestock as long as they are not verterbrates (creatures with a back bone) and have no chance of harming staff or escaping. These items should be sent SD before 12 and labeled as livstock. If a postal worker heard buzzing from a packet in normal post it would right for them to call attention to it and refuse to handle the packet! SEND SD AND LABEL CLEARLY WHAT IS IN THE PACKET AND YOU WILL BE FINE.

which post offices have a Tardis?

Not quite sure what you mean but many of the few specials that do fail are because they were sent with the last collection from a post office and in such a long chain if something does go wrong there is little time to correct it, I know of a sub that had a flood and have shut so no last pick up and the SDs went the following day. Vans break down as do planes and any other number of things that can delay an SD. Most things are not a problem if they get delayed but livestock should be sent EARLY before 12 the day before for next day delivery service if possible to allow for any accidents and mishaps to be sorted out and the livestock delivered on time and alive.