Delivery, Collection and Returns

1. Delivery options and prices

This page covers delivery, collection and returns. It is part of your contract with us, together with our Terms and Conditions. Your total price, including delivery, is shown at checkout before you pay.

Where we deliver. We deliver honey, candles and other products to addresses in the UK. We send queen bees to addresses in Great Britain only, so we cannot send them to Northern Ireland. Delivery to some postcodes, such as parts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands, can take longer.

For wholesale and bulk orders, please see our wholesale honey and bulk honey pages or contact us.

2. Click and collect

You can collect any order from our farm instead of having it delivered. Choose click and collect at checkout. We will contact you by email or telephone when your order is ready, and agree a day and time for you to collect it.

Please bring your order number. Your order becomes your responsibility once you collect it. Nucleus colonies are collection only, and have their own collection days (see section 5).

3. Honey, candles and other orders

Dispatch. We dispatch orders Monday to Friday, and aim to dispatch within one working day of your order. This can take a little longer when we are very busy. We email you tracking details when your order is dispatched.

Delivery. Orders go by Royal Mail Tracked 24 or Tracked 48. Royal Mail aims to deliver Tracked 24 on the next working day and Tracked 48 within 2 to 3 working days (opens in a new tab). These are delivery aims, not guarantees, so your parcel can take longer. Delivery to some postcodes can also take longer. You can read Royal Mail’s terms for Tracked 24 (opens in a new tab) and Tracked 48 (opens in a new tab).

Heavy or large orders. Heavy or large equipment orders are sent by APC Overnight (opens in a new tab), a 24-hour service.

Delivery times. We deliver within the times shown on our products and categories, unless we agree otherwise with you.

Our packaging. We pack honey, candles and beekeeping equipment securely to protect them in the post.

If your order is late. Please see section 6.

4. Queen bees

This is a summary. Our Sale of Live Bees Policy gives the full details and is part of your contract.

• Availability. Stock is limited each week. Early in the season we reserve queens before our imported queens arrive, so dispatch can be delayed.
• Dispatch. Orders placed before 9am, Monday to Friday, are dispatched the same day when the queen is in stock. Orders placed after 9am may be dispatched the same day if order volumes allow. Otherwise they are dispatched the next working day. We do not dispatch queens on Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays.
• Delivery. All queens go by Royal Mail Special Delivery, Royal Mail’s next working day service with delivery by 1pm. Royal Mail offers its own guarantee for this service (opens in a new tab), which has conditions and exceptions. Royal Mail delays are outside our control, so we cannot promise a queen will arrive by a particular time. If a queen is late or arrives unwell, our Sale of Live Bees Policy explains what we do. We email you tracking details when your queen is dispatched.
• Where. Great Britain only, so we cannot send queens to Northern Ireland. Some postcodes, such as parts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands, are not covered by Royal Mail’s 1pm guarantee and may be delivered later or take longer. Royal Mail lists the affected postcodes here (opens in a new tab). Please check your postcode, and contact us before ordering if you live in one of these areas.
• On the day. Someone must be there to take the parcel in. If nobody is in, Royal Mail takes the queen back to the sorting office for you to collect, so please collect her as soon as you can.

5. Nucleus colonies (5-frame nucs)

We do not post or courier our nucleus colonies. A courier journey would put the bees at risk, so every nucleus is collected from our farm.

Collection is by appointment on Fridays and Saturdays. Please see the nucleus product pages for estimated availability through the season. Our Sale of Live Bees Policy explains booking, collection and how to take your bees home safely.

6. If there is a problem with your delivery

Your order stays at our risk until it is delivered to you. If something goes wrong, please contact us with your order number and we will put it right.

• Late or missing parcels. First check your tracking. Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 are delivery aims, so please allow an extra working day or two. If your parcel has still not arrived 7 days after dispatch, contact us. We will chase it with Royal Mail, and send a replacement or refund you if it has been lost.
• Damaged items. Please contact us as soon as possible, ideally within 7 days, with photos of the item and its packaging. We will replace or refund damaged items, or the whole order if needed.
• Wrong items. If we sent the wrong item, we will arrange collection at our cost and send the correct item on a next working day service. Please keep the wrong item unopened and safe until it is collected.
• Queen bees. If a queen arrives dead, unwell or late, please follow the steps in our Sale of Live Bees Policy.

Your legal rights are not affected by anything on this page.

7. Returns and refunds

This is a plain-English summary. Section 4 of our Terms and Conditions has the full terms.

Changed your mind? If you are buying as a consumer, you can cancel within 14 days of receiving your order, without giving a reason. Tell us by email or telephone, and have your order number ready. You can also tell us before we dispatch, and we will refund you.

How to return goods. After you have told us, send the goods back within 14 days to:

You pay the cost of the return postage. Please use a tracked service and keep your proof of postage, because the goods stay your responsibility until they reach us. Please take reasonable care of them.

Your refund. We refund the price you paid and the cost of standard delivery. We do not refund the extra cost of a faster delivery option. We refund within 14 days of getting the goods back, or of you showing proof that you sent them, whichever is earlier. We refund to the payment method you used. If you would rather swap an item than have a refund, please tell us and we will do our best.

What cannot be returned.

• Live bees, including queen bees and nucleus colonies.
• Food and other goods sealed for health or hygiene reasons, once you have opened the seal.
• Goods made to your specification or clearly personalised.

Faulty, damaged or wrong items. If an item is faulty, damaged or not as described, you have legal rights to a refund, repair or replacement. We will pay the cost of returning it. Please see section 6 above and section 5 of our Terms and Conditions.