Refund policy

Refund, Replacement & Pickup Policy

Little Apiary on the Prairie

This policy applies to all package bees, nucleus colonies (nucs), and queen bees sold by Little Apiary on the Prairie (DMR Enterprises, LLC). Bees are live agricultural goods. Their survival depends on prompt pickup, proper handling, and competent installation by the customer. Please read this entire policy before ordering.

1. Pickup Is the Customer's Responsibility

You are responsible for being present at your scheduled pickup location during the communicated window. Pickup details are sent by email and posted at littleapiaryontheprairie.com. You agree to:

Add info@littleapiaryontheprairie.com to your contacts so our messages do not go to spam.

Monitor your email regularly in the weeks before your pickup window.

Check the website for schedule updates, weather changes, and timing adjustments.

Arrive at your pickup site within the window we communicate.

If you cannot pick up yourself, you may send a designated agent. Please notify us in advance with their name.

2. Missed Pickups

Bees are highly perishable. Once we leave a pickup stop, your order is forfeit. There are no refunds, replacements, or credits for missed pickups — regardless of the reason, including missed emails, spam filters, weather, traffic, or scheduling conflicts.

If you know in advance that you cannot make your pickup, call us immediately at (701) 809-0153. We will do our best to help you arrange a substitute pickup person or, at our sole discretion, a transfer to a different stop on the same wave. We cannot promise either accommodation.

3. Pickup Schedule — Estimates Only

All published pickup times and windows are estimates. We transport live animals over multi-state routes, and exact arrival times at any stop can be affected by weather, road conditions, traffic, mechanical issues, livestock-related delays at prior stops, or other circumstances beyond our control.

We make every effort to communicate delays promptly by email and at littleapiaryontheprairie.com. We cannot guarantee arrival at any pickup location at a specific time, and we are not liable for losses, costs, or inconvenience resulting from schedule changes or delays inherent to live animal transport.

4. Significant Delays on Our End

The following applies only to delays caused by circumstances within our control — such as vehicle failure, supplier-side problems, or other operational issues originating with LAOP. Weather delays, road closures, and natural events are outside our control and are not covered by this section.

Delay of more than two weeks

If your pickup is delayed more than two weeks from the originally published date due to circumstances within our control, and you wish to cancel, we will make a good-faith effort to sell your bees to another buyer. If we are able to sell them, we will issue a refund for the sold portion, less any fees. We cannot guarantee a sale or a refund under this provision.

Delay of more than 30 days

If your pickup is delayed more than 30 days from the originally published date due to circumstances within our control, we will issue a full refund upon request. No consignment attempt is required; you may request the refund directly.

5. Inspect Your Bees at Pickup

Inspect your bees before leaving the pickup site. If you see a problem — damaged equipment, no visible queen, an obviously dead colony — raise it on the spot. We will work with you to resolve it then and there. By taking your bees from the pickup site, you accept them as conforming to your order.

6. Install Your Bees Promptly

Bees should be installed in their permanent hive within 24 to 48 hours of pickup. Packages and nucs that sit longer lose strength quickly and are at increased risk of queen failure. Late installation is the single most common cause of "dead queen" calls.

If you cannot install within 48 hours, keep bees in a cool, shaded, ventilated location and feed sugar syrup. Understand that delayed installation may affect your eligibility for replacement under Section 7.

Weather does not extend claim windows. If your installation is delayed by weather — even at the advice of an LAOP team member — the reporting windows in this policy do not change. All claim windows run from the time of pickup, not from the date of installation.

7. Dead Queen Claims (Packages and Queens)

About our queens

Queens are shipped in standard California queen cages stopped with a cork. By pickup, each queen has been with her attendant bees for at least two days. How and when you release the queen — direct release, candy plug, immediate cork removal, or otherwise — is the beekeeper's decision. Failure to release the queen in a timely manner may result in queen loss, which is not covered by this policy.

Eligibility

A dead queen credit or replacement is available only if all four of the following are true:

You report the dead queen within 24 hours of pickup, by phone at (701) 809-0153 or by email to info@littleapiaryontheprairie.com.

The queen cage is intact, sealed, and has not been opened or installed in a hive.

You provide clear, time-stamped photographs showing the dead queen inside the unopened cage.

The bees were stored properly between pickup and the report (cool, shaded, ventilated — not left in a hot vehicle).

If all four conditions are met, we will provide a replacement queen if one is available, or store credit. Replacement queens are subject to inventory and may be delivered on the next available wave or season. Once a queen has been released into a hive, her performance is a function of your management and is not covered.

Dead bees in a package

Our 3-pound packages are filled with approximately 4 pounds of bees. The extra pound absorbs the small losses normal in any live-bee transit. A small number of dead bees at pickup is expected and is not grounds for a claim.

A claim for excessive dead bees requires both of the following photographs, submitted within the 24-hour window:

A photo taken before the package is opened, showing dead bees visible inside the intact package.

A photo taken after dead bees are removed, showing them collected so they can be measured.

The threshold for a valid claim is more than 1.5 cups of dead bees. Packages installed before photographs are taken are not eligible.

8. Nuc Claims

A nuc claim must be reported within 24 hours of pickup by phone at (701) 809-0153 or by email to info@littleapiaryontheprairie.com. Claims made after 24 hours cannot be evaluated; all sales are final after that window closes.

What counts as an evaluable claim

Both of the following conditions must be present and documented with clear photographs taken within 24 hours of pickup:

More than two cups of dead bees, photographed before any cleanup.

Fewer than three frames of bees, with each frame photographed individually.

Both conditions must be met. A nuc with heavy dead bees but a sufficient live population is not eligible; neither is a lightly populated nuc without excessive dead bees.

Claims we do not accept

The following are not accepted as claims, individually or in combination, because we cannot verify them after the fact and they require a level of hive-reading experience most customers are still developing:

"No queen" or "I could not find the queen." Queens are difficult to spot; we cannot confirm whether a queen was lost through handling.

"No capped brood," "no larvae," or "no eggs." Brood stages are difficult to identify in dark comb under low spring light, and levels vary by season.

Any issue reported more than 24 hours after pickup, including dwindling colonies, queen loss after release, swarming, absconding, or mite pressure.

These are normal beekeeping risks and are not covered. We are happy to help you troubleshoot any of them. Please call.

9. Remedies

Where a claim is accepted, LAOP will, at our sole discretion, choose one of the following based on the facts of the claim and inventory availability:

Refund to the original payment method.

Replacement nuc, package, or queen.

Store credit toward a future order.

Other accommodation we determine is fair under the circumstances.

Remedies are not guaranteed to match the customer's preference. We reserve the right to determine the appropriate remedy for each claim.

Replacement logistics

If the remedy is a replacement nuc, the customer must bring the original defective nuc back to a scheduled LAOP pickup location and pick up the replacement during a regular pickup window. We do not ship replacements, deliver to customer locations, or make special trips. Replacement queens follow the same rule.

10. Cancellations and Pre-Pickup Refunds

We commit to our supplier weeks in advance and cannot return bees once they are en route from California. Cancellation deadlines are firm.

Cancellation Date

Refund

Before March 20

Full refund, less credit card processing fees

March 21 – April 5

50% refund of paid amounts

After April 5

No cancellations or refunds

11. Bees Lost or Destroyed in Our Care

If your bees are lost or destroyed before pickup due to circumstances within our control — vehicle accident, equipment failure, or a comparable event on our end — we will replace them within two weeks with like product, or with a substitute at our discretion. If replacement is not possible, we will issue store credit or, at our sole discretion, a refund.

12. Customer Responsibility After Pickup

Once your bees leave our truck, you are responsible for their welfare. This includes transporting them in a cool, shaded, ventilated vehicle; installing them within 24 to 48 hours; feeding as needed; treating for mites on a recommended schedule; and protecting the hive from weather, predators, and pesticide exposure.

We are not responsible for losses caused by improper handling, late installation, inadequate feeding, mite or disease pressure, location selection, weather, or any other management decision made after pickup.

13. How to File a Claim

Call (701) 809-0153 or email info@littleapiaryontheprairie.com within 24 hours of pickup. Include your order number, pickup location and date, a clear description of the issue, and all required photographs. We will respond within two business days. During active delivery waves we may be slower; please follow up if needed.

14. We Want You to Succeed

This policy exists because we cannot tell, after the fact, the difference between a defective nuc and a healthy nuc that was mishandled. The reporting windows, photo requirements, and inspection rules protect every honest customer from preventable mistakes after pickup.

If you are ever unsure what you are looking at inside your hive, call us first. We are always happy to help — even if you didn't get your bees from us.