The single most useful thing a prospective customer can know about any seller is what happens when something goes wrong. Kinnickinnic Bees replies publicly to most negative reviews, so that question can be answered from the company's own words rather than anyone's characterization of them.
Every quotation on this page is a reply posted publicly by the company beneath a customer's review. The full replies, and the complaints they answer, appear on the Orders Never Received, Bees Arriving Dead, Host a Hive and BBB Complaints pages.
Replies describing the customer
To a customer whose bees did not arriveLove how peoples in ability to read is our problem!
To a customer who had asked for a refundWe do not tolerate defamation and unreasonable people.
To a customer who had sent over $800 and could not reach anyoneBut calling us back and yelling at us is something we do not tolerate, so we are cancelling your order and refunding you. Please use someone else in the future.
To a customer reporting a delayed and worthless packageIf you still want us to work it out we can, or we will just never do business together again.
Replies invoking the terms of sale
Where bees arrive dead, the company's standard reply is that its terms place that risk entirely on the buyer:
Quoted by the company from its own shipping policyWe cannot guarantee the bees or queen if shipped, and we will do what we reasonably can in a case-by-case situation. These case-by-case situations are at the our full descretion and are no guarantee to help in a case that results in dead bees or similar.
One reviewer, Spencer Black, observed independently that this is the company's habitual answer, writing that "his blaming of the shipper is always his go to." Another, Robert Garbers, wrote that he was "told by local and helpful beekeepers that 'lack of guarantee' is not how good business is done in this expensive industry."
Responsiveness
Three customers, writing across two years and unknown to each other, made the same observation: that the company answers public reviews more readily than it answers the customers waiting on orders. Adam Paquet wrote that "the owner continues to respond to public reviews while my direct messages have gone unanswered." Spencer Black added an edit to his review reading simply: "He responded quicker to this negative review than he did an email or text." Jim VanBeek made the same point in a review posted roughly a year before collection.
A reviewer predicted the reply he would get
Spencer Black closed his review by anticipating the response: "I know your going to come on here and argue that I agreed to the terms! You'll probably even toss out a legal threat."
Response from the ownerYou sure did agree to terms, and as I requested you to never buy from us due to your ignorant rudeness. We ship an extra pound of bees to cover any shipping losses. Bye!!!!
In its reply to Greg Jamison, the company confirmed that it had blocked him on Facebook: "We returned your money as the only place we found that you asked was in a 1-star facebook review that we blocked you on."
Replies to reviews themselves
In reply to Andy Chase, who wrote that he never received a refund, the company stated a refund had been issued and added: "We are reporting this review."
Legal warnings to customers who complain
A prospective customer may wish to know what tends to follow a complaint. Across the public record the company has repeatedly raised the prospect of legal or financial consequences for customers who criticised it:
- To Jennifer Schneider, who asked for a status update on an order paid for in January: she states the reply included "warnings that the company would defend itself against any claims of libel."
- To Greg Jamison, publicly: "We do not tolerate defamation and unreasonable people."
- To Roger Rynearson, publicly: "We take fraudulent statement seriously and we will also take all actions necessary to protect ourselves our staff."
- To Andy Chase, publicly: "We are reporting this review."
- To the Better Business Bureau in May 2025, of a customer's posts: "we are now taking an account for any revenue lost from them."
Spencer Black anticipated this before it happened, writing in his review: "I know your going to come on here and argue that I agreed to the terms! You'll probably even toss out a legal threat."
A commitment the company made
Replying to S Smith roughly two years before collection, the company wrote:
Response from the ownerI am putting a plan in place for next season to monitor all the communication from customers so emails like yours do not do un-noticed.
In its Better Business Bureau response of 29 July 2024 the company described the same problem in similar terms: "we acknowledge we have some communication mishaps due to the way our phone system works with out website... this year we did not have the staff to manage all the communications." Complaints describing unanswered calls and emails continue through the 2025 and 2026 seasons and are collected on the Orders Never Received page.
In fairness
Not every reply follows this pattern, and a complete record includes the ones that do not:
- When james wiersgalla withdrew his complaint after discovering his own telephone was at fault, the company's reply was courteous: "We are so sorry we have missed your calls. We work hard to stay on top of messages, and we typically have a quick reply."
- To Rik Haendler, who had received only half his order, the company explained a disease problem in its bee supply and offered: "Would you prefer a refund on the last half of your order?"
- To Jerry Anderson, who reported four-frame nucs and a rejected queen, the company answered: "We are happy to send you a frame."
- To Hy Smith, an experienced beekeeper who listed a series of shortcomings in a nuc, the company replied promptly and constructively: "Sorry to hear, I will send you an email for more info... I can also get you a new queen if you can confirm she isn't in there."
- To Robert Garbers, the company published the full email exchange, which shows it did reply to him the same day on May 9th and later offered a credit.
- In several cases the company states that a refund was issued, or that the customer had ordered to a state it does not ship to.
Readers should weigh these alongside the rest. They are reproduced for the same reason everything else here is: because the record is more persuasive than any argument about it.