Delivery
Standard UK delivery is FREE on all on-line orders over £100 (including VAT) and all telephone and postal orders over £200 (including VAT). Excluding glass jars, fondant, syrup, some large hives and some pieces of extraction equipment.
Glass Jars are sent at the consignees own risk. We regret neither ourselves or the carrier will take responsibility for breakages.
It's also free for orders of any value if you opt to collect from one of our branches (some items do not apply). This is subject to availability.
There may be an additional carriage charge for some heavy and bulky items to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and islands, Isle of Man and off-shore islands.
Products may be sent out from multiple locations and therefore may arrive separately, but you won't incur additional delivery charges as a result.
Orders are sent out as quickly as possible but there may be occasional delays during the busy season or if an item is out of stock. We will contact you if there is expected to be a significant delay with your order.
Although we try to send out complete orders there will be occasions when some items are out of stock. In these instances we may send your order in several parts. You will not incur additional delivery charges as a result.
If you'd like to have items sent to separate UK addresses, please complete a separate order for each address. A separate delivery charge will be made for each address if applicable.
Carriers
Orders weighing less than 2kg are sent standard 48 hour tracked Royal Mail. If you would like your order sent 1st class then please contact us for a quote or choose 1st class in the delivery options.
All orders weighing over 2kg are sent via carrier. We use Parcel Force and FedEx for UK and international parcels. We may also send large orders via a pallet service.
On receipt of your order, please check the goods thoroughly. Ensure any consignment note from the carrier is clearly marked ‘unexamined’ – deleting the words ‘in good condition’. We regret we cannot replace any damaged goods unless this has been done. Shortages and breakages must be advised within 10 days of delivery.
If there is a problem with the carrier, please contact us immediately on 01673 858555 or e-mail sales@thorne.co.uk. Please do not attempt to contact the carrier as we are able to deal with this more quickly and efficiently.
Carriers may leave parcels in a safe place at our instruction. If you do have a safe place the parcel can be left or a neighbour that will accept the parcel then please tell us when you place your order.
Orders will be sent to the billing address unless an alternative delivery address is specified.
Queens
Queens are sent on a 1st class Royal Mail. Queens are sent in a travelling cage with several attendants, candy and full introduction instructions.
Our Queens are British Hybrids and are extremely balanced, user friendly bees. They are all mated but not clipped or marked.
Bees
Our bees are sold in a travelling box in a six frame nucleus. These can be collected from either our head office at Rand, Thornes of Windsor, Thornes of Stockbridge or Thornes of Devon. Bees are pre-ordered and a non-refundable deposit taken. We will contact you when your bees are ready for collection.
All our bees are sourced from reputable breeders in England.
Collection Only
Due to the nature of some of our products, certain items are collection only. These include Acetic acid and six frame nuclei.
Returns and Refunds
All our products are guaranteed for 12 months.
Goods may be returned to us for a full refund or exchange within 28 days providing they are undamaged and we receive proof of purchase. Goods that may have been ordered as a gift can also be exchanged for Thorne vouchers if the product is not required.
Goods can be returned to our head office at Rand or to any of our branches.
We cannot refund or exchange personalised labels unless they have been incorrectly supplied.
We cannot accept returns or refunds on AVM-GSL medicines (MAQS, Apivar, Apilife Var, Apiguard, Apistan, Api-bioxal, Oxybee). These medicines can only be refunded if they were sent in error or damaged in transit.
