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My supplier for bluebottle pupae has been having issues with Fedex delivering on time. Last week was the first time I had experienced it in many months. Most pupae arrived hatched so I had to order (no refunds or replacements) another batch on Monday which I was hoping would arrive before shipping cutoff Tuesday. However, although they arrived on time, it was too late to get orders out. I will be sending 2nd day orders tomorrow, and west coast orders will be upgraded to second day. However all others will have to wait until Monday to ensure they arrive on time as UPS 3 day and USPS priority may sit over the weekend and be no good by delivery Monday. I apologize for the delay. I know it sucks. Look on the bright side though… you didn’t have to open a box of 10,000+ hatched bluebottle flies!

I have decided to bring back the USPS priority shipping option and will monitor and see how things go over the next few weeks. If all goes well then I will include my live arrival guarantee on all shipping options again. For now, I will only offer LAG the USPS Express 1-2 day and UPS 2nd day shipping options. UPS 3 day will be phased out if USPS priority ends up working normally again.

This looks like the last week we will have for delays (fingers crossed) as I think everyone I have checked so far shows night temps warming up above freezing next week .  Just a couple places here and there that still look like it may be too cold to ship.  In case you are curious of my process, what I do is check your weather forecast and look at the lowest night temperatures through the week.  I try to ship packages when the temperatures during the estimated delivery timeframe do not dip below 22F.  The insulated bag will give a nice buffer and help keep the temperature from changing too quickly inside, but it ultimately will not prevent it from getting too cold (or hot) with extended exposure.  Most heat packs will add about 10-15F, however if temps are below 22F then even the heat pack could freeze.  These little critters are pretty resilient and usually things are fine.  They could even freeze for a short period of time, thaw out, and survive!  I would rather not chance it though.  At least not coupled with the extra day they could be in shipping due to the carriers still catching up a bit.

I know most of you totally understand and are completely fine with waiting until its safe, but I just wanted to give a bit more insight on the how and why I choose to hold a packages.

I check the weather on the receiving side before packing any order. Weather in many of the eastern states is too low to ship safely at the moment.  Orders in those areas will be held until it is safe.  Please be advised that if your weather is too far below freezing, usually at or below 20F, I will hold your order until it warms up a bit.  This only pertains to orders containing any live specimens.  You can still order if you want to buy something that has come into stock that you do not want to miss out on.  Just make sure you are OK with it being held here until it is safe to ship.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

All orchids sold out but more ooths have started to hatch. I will post them in a week or 2.

I have added plenty this time. There should be enough to go around, but we will see how the next day or 2 goes. I raised the limit per person to 10. Any more than that and you will have to contact me directly but I plan to wait a few days before selling in bulk to resellers.