Speaking of bad mouthing bee vendors, about 10 years ago a report came out titled "What's in that package?" which looked at quality of bees shipped from the south. They ordered packages from several different vendors. Results were all over the map. Two vendors never filled the order, didn't even bother to call to say they weren't going to. One vendor had to ship the same order three times. The first time the bees were dead, the second time they were "lost by the USPS." Third batch was fine. Bottom line:

Purchasing packaged bees is a buyer beware endeavor.
Although the producers included in the current
study represent only four of the dozens of possible
producers of packages in the United States, the
packages we received illustrate the high variability
that beekeepers can expect to encounter in the marketplace.

Additional info

Even from reputable producers, 4% queen mortality was
routinely observed during shipments of 50-150 packages
of bees over a 3-yr period. 

In addition to direct damage to the bees during
shipping, parasites and diseases may be shipped with
the package to the beekeeper

That some V. destructor are shipped in packages is
not surprising given the prevalence of the pest in
beekeeping operations; however, the variability of
[mite per bee] ratios among and within operations was noteworthy.

Although the package bee industry is effective in
transporting honey bees, the prevalence of Nosema
infection in packages may indicate that packaged bees
are also an effective source of pathogens.

"What’s in that package? An evaluation of quality of package honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) shipments in the United States." Journal of economic entomology 101.3 (2008): 668-673.

* This sort of study used to be done all the time and names were named. These days, everyone is worried about funding so they pull the punches.

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