Packages & Nucs

Each spring we make package bees and nucleus colonies (“nucs”) available to members of our local beekeeping community. Delivery is always weather-dependent, but typically packages are ready mid-April, and nucs mid-to-late May. Our bees are carefully sourced from excellent apiaries that engage in beekeeping best practices. We provide a health certificate from the apiary of origin.

Later in May we will offer a few nucs of our own survivor stock. These nucs come from strong, hearty colonies that have lived through New England winters for multiple generations.

We are taking orders for spring 2025. If you’d like to order bees, send us an email now! Packages are Russian-queened (marked) and $195. They will be ready mid-April. Nucs are $245 (unmarked queens) and are expected to be ready mid-to-late May.

For beginners (or those needing a refresher), we will offer an instructional workshop on how to install packages and nucs, and how to care for your bees in early spring. Topics will include:

  • Installation of bees into the hive
  • Package queen release
  • How what and why to feed your bees
  • Expanding your hive as your bees grow

Queens

Mid-June through mid-September we have queens available that are carefully selected from our best survivor stock. Our queen mating yards have been closed to “outside bees” since 2020, so our hearty, open-mated queens are minimally 9 generations removed from any commercially acquired bees. Before we sell our queens we wait for them to prove and establish a solid laying pattern, and we only sell queens that meet our high standards (capped brood “floor to ceiling, wall to wall!”)

Our queens are marked according to the year they were produced, based on the standardized international color coding system (1/6 White, 2/7 Yellow, 3/8 Red, 4/9 Green, 5/0 Blue). Marking also makes your queen easier to spot!