About our Bees...

 

We work hard to provide the best bees we can to our customers. To do that, we work with some of the biggest beekeepers in the Kansas City area. We proudly partner with Golden Rule Honey Farm, and cooperate with other area beekeepers as well to provide value added services (pickup location, delivery, installation, setup, classes, and other services). We also produce some Nucs ourselves.

 

Although we can and do provide a variety of types of honeybees, our favorite and most popular has been the Minnesota Hygienic bees. They have been the most consistent in regards to their disposition, productivity and hardiness.

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Nucs, or Nucleus Colonies (starter colonies) have some attributes that make them our favorite way to sell and manage bees.

 

And keep in mind that we DO NOT SELL EMERGENCY QUEENS in our Nucs. If you do NOT know what that means, please contact us directly for a more detailed explanation. In short, emergency queens can have a significant deviation in genetics which influence behavior, hardiness, and productivity.

 

Some examples of what our FIVE FRAME Nucs come with are as follows:

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     - A VERIFIED, MATED, LAYING, and ACCEPTED Queen

     - THREE frames* of BROOD (eggs, as well as capped and uncapped larvae)

     - TWO frames* of resources (honey/syrup/nectar/pollen)

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     * Please Note: All equipment is compatible with Langstroth Deep Hive Bodies unless otherwise specified or special ordered. This is NOT compatible with Top Bar, Warre, or medium/shallow Langstroth equipment.

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Nucs vs. Packages:

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Both have positive and negative aspects, and both are good products. However, shipping processes and sanitation protocols, particularly in 2019, seem to have had an impact on the health of the package bees and the queens. We have also seen a larger than normal number of absconds, swarms, and queen losses this year requiring replacement. Queen acceptance seems to have been lower as well.

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What like MOST about packages is their earlier availability. Although this serves the impatient well, it doesn't come without some risks.

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What you gain with packages if thinking about the bees starting from scratch building comb earlier, not inheriting problems from comb, frames, etc. you tend to lose in time in production, and population of bees. You would normally get three pounds of bees, a caged queen, and some food. If the queen is accepted, well mated, etc. she will have to wait for comb to be drawn to begin laying. SO the bee population will likely drop before it starts to replace bees and then grow the colony.

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What I like MOST about Nucs is their simplicity, the COMB, the population explosion, and the avoidance of queen acceptance issues. Remember, as mentioned above, with a nuc from a reputable local beekeeper ALREADY has an accepted, mated, laying queen in it.

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However, what you gain with Nucs if thinking about comb, acceptance, population increase, etc. you lose with time, receiving them later in the season. Although by the end of the season, it likely makes less difference than you would thing.

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It CAN be frustrating for the impatient, waiting for their Nuc to be ready, or to meet their particular nuc supplier's standards. Keep in mind that the supplier continues to take the risks, babysitting the hive so to speak through weather and feeding, until it is ready for you! 

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OUR standards are VERY HIGH so our customers sometimes have to wait a little longer to pick up or receive their Nucs!

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It MIGHT be possible, depending on a number of factors to get Nucs earlier if willing to take them with less development, perhaps with two frames of brood and one frame of food, and a couple undrawn frames.

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Lastly, let me outline how we handle delivery, setup, install, etc. We charge a premium called a "Trip Fee" for this, that will cover up to the first 60 miles of our territory, or roughly an hour radius from our location near Oak Grove, Missouri. Outside of this we charge an additional amount for mileage. Please contact us for this as it may require paypal or venmo payment instead of ordering directly on the site.

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IF you would like an experienced beekeeper to deliver, setup, and install your bees, equipment, etc. PLEASE be sure to add a "Trip Fee" to your order. ONLY one TRIP FEE is needed if you order multiple Nucs, hives etc. We spend an extra 15-30 minutes usually answering questions, and we narrate the process as we go so you can learn a little bit as you begin your beekeeping journey. And we have additional services, and even service plans, that can help you be more successful with your bees.

 

Also remember this: we LOVE to talk bees. So feel free to call, text, message us on facebook etc.

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