Most of the nucleus colonies we hand over in May were spoken for in October. That surprises people who start looking in April. By then we are usually full. In BC, a nucleus colony is a winter purchase.
Here is the rest.
What a nucleus colony is
A nucleus colony (beekeepers often say nuc) is a small working hive. Ours hold three frames of brood, one frame of honey, and a queen we reared on the farm.
Here is where they come from. A strong colony gets bigger and bigger through spring. By the end of May here, a colony that has not been divided is going to swarm, because it has grown big enough to be two colonies. So we skim frames off those hives before they do. We make the swarm ourselves, and that is the nucleus colony we sell.
The bees on those frames are mostly young nurse bees, which is what you want. Nurse bees stay home and raise brood. Foragers would fly back to the hive they came from.
The queen is the point. She has been laying in that box before you collect it, so you can lift a frame and see eggs next to capped brood. That is your proof she works.
A nucleus colony is not a package. A package is loose bees shaken into a screened box, with a caged queen the bees have never met. No comb, and no brood. Packages ship well, which is why the prairies buy so many, and they cost less per box. But a package spends its first three weeks building what a nucleus colony already has. In a BC spring, with a cold week never far off, those three weeks matter. A nucleus colony started in May is usually a full hive by August. A package started the same day is often a box and a half.
We sell nucleus colonies. We do not sell packages. We do not ship nucleus colonies anywhere, at any quantity. More on that below.
What a nucleus colony should come with
Wherever you buy, ask four things.
Who reared the queen, and when. A lot of people sell nucleus colonies and import all their queens. A shipment comes in from Hawaii or California, and those queens go into the boxes. We raise all of our own queens, and every nucleus colony we sell is made with one of them. The early ones carry a queen that has already been through a winter here.
How old the nucleus colony is. A good one has been made up long enough that the queen is laying and the brood pattern is solid. Look for capped brood in a tight block, with few skipped cells.
Whether the bees have been inspected. Ours are inspected by the BC Ministry of Agriculture, and the report comes with every nucleus colony. Without a report, you are taking the seller’s word on mites and disease.
How many frames, and what is on them. Three frames of brood plus a frame of honey is the standard we sell. Fewer frames of brood, or a box that is mostly foundation and bees, is closer to a package than a nucleus colony.
When to order
Our season runs from mid April to about the first of June. Some years there are nucleus colonies in June. Treat those as a bonus, not a plan.
The April ones cost more, and there is a reason. They are headed by an overwintered queen. In about three weeks, one of them can grow strong enough to split in two.
Repeat buyers carry a standing order from one year to the next, and new requests start coming in around October. By late summer we are often close to sold out for the following spring. If we are full when you ask, we will say so on the spot and put you on the list for the year after.
Prices, sizes, and the order form are on the nucleus colonies page. Nothing is reserved until we have confirmed it with you.
Pickup day
Every nucleus colony is collected from the farm at Armstrong. We do not ship them. Once the bees leave the yard they are your responsibility, and a colony in the back of a courier truck in May is a risk we will not take on your behalf. People have driven from as far east as Manitoba for these bees. Larger orders sort out their own trucking.
What to bring depends on the size you ordered. A 4 frame nucleus colony comes in our cardboard box. A 5 frame nucleus colony goes into your box, so bring one, with a lid that fits and the entrance closed.
Bring a veil. Bring a ratchet strap or a bungee for each box, because a box that tips over on the Trans-Canada is a bad afternoon. Keep the bees inside the vehicle with you, out of the sun, windows cracked, and drive home. Not to the store first. Not to a friend’s place to show them. Home.
Bees generate an immense amount of heat. A closed box in a parked car on a hot afternoon can kill a nucleus colony in under an hour.
If it is a long drive, go early or late in the day, when it is cool.
The first two weeks
Set the box down where the hive will live, open the entrance, and leave it until evening or the next morning. Then move the frames into your own hive body. Keep them in the same order they came in, and put them in the centre of the box with your empty frames on either side. Lift each frame straight up and set it straight down. The queen is on one of them.
Feed. A jar of one-to-one sugar syrup (equal weights sugar and water) keeps the bees drawing comb until the spring flow gets going. Keep feeding until they stop taking it.
Put an entrance reducer on. A small colony with syrup inside is a target. A stronger hive nearby will find it, rob it out, and kill the bees that try to defend it. Robbing can starve a nucleus colony in a couple of days, and it happens more often in yards with an established hive next door. Small entrance, and no spilled syrup on the ground.
Then leave them alone for a week. On day seven or so, open the hive on a warm afternoon and look for eggs. Eggs mean the queen made the move. You do not need to find her. After that, check every week or two, and add a second box when the bees have drawn out most of the frames in the first.
A nucleus colony that sits in its cardboard box for three weeks will build queen cells and swarm. We have seen it happen to good beekeepers. Get them into the hive.
Two things we get asked
Yes, one nucleus colony is fine. Many of our buyers are hobbyists with a few hives who lose one over winter and order a replacement every spring. We take orders from one nucleus colony to a thousand, and the form is the same either way.
And yes, you can start a hive with a nucleus colony and no experience. You will learn faster with a mentor or a bee club, and most parts of BC have one. But a nucleus colony is more forgiving than a package. The queen is already at work, and the colony is already working as one unit.
When you are ready, the order form is short.