Our beekeepers utilize a process that maximizes honey bee colony reproductive energy to build up colony size during early spring by splitting them into smaller colonies, also known as nucleus colonies. This method controls the colony's instinct to outgrow their hive and multiply into additional colonies, maintaining the parent hive at a manageable size. We use a method of queen rearing to simulate one of the colony's natural impulses to reproduce a new queen within the hive. This process is replicated at scale with specific timing and delicate conditions, ensuring nearly hatched queen cells are introduced to a queen-less colony for maturity. Once hatched, the queen completes a mating flight, is confirmed to be laying, and harvested for a waiting queen-less nucleus colony.

Our bee stock production is predominantly comprised of Carnolian Honey Bees, which are favored among beekeepers for several reasons. These bees possess several strengths that set them apart from other bee subspecies, including their gentle and non-aggressive nature, exceptional orientation sense, less drifting between hives, lower tendency to rob honey, and resistance to some diseases and parasites. These bees are also better suited for areas with long winters, able to quickly adapt to changes in the environment, and have a fast rhythm of brood production, followed by a reduction in brood rearing when forage decreases.

Additionally, Carnolian Honey Bees are able to forage earlier in the morning and later in the evening, and on cool, wet days, allowing them to store large quantities of honey and pollen during periods of high nectar availability. These bees have a low use of propolis, are resistant to brood diseases, and their workers live up to 12% longer than other breeds.

Strengths:

• Utilizing honey bee colony's reproductive energy to build up colony size during early spring
• Splitting colonies into smaller nucleus colonies to control the colony's instinct to outgrow their hive and multiply into additional colonies
• Simulating one of the colony's natural impulses to reproduce a new queen within the hive for queen rearing
• Replicating the process at scale with specific timing and delicate conditions to ensure nearly hatched queen cells are introduced to a queen-less colony for maturity
• Utilizing Carnolian Honey Bees for bee stock production, a bee sub-species that is gentle and non-aggressive, has an exceptional orientation sense, and lower tendency to rob honey
• Carnolian Honey Bees are better suited for areas with long winters, able to quickly adapt to changes in the environment, and have a fast rhythm of brood production
• Carnolian Honey Bees forage earlier in the morning and later in the evening, and on cool, wet days, allowing them to store large quantities of honey and pollen during periods of high nectar availability
• Carnolian Honey Bees have a low use of propolis, are resistant to brood diseases, and their workers live up to 12% longer than other breeds

Weaknesses:

• Carnolian Honey Bees are more prone to swarming if overcrowded
• Carnolian Honey Bees have a low ability to thrive in hot summer weather
• The strength of their brood nest is highly dependent on the availability of pollen
• Unless marked, the dark queen is difficult to find

Overall, our process of utilizing Carnolian Honey Bees for bee stock production and queen rearing allows for a high-quality and efficient production of bees. While these bees possess several strengths, it's important to be mindful of their weaknesses to ensure their optimal care and health.

We are thrilled to offer you our high-quality and carefully crafted four-frame nucleus (nuc) colonies to help start new bee hive colonies, increase apiary size, or to replace winter losses. Our nucs include a mated laying queen, three frames of brood (open and capped), and approximately 5000 honey bees (workers and drones). We also provide a fourth frame as a feed frame with pollen, nectar, and/ or capped honey to ensure your nuc has everything it needs to thrive.

To ensure the best experience for our customers, our nucs are housed in reusable boxes for easy transport and inspected by our Regional Bee Inspector. With your purchase, you will receive an inspection report and permit to sell our stock, giving you the peace of mind that our bees are healthy and ready to help your colony thrive.

We understand that availability can be a concern, especially during the busy spring season. To guarantee your nucs, we offer two main payment options: Full Payment or a 50% deposit (with the balance due at the time of pick-up or anytime before). Additionally, nuc boxes are included in the full price of the 4 or 5 frame nuc, so you do not need to worry about returning them for a refund.

We want to make it as convenient as possible for you to pick up your nucs, which is why we offer three pick-up locations: Armstrong BC, Revelstoke BC, and Castlegar BC. A map and pick-up details will be emailed to you one week prior to the availability date, which we aim to have ready for pick up on the May 20/21 weekend in Armstrong BC and the May 27/28th weekend in Revelstoke and Castlegar BC.

We understand that weather can significantly impact mating weather, which can affect which weekend nucs will be available for pick up. For this reason, we will notify you by email or SMS when your nucs are ready for pick-up and provide you with directions to the pick-up location. Additionally, we will confirm your availability to pick up at the selected date and time to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience for you.

Thank you for considering our nucs for your beekeeping needs. We look forward to providing you with healthy and thriving bee colonies to help support your apiary.

At BeeKind Honey Bees, we take great pride in our queen rearing program, which is currently in full swing. Our team is dedicated to providing our valued customers with a growing supply of high-quality, mated queens from mid-May to late July. We are committed to maintaining a consistent supply and increasing our capacity each year.

If you are interested in ordering our mated queens, please reach out to us via email at hello@beekindhoneybees.ca, or keep an eye on our shop during the mid-May to late July period when availability is expected. Our team is happy to answer any questions you may have and assist you with your order. We look forward to providing you with exceptional service and top-quality mated queens for your beekeeping needs.