Our bees have been selectively bred from our own stock for over 15 years. They are Locally Adapted and tend to be dark in colour. The aim has always been to raise new queens under as close to natural conditions as possible. Breeding queens are selected from colonies known to have a Good Temperament, and to be both Hardy and Productive with a high disease and varroa resistance. The aim has been to produce a strain of bee ideally suited to both the Beekeeper and our variable climate. Queen cells are produced from grafts and are then raised in a six frame Nucleus to ensure the New Queen has an abundance of young nurse bees to tend her and her new brood. The Virgin Queens are open mated in areas flooded with Drones from our own Apiaries, allowing for both Natural Selection and maintenance of the breeding strain. The new Queen will go through many brood cycles and over winter, to ensure a good brood pattern and temperament of the colony before being selected for sale.
£190 + £25 Refundable deposit on travel box).
Excellent starter colony, available as 5 Frames of Bees and 4 frames of Brood in all stages, plus 1 frame of stores, headed by a locally bred 2023 Queen in a returnable plywood travel box. The Nuc was produced by using our own selectively bred queen raised in a 6 frame nuc, and allowed to develop into a complete 12 frame colony to overwinter. The colony is then reduced to a 5 frame Nuc in the Spring, with the surplus bees and brood being used to start a new Nuc. Available late April 2024 onwards, (weather dependent). No deposit required, but early booking advised as limited stock available.
£220 +£25 Refundable deposit on travel box.
A more advanced colony, available as 6 Frames of Bees and 5 frames of Brood in all stages, plus 1 frame of stores, headed by a locally bred 2023 Queen in a returnable plywood travel box. The Nuc was produced by using our own selectively bred queen raised in a 6 frame nuc, and allowed to develop into a complete 12 frame colony to overwinter. The colony is then reduced to a 6 frame Nuc in the Spring, with the surplus bees and brood being used to start a new Nuc. Available late April 2024 onwards, (weather dependent). No deposit required, but early booking advised as limited stock available.
£210
Full size colony installed in a standard Warre Brood box, on 8 movable frames to allow inspection. 8 Frames of Bees with at least 6 frames of Brood in all stages plus stores, headed by a locally bred 2023 marked Queen in a sturdy well ventilated Brood box. Available May 2024 onwards, (weather dependent). No deposit required, but early booking advised as limited stock available.
