2023 5 Frame Nucs – Overwintered Colorado Bees

Description

Each year we sell a limited quantity of 5 frame nucs. We believe that bees are healthier and better-adapted to our climate when overwintered in Colorado, and allowed to thrive in our local environment. While most nucs sold in Colorado are brought in from California, we prefer to offer a much smaller number of healthy and sustainably-raised-in-Colorado colonies, naturally adapted to our local environment. We never send our bees out on pollination contracts, and we won’t give you bees on old frames that should have been retired years ago.

Before we hand off each nucleus colony we check for a queen with a good laying pattern. Because we let our queens mate naturally, with overwintered Colorado drones, the worker bees and the queen have the same familial lines, which is important for queen acceptance. With a naturally-raised queen, the workers have selected and raised her from an egg, dramatically reducing their likelihood to replace her in the first season. We always send our bees with at least a full frame of honey, local pollen, and 5 drawn frames of clean honeycomb, so that they can not only build up quickly enough to survive the winter, but do so with plenty of honey.

We offer pickup in Loveland, on dates to be announced as the colonies expand this Spring, but approximately mid-May to June. Delivery may be arranged on request, depending on your location. Please call for more details. We do not ship bees. We do not offer refunds if you are unable to pick up your bees and do not accept cancellations. Questions? Feel free to call us at 970-541-2914.