Frequently asked questions
How Long Should I Keep My Starter Colony In Its Four Frame Nuc Box?
We recommend transferring the colony to a standard deep hive body about two to three weeks after you purchase it. Due to the youthful age of your starter colony, it takes approximately two to three weeks from the time that you pick up your starter colony until the population really starts taking off. You can transfer the bees as soon as you wish, especially if the colony is heavy, but there is no hurry for the first two to three weeks.
Do Wildflower Meadows’ Nucs For Sale Contain Deep Or Shallow Frames?
Our nucs for sale consist of four standard deep frames. These frames are the standard size to be transferred to a standard Langstroth deep hive body. This does not mean that you cannot also use a shallow or medium hive body in addition to your deep hive body. Many successful beekeepers use a deep hive body stacked over (or under) a medium or shallow hive body as their standard setup, but you will need to have at least one deep hive body to transfer the starter colony frames into.
Can I Use Your Starter Colony To Start A Top Bar Hive?
No. The four deep frames that come with our starter colony are not compatible with top bar beekeeping. If you are planning to use a top bar hive you will need to buy a package of bees, not a nuc.
Do You Sell Queen Bees Or Package Bees?
At this time we do not sell queen bees separately, or packages of bees.
Will I Need To Feed The Starter Colonies?
Your starter colonies come with enough honey for the two to three weeks that they will be in their starter box without requiring feeding. Once you transfer them to their deep hive body, however, you should consider feeding them until they build out their new foundation and have decent stores of honey set aside.
How Long Will It Take For My Starter Colony To Start Producing Honey?
This depends on a number of variables, including the amount of rainfall over the previous winter, the quality of your beekeeping location, and how much you accelerate the colony’s growth by feeding. If you are starting with all new foundation, it will take longer for your colony to develop than if you are starting with frames of previously built-out comb. Generally, your colony will be in its starter box for much of April. It will then grow into a deep hive body during May. You usually can add a second hive body heading into June, and perhaps a third in early July. Realistically, however, your best approach is to be conservative with your starter colony in the first year, and target honey making in the second year.
Do I Need To Treat For Mites?
The starter colonies themselves will not require mite treatments of any kind through at least the late summer, and possibly not ever. If later in the summer, however, your varroa mite counts increase, a well-timed mite treatment at the end of July or the beginning of August can make a significant difference in the ability of the bees to survive and prosper over the winter.
Do You Guarantee The Queens To Be Fertile?
Yes. If your queen stops laying eggs or is laying poorly you can exchange your four frame nuc for a replacement within the first thirty days of the date of your purchase. We do not allow exchanges after thirty days.
I Can’t Find The Queen. How Do I Know If She Is Laying Properly?
While it never hurts to practice finding your queen, the only time that you actually need to find the queen is when you are planning to replace her. Otherwise, all you need to do is to look for freshly laid eggs and young larvae, which are much easier to find than the queen herself. New eggs indicate that your queen has been on the job within the last three days. You also want to look for brood of multiple ages that has been laid in a tight, circular pattern. Spotty brood is an indication that your queen could be failing and on her way out.
Why Don’t You Offer Nucs For Sale In The Late Summer Or Fall?
Small colonies can have a difficult time handling the winter months successfully. The bees themselves seem to know this, which is why they tend to swarm in the spring and early summer, as opposed to later in the season. To have the best chance of late season survival a beehive needs to get established early in the season. By starting in spring or early summer, the colony has the opportunity to build a large population of bees and plenty of honey stores well in advance of the dry fall season and cool winter months.
Where Can I Get More Information On Beekeeping In Southern California?
There are a number of beekeeping associations in Southern California:
San Diego:
San Diego Beekeeping Society
(619) 800-2338Costa Mesa:
Orange County Beekeepers Association
(714) 839-2337Santa Monica:
Save Our Bees
(310) 702-2823
In addition to the above, Bee Source, at www.beesource.com, offers a wealth of beekeeping information and is an excellent resource to answer your beekeeping questions.
YouTube also has many informative instructional beekeeping videos.