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The Bee Place
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A honey bee farm and more . . .
We are committed to ensuring the honey bee's future
in our community. Honey bees are more than just our business . . .
They are a huge part of our lives here at The Bee Place. We manage and maintain
several hundred hives year round and only sell bees raised from our own
stock - we are NOT a bee broker.
When the conditions are
favorable and resources available, we are able to make splits from our hives
and we then offer a limited number of starter colonies, called "Nucs" (short
for nucleus), for sale to other beekeepers. These hives require a good deal
of time and effort, most of which is in the field and away from the office
or a retail store setting. We are always happy to talk bees, but during peak
seasons we are not always able to answer the phone or reply to messages
immediately. So please be patient when contacting us or placing an order and
know that we will respond as soon as we are able.
While we do offer beekeeping supplies and local honey to the
public, please be aware that we do not have a "walk-in" store at
this time. We take orders via this website and arrange for pick up or
delivery by appointment. We also offer Basic Beekeeping group classes on
the scheduled pick up dates, which is normally on Saturdays and Sundays from
10 am until noon for the class and then we load bees and supplies for
customers the rest of the afternoon. If you place an
order, we will be in contact with you to provide the address and schedule a
time to meet you for a visit.
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When the weather allows and the conditions are
right, typically starting in early spring with the nectar flow approaching,
we make our splits to increase our numbers. Over and above the resources
provided by mother nature, we depend on the availability of high quality
young mated queens to add to the hives we split (divide into two or more
hives) to create new starter colonies, also known as Nucs. We use
queens from select breeders in non-Africanized bee territories to assure the
gentleness and purity of our Italian bees.
We then feed and treat the bees for pests and allow
the new young queens in their starter colonies to grow and become
established. Once they are deemed healthy and productive, the new colony can
be placed in the appropriate size hives for either adding to our growing
apiary or offering to other beekeepers. The number of new hives and Nucs we
are able to generate each year is often times limited by the above mentioned
factors; resources and queen bee availability. There are times we are on a
waiting list and must rely upon the availability of these resources to make
our splits and fill orders. Working with Mother Nature often times requires
patience.
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| Queen in
Introduction Cage |
Pure Italian
Queen Bee |
Marked Queen |
Therefore, we advise
folks that are wanting to order bees, it is a good idea to order them
several months in advance. Orders received in the spring are preceded by
orders received the previous fall / winter months and will be filled on a
"first come - first serve" basis. Sometimes the new hives are ready as early
as the end of March, while other years it may be several weeks later in the
season.
We strive to meet the
needs of a growing community of beekeepers and aim to provide healthy bees
of top quality genetics and the most gentle demeanor available. The Italian
lines we raise are considered to be "the sweetest bees" around and are truly
a pleasure to work. While there may be a waiting period for orders at
certain times of the year, we work very hard to satisfy our customer list as
timely as possible. We consider waiting a bit longer to fill an order less
critical than to sacrifice the quality by rushing nature, we think the final
product is worth the wait. Come take a look into some of our hives, we think
you will agree. |
