It seems like everyone has an opinion. Especially if they are selling something and are trying to beat out the competition.
That's fine with us as along as we can "agree to disagree" and not get in a huge debate over "THE BEST WAY" because as I keep saying "The best way is whatever works for you...Period!".
What you do or experience isn't necessarily what a beekeeper is going to do or experience 1 mile, 100 miles or 1000 miles away.
Some people like packages. They are usually cheaper then Nucs but take longer to build up for the season and the first year your girls probably won't produce what they will the next year. But again...some may say that that it doesn't make a difference. I've seen studies on both sides that argue, Ad nauseam (especially if they are selling one or the other). We aren't here to tell you which one to purchase!
Now...another type of honey bee you will see is advertised as "Survivor Stock". This is sometimes a misnomer. Beekeepers have different definitions of "Survivor Stock". Some say that as long as bees make it through a "winter" or more then a year, they are survivor stock.
This is where you need to find a reputable dealer and ask questions. Not all nuc dealers who advertise "survivor stock" actually keep their bees in Michigan or that type of climate throughout our harsh winters. They will send them down down South for the winter and either split them into nucs down there and bring them back in the Spring or they will bring them up to Michigan in the Spring after the really cold weather is over, split the hives into nucs and call them survivor stock. The other way is to house the hives in a building or structure where the "environment" isn't nearly as bad as "outside".
Most honey bees in Michigan were at one time packages. There is no one out there that has the perfect "survivor" bee nor is there a beekeeper who can say they have 100% survival rate (who have more then a couple of hives) in Michigan (outside hives in just supers) over more then three or 4 years at this time If there were they would be patenting that genetic strain or advertising that fact.
Read up, ask around and make your own decisions.
Pictured to the left is a typical "Nuc". It contains 5 frames/foundations (with comb and brood) 2 pounds of bees maybe (give or take), and a mated/laying queen. These are "established" and can be easily hived by taking the frames out and placing them in a super. Typically, if you do this slow and carefully and with practice, you can pick-up 2 to all 5 frames and place the majority of the Nuc contents into the hive. Place the additional 5+ frames/foundations in the super put the second super on (you don't have to at this point...it's up to you), put the queen excluder. vent board and hive top (roof) on and you have yourself a honey bee hive.
First and foremost....I've read a couple of other sites who "try to clear up the difference between '#3 and 3#' packages". While the correct was is "3#" most sites, including ours put "#3". Either way most people know what we are talking about with "#3". I guess in today's world people try to muddle anything and everything or try to make themselves look good.
So...let me clear up our "#3 packages". OUR PACKAGES ARE 3 POUNDS OF HONEY BEES...GIVE OR TAKE A FEW OUNCES. We get them from our bulk suppliers a certain way. They try to get as close to #3, 3# or 3 pounds as they can. We can not pick and chose the packages but we let you pick out the packages you want. Fair enough?
Packages (photo on the right) come in a variety of ways. The most common size is 3 pounds. There are 2 pounders out there and I have seen a couple of suppliers offering "custom" sizes.
Packages are usually sold with a mated queen. The packages consist of the shoebox size package, approximately 3 pounds of bees, a mated queen with attendants in a small cage and a large soup can size can of sugar water (feed for the trip). Packages are offered by some suppliers without the queen at a lower cost but you have to make sure you have a queen ready to go.
There are a few basic ways to "hive" a package (see Hiving Instructions for the whole 9 yards). This is the way most people do it: Smoke a little bit (the bees, I mean), maybe slightly mist them with a bit of sugar water, pry off the small, square top (carefully and slowly). There may be a few to alot of bees on top of the feeder can but gently push or blow them out of the way and you will see the top of the feeder can and the small "queen cage". Carefully remove the queen cage and put the queen cage in between the middle frames of the bottom super(unless you are going to mark/clip her).
Remove the tin can of feed (you can rig this up to a entrance feeder if you want so don't throw it away) and set it aside. Bees will be coming out to stretch a bit so now you have to move right along. Take the package and dump it over the queen cage and give a couple of shakes to get most of the loose bees out.
At this point you can either put another super w/frames on top or not. But...place you queen excluder, vent board and top on the hive. YOUR DONE...Hiving, that is. Watch the bees for a few days to make sure they are working. Check to see if they are drawing comb. After a couple of days, release the queen, if the bees haven't done so yet.
Check to make sure the girls are doing what they should be doing but not everyday. I would mention that I always put a "queen excluder front" at the entrance of all my hives to make sure the queen doesn't go for a walkabout while the comb is being built.
It sounds like a lot of work but really...with a little practice...you can initially "hive" a package as fast as a Nuc. it's the "follow-up" that takes a bit more time but that is also a learning experience.
Currently we are offering for sale Georgia Packaged bees. However, we also offer swarm retrieval services (at no charge).
We also do "cut-outs" which are are honey bee removal from residences and businesses.
We don't have any yet...So...To be announced.
When we have some we will publish them. Good and Bad. However, if we get a bad review we want to know what exactly we did wrong and feel that many times the competition or just plain mean people give bad reviews for something to do. There's too much of that anymore. So...write us a valid bad review...especially if we can't make it right, and we'll publish it. We reserve the right to use full names. We also believe that many sites make up their own good reviews. We won't do that. Nor will we hire or bribe people to give us good reviews.
Right now our promotions are a little thin. We're just starting but if you order package bees now they are $120 for a #3 pound package.
We also have our own wax for sale. The amounts are limited and we are using them for products we will be offering on this site in the future. Right now these products are being tested by family, friends and customers.
Wax is $10 a pound and comes in 8+ounce bars. We are selling them as 8 ounce bars but because we believe in giving our customers a little extra for their money we pour more then 8oz in our bars. We want it knowN that we would rather err on the side of the customer then be accused of shorting.
The biggest news we have? We started this site and are trying to create an honest, small business built on integrity and the premise that small businesses can thrive in todays age without being a high tech start-up with an IPO. We will offer the best products we can at the best prices we can manage.
We'll get around to this and many other things. There is only one person working on this site with the assistance of an editor who only gets paid in honey and experimental products.
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