How do you get Bees ?

Aside from the physical structure of the hive, the most essential bee keeping supplies are the queen bee and bees.

Bees can be obtained in the form of a nuc or a package.

Both of these can help beginners and established bee keepers alike flourish in the beekeeping business.

What Is A Nuc?

A nuc, essentially a 'nucleus hive', is a simple and small beehive. Usually, this will have three to five brood frames with bees and queen. The queen in the hive would have started laying eggs and comb would be ready to build. You will get a nuc in a cardboard box and it will have a young queen and bees that weigh several pounds. There will also be some honey and pollen stores that are generally four weeks old. This really gives you a head start in establishing your bee enterprise, and is often favored by experienced beekeepers.

Pros

The Nuc is already from a successful hive and the queen bee has started laying eggs.
The Nuc will contain bees of all ages and broods along with eggs.
Comb is partially formed and hence, bees will start making honey sooner.

Cons

The Nuc will be available mostly after the spring season.
Diseases, pests and mite problems may be present in the existing hive, which could then be transferred to your establishment.

Nucs can be purchased only locally and they are not shipped.
Quality of queen may be bad and the bees may not thrive in your neighborhood.
High quality nucs are usually expensive.

Package Bees

Package bees are shipped in wire cages and the bees will be ready to form colonies. You can get package bees in various weights. The queen bee and packaged bees will not be a colony. You have to introduce the package bees to the separately grown queen bee, and hope they get along well. If you feed the bees well, they will soon start a colony.

Pros

Beginners can start working with fewer bees.
You will get healthy bees as packaged bees must be certified before sale.
Sugar roll is sufficient to drive away mites for the entire package.

Cons

High quality bees may be available only during certain seasons.
Bees will find it stressful initially to get along with new queen and start a colony.
Until the hive is formed, the queen will not lay eggs and there will be no brood.
More care must be taken to ensure that all bees are healthy and fully fed.


Once you've gotten your bees in the form of a nuc or package, you should pay attention to good hive management. Bees must not be exposed to too much heat and they must be fed with sugar syrup by spraying or painting the cage twice a day. You have to gently pour and shake the bees from the package into your hive, and this is best done in the afternoon. You can insert the nuc frames directly into your hive equipment. The queen cage must be hanged properly, providing ample space for the queen to move from one cell to another.

Sources

http://beekeepingequipment.org/beekeepingsupplies/