3# Packages Italians, Saskatraz, Carniolan, and Golden West –
All our packages are from Oliveras Honeybees (OHB)
The Queens are bred by OHB in California where they raise and package their bees.

Packages were made up on Monday morning 4/13/26 All queens are mated and placed into the package alive and healthy.  Note – packaged queens do NOT have attendants in the queen cage. The bees in the package are taking care of her through the screen on her cage, and extra attendants in the cage are not needed.

Please install your Bees within 24 hours of pick up.  Keep the package in a cool (45 – 65 degrees), dry, and well-ventilated area prior to installation. Keep them out of direct sunlight. The bees were treated for varroa mite before packaging using Apivar. You should inspect for varroa in 3-4 weeks and treat appropriately.

If temperatures are forecasted to fall below 60 degrees, do not spray your bees with sugar water or any other liquid meant to distract and calm them down before installation.  This may result in killing the bees overnight.

Inspect the queen before installation and be sure she is active. If the queen is not active, please keep the cage with the queen inside and give us a call to arrange for a new queen. Note that the queen may appear inactive if she is cold. Bring her inside and warm her gently to ensure she is not alive before requesting a new queen. Text or call:  231-335-0699

To install your queen, pinch the queen cage (hole with cork) up in between two center frames with the screen accessible to the other bees in the hive. After 2 days, check the queen, remove the cork and wiggle a nail into the candy slightly to give the bees a headstart to eat through and free the queen. Don’t free the queen before 3 full days to make sure the bees have accepted her and will welcome her into the hive.

If the queen was alive when you placed her in the hive, but you find her dead upon release, this generally means the queen was not accepted. The primary reason is that another queen was in with the colony which means there were 2 queens in the package: one with the bees and one in the cage. Before requesting a replacement queen, inspect your hive for another queen. If there are no eggs, no sign of a queen, contact us for a new queen. We will guarantee the queen for up to 72 hours from pick-up. Once she is freed, it’s up to nature and you to do the job (:  We will have queens for sale if needed.

 

About your 5 or 9 FRAME NUC and THE QUEEN……

5 Frame Nucs

The 5 Frame Nucs are from California Bees with high quality Italian/Carniolan Queens. Queens are new, bred this year from both California Italian/Carniolan stock.  Nucs are made up with bees that were treated with Apivar.  Inspect for mites in 3-4 weeks and treat as needed.

It’s been chilly the past few weeks, so we hope they have built up nicely – but will certainly build quickly as temperatures warm. Each nuc has been inspected prior to pick up.  The queen has been mated and laying so there will be plenty of brood in the nuc. Please inspect for the queen upon installation into your hive. If you don’t see the queen, look for fresh eggs and if there is no queen or eggs, this may indicate the queen has died. In this case, please call or text 231-335-0929

9 Frame Nucs

The 9 Frame Nucs are from Michigan Bees that go south in winter. Splits are made with new California queens. They build up in early spring and then come back to Michigan at the end of April, beginning of May. Note – the nucs were treated with Apivar in early March. Check for mites again in 3-4 weeks and treat as needed. Overwintered bees from the south are susceptible to hive beetle. The 9 frame nucs have been well managed for mites and beetles, but you must be vigilant for both. Add beetle traps immediately if there are any signs of beetles in the hive.

Each nuc has been inspected prior to pick up. The queen has been mated and laying so there will be plenty of brood in the nuc. Please inspect for the queen upon installation into your hive. If you don’t see the queen, look for fresh eggs and if there is no queen or eggs, this may indicate the queen has died. In this case, please call or text 231-335-0699

Enjoy your bees! We hope all of your blooms are beautiful and that you can bottle up some pure, natural honey before the year is over.