Different Ways to Obtain Bees
To get into beekeeping, we need bees, right? But where do we get them? We can’t make a trip to the local farm store, nor can we order them on Amazon and have them shipped to our door. The good news is there are several ways to obtain bees locally and from afar in the form of swarms, packages, cutouts/trap outs, and nuclei. Even better, a colony of honeybees may be obtained at any price point, ranging from a free swarm to a mid-priced nucleus to the pricey, high-end specialty breeds.
Nuclei
A lot of folks nowadays purchase nucleus colonies (nucs for short) as these miniature colonies offer the highest success rates of all the methods of obtaining bees. A single nuc contains one mated queen. She is already laying eggs, providing several frames of brood in all life stages from egg to nearly emerged brood, ready to replace the old bees as they die out. Producers include 1 to 2 frames of honey and pollen and 2 to 3 frames of brood. Upon arrival at the new bee yard, these frames of bees and food stores, usually five in total, are placed inside a new hive body, fed, and left alone for a few days to settle. Easy peasy.
The drawbacks to nuclei are few. Nucs may be hard to find in some areas where producers may not be plentiful, so a bit of travel may be required to obtain a nuc. Yet, the biggest drawback is the price. Nucs are the most expensive manner in which to obtain bees. But this fee comes with several benefits. The producer usually knows their bees’ genetics and establishes mini-colonies that are ready to grow. They often control varroa prior to sale. The bees are well-fed and, perhaps most importantly, most states require honeybee producers to be inspected for disease before selling honeybees. The inspection alone may provide a sense of security for many, especially if you’re in an area known to harbor American foulbrood.
Swarms
The oldest method of building an apiary is through the capture of swarms. A swarm occurs when a colony of honeybees outgrows its home, takes half of the colony and its queen, and flies away in search of a new home. As this swarm travels the area, it will land in various locations ranging from fence posts to vehicles to high-rise buildings and everything in between.
The benefits of swarm captures are many. Most importantly, swarms are free for the taking; remember to obtain the property owner’s permission before removing any swarms from their property. Often, swarms are created by healthy colonies loaded with honey and bees of every age. Swarms are also some of the most rapid comb builders, as the swarming instinct causes bees to rapidly produce large amounts of new wax for the creation of their new home. Swarms are less apt to swarm again in the same season, which can help new beekeepers learn the ropes to swarm control before a swarm becomes imminent. Another advantage is the new beekeeper can watch a colony establish a new home from start to finish — an exciting observation for many beekeepers.
There aren’t many downsides; however, there are a few to remember. You don’t know which “type” of bee you may capture — aggressive, calm, productive, and the like. Swarmed queens are sometimes superseded within the first 45 days of a swarm establishing a new home, requiring close observation for queen-rightness as the colony establishes itself. You also risk obtaining a virgin queen that still needs to fly out and mate, possibly never returning. Varroa loads may also be high, requiring immediate varroa treatment once the new colony has settled sufficiently for treatment. However, these risks are minor and easily worked around.
Cutouts and Trap Outs
Similar to obtaining a swarm, cutouts and trap outs are usually free for the taking. Cutouts are basically where bees have made a home in a structure such as a house or a barn and must be physically removed via cutting out walls, boards, and the like. This requires some carpentry skills and an agreement between the beekeeper and the property owner regarding how the structure is repaired and who is responsible for any unexpected damage during the removal process.
Trap outs are similar to cutouts, except the beekeeper doesn’t open the structure’s walls to remove the bees. Instead, a trap out box (many DIYs are available online) is positioned close to the colony’s home with the intent of luring the bees out of the tree or structure in a passive manner. Lures can be very successful for trap outs. However, the queen often doesn’t wish to follow her colony into the trap out box, so occasionally, you may need to purchase a new queen.
Most of the drawbacks are similar to swarms, such as unknown genetics and varroa loads. However, any beekeeper wishing to perform these will need to consider insurance for any damage they cause, as well as a possible contract signed by both parties to ensure everyone is on the same page before the first cut is ever made.
Packages
Package bees are the only way an entire group of bees can be placed in the mail and delivered to your post office. You receive a small box, much like a cricket box used for fishing, with around three pounds of bees hanging inside the tiny screened box. The queen is safely stored in a queen cage within the cricket box with the hope that the bees will bond with her once they are all placed in a new hive body. A small amount of bee food is also included in the package to keep the bees fed during transport.
The downsides to packages include poor queen acceptance or early supersedure for many queens. These bees must also modify their behavior once placed inside the hive body to produce large amounts of comb for the colony to live on. This causes much stress on the bees and is only sometimes successful because packaged bees have a different stimulus to build large amounts of new comb than those found within a swarm.
In addition, these packages of bees have traveled through the mail system where climate extremes often occur, rough handling often happens, and delays in shipping can cause bees to run out of their minimal food supply and starve before arriving at their new destination. And finally, the lack of bee brood does not allow for the immediate and timely replacement of any bees that die before the queen’s newly laid brood has time to emerge and mature. This alone often causes packages to die out early.
When searching for honeybees, there are many options to choose from, all ranging in price from free to several hundred dollars for each colony. However, no matter where you are or how small or large your budget is, there are sure to be honeybees available in your area, ready for the taking.
Kristy Cook lives in Arkansas where every year brings something new to her family’s journey for a more sustainable lifestyle. She keeps a flock of laying hens, dairy goats, a rapidly growing apiary, a large garden, and more. When she’s not busy with the critters and veggies, you can find her sharing sustainable living skills through her workshops and articles.
Originally published in the July/August 2023 issue of Countryside and Small Stock Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
