NUCs & Queens

PANDEMIC NOTICE:
Currently during the pandemic we are not shipping orders
and items will show on our website as “SOLD OUT”

Limited quantities of extracted honey products are always available in our Honey Hut at Black Birch Farm Apiaries at 105 Georgetown Rd, West Newbury, Mass 01985 from 8AM - 8PM. To confirm what is available in our Honey Hut just give us a call (978) 994-9335 or for larger quantities, custom packaging or special items for parties/weddings please contact at beeraiser@gmail.com

We do have most items available on-site and you can contact at (978) 994-9335 or beeraiser@gmail.com for status of merchandise. Items such as Nucs and Queens are available seasonally and contact us for specifics/questions by phone or email.

There are multiple options for replacing or adding colonies into your apiary, we can help meet your needs with queens and Nucs from locally raised bees.

 

 
Queen.jpg

QUEENS

Our Queens are generated the natural way by a non-grafting technique in which the bees select the eggs that will evolve into queens rather than by the human selection technique of grafting.

 Our queens are Italian and are ready for sale by late June through mid August  

We have available for sale:

  • Queen Cell

  • Virgin Queens

  • Mated Queens

download.png

NUCs (Queen, small honeybee colony and small box with 5 frames)

NUCs, or nucleus colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honeybees within it. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered on a queen, who is the nucleus of the honey bee colony.

As part of our sustainable apiary management practices we develop NUCs and make them available for purchase to:

  • Replace hives that did not survive the winter

  • Provide builder brood for weak hives

  • For queen production

We sell our NUCs starting in late spring (sales are from early June through to Mid August or until we are sold out). These are five frame NUCs, the box is 21" x 10" x 9" (half the size of a normal hive) and we offer the choice of:

  • Cardboard NUCs that are temporary and used for transporting bees to your own hives. (Included in cost of NUC)

  • Wooden NUCs that are incorporated into your own apiary (Wooden NUCs are available for an additional cost)