Decisions, Decisions...

Of the many considerations given when starting a hive, which type of bees to order and how you want them were relatively simple choices.

Many races and hybrids of honey bees are available and each have their own pluses and minuses. Certain characteristics were important to me, mainly gentleness and disease tolerance. The bee girls at the farm have Italian and Carniolans so I chose Russians. I thought it would be interesting to be able to compare the three. Russians seemed to have developed a resistance to the pesky varroa and tracheal mites. They also winter in smaller colonies which leads to better success when it comes to over-wintering.

One of the most popular options is to purchase a package of bees. Packages are about the size of a shoebox and contain a queen and three pounds of bees (about 11,000). Another good option for a new beekeeper is to buy a nucleus (nuc) colony of bees. A nuc consists of four to five frames of brood and bees, plus an actively laying queen. When I contacted my friendly neighborhood beekeeping supplier, Dave Polk at Free State Bees, he offers packages so decision made!