At National Bee Supplies, we are delighted to offer a 5-frame nucleus of bees bred in beautiful Devon. Owner of National Bee Supplies, David Robinson, tells the story of how we came to choose our bees;
“Four years ago, after completing my BBKA induction course, the course leader had a quiet word and said ‘If I were you I’d get my first colony from Adam Vevers’.
It was sound advice as my first 2 new bee colonies proved productive, but just as importantly for a new beekeeper, lovely and calm.
Adam learnt his craft initially from working for a commercial beekeeper in Canada and a very well respected Queen rearing company in California. Adam has been beekeeping for 43 years, during this time, he has learnt from many well experienced Beemasters, including Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey. He subsequently became The Southwest Regional Bee Inspector.
Adam has more experience than most in recognising the qualities of the best colonies and how to select for them. Last summer I was lucky enough to spend 4 fascinating days with Adam and 3 other keen and knowledgeable beekeepers as they started the painstaking process of selecting 1 day old larvae, turning them into mated queens and then introducing them to NBS nuc boxes with their first cohort of worker bees. Adam nurtures these through the winter to produce strong colonies with productive, but calm bees. More than ever I can now appreciate the work that went into producing the bees that started me on my beekeeping journey and that are now available exclusively to National Bee Supplies customers.”
How Do I Buy Bees?
You can pre-order your 2022 nuclei now! All you need to do is fill in our Live Bees Form, and we’ll be in touch with more information. All orders require a non-refundable deposit of £50, and the balance of £225 is to be paid on collection. We have a limited number of nucs available each year. Allocation is made on a first come first served basis with payment of deposit.
We will be supplying you with 5 frames of Devon bred bees with a marked queen, reared using Buckfast Standards. The frames are BS Hoffman and will fit into a National or WBC hive. They are supplied in one of our nucleus boxes with cedar trim and sealed with a galvanised steel travel top. The slots within the travel top are designed to allow ventilation into the box without letting the young bees escape. The entrance to the box will be sealed with a metal mesh so your bees will be fully secure for the journey to their new home.
When Can I Collect The Live Bees?
We are able to supply nuclei twice a year. Ideally, they will be available for collection from early April for over wintered bees and June for Spring bees. Of course, theses dates may be affected by the weather. When the bees are ready for collection, we will contact you by telephone to book a collection time for the following week. We are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, however it is preferable that you collect your bees before 10.30am to safely get your bees home before the main heat of the day.
Got any questions? Please contact email us at info@beekeeping.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help.
