Selling nucs? Other options for buying bees?

[Anthony Lange]

Hello,

I have a friend in the Cross Plains area who would like to start a hive this Summer. I am wondering if anyone will be selling a nucleus in late May/early June? Or if you know anyone or other suppliers that might be selling bees, that would be helpful too! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 - Anthony

 

[Jack Rademacher]

If your friend is just now thinking/preparing about keeping honey bees, I’d suggest waiting until next year. For some strange reason, people tend to think that beekeeping is just a matter of buying the correct wooden ware and setting them in the back yard. We all wish it would be that easy. 

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[Jeanne Hansen]

Hello Anthony,

Although Jack is correct, that beekeeping is not trivial, it is very well possible to obtain a nucleus hive in June, enjoy the bees, and learn a LOT about keeping them.

I will be making several nucleus colonies, which will be available in early June.  Your friend can phone me now to reserve one, or you can watch this list, where I will announce the availability of my nucleus hives.

Beekeeping it fun!

JEANNE

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/madbees/CACjiAXkca8ct5sobt4yJpvMD8ig%3DXjZvHAytM9qo7PR_0%3DELWg%40mail.gmail.com.

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Jeanne Hansen

824 Jacobson Ave

Madison,WI

608-244-5094

[Paul Zelenski]

Hello,

I have been selling nucs for a decade or so now. I make them from my bees overwintered in WI and raise/mate the queens here in WI. I still have some available. They will be ready  around the end of May or early June. I made a few the last couple days and will make more this weekend (which means they queens will be mated in about a month) from my strongest hives and will make more in a week or so. I make nucs in both deep and medium frames. Feel free to reach out to reserve one. 

Thanks,

Paul Z

608-957-6858

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From: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Anthony Lange <langea...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2026 7:46 PM
To: madbees <mad...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [madbees] Selling nucs? Other options for buying bees?

 

Hello,

I have a friend in the Cross Plains area who would like to start a hive this Summer. I am wondering if anyone will be selling a nucleus in late May/early June? Or if you know anyone or other suppliers that might be selling bees, that would be helpful too! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 - Anthony

 

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[Gary Baisa]

Hi Paul, 

I read your message today.  Im a 5th-ish yr beekeeper and Im interested in queen grafting and making nucs.  From your email below, im assuming you started grafting for queens?   If so, what technique do you use?  If there is an easier method for beginners like, please let me know.  

Thanks

Gary

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On Apr 24, 2026, at 11:18 AM, Paul Zelenski <paulze...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jeanne Hansen]

Hello, Gary, from Jeanne,

The easy way I use, to get new queens for nucs, is to remove the original queen and a few frames of bees, pollen and honey from the large mother hive.  That large hive them makes numerous queen cells.  Once they are capped, I take each frame containing a cell, and move it to another nuc with frames of workers and provisions, letting them bring a new queen to maturity.  Presto!  Where there was once one hive, I now have 5 or 6.  Amazingly, they build up enough  size to bring in a nice little honey crop.

JEANNE

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[Paul Zelenski]

Grating is very much not the easiest method to produce queens. The advantage of grafting is that you can create  A LOT of queens from a single queen. So, it allows you to reproduce a single queen very prolifically. Other than that, it's pretty inconvenient. Jeanne's methods is pretty good, but you can also simply take 3 frames of brood (one containing very young larvae or eggs) a frame of honey and a frame of pollen and put them in a nuc. It's probalby best to add shake an additional frame of bees an take the nuc to a new location. Check back in a month to make sure the queen was properly mated and laying well. Generally, bees without a queen are very good at raising quality queens assuming they have a good density of nurse bees and proper nutrition. As with most beekeeping techniques, most of our queen producing techniques are designed to maximize our control rather than the quality outcome on the bees terms.  Splitting hives and raising queens is much easier than people think it is before they try it. 

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Sent: Friday, April 24, 2026 11:15 AM
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Subject: Re: [madbees] Selling nucs? Other options for buying bees?

 

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[Joseph Bessetti]





Grafting enables the raising of queens without having to find a queen or split the hive you’re grafting from. It allows you to introduce queen cells into any colony without having to transfer frames. You only have to graft as many as you want, so it’s not just for raising large numbers of queens. 

All it really is is 1) moving a young larva 2) supplying ample nurse bees to feed the queen, and 3) giving bees the right cues to do so. 

Once you know how to do it, you’re likely to find it more convenient than anything else.

Joe

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