Vince Master Beekeeper

2020 Nucs for Sale

For 2020, I will have several kinds of nucs available, each consisting of five medium depth frames, including adult bees, three frames of brood of varied ages (all of which are offspring of your marked queen), as well as frames of pollen and honey.  You will take the nuc home in a waxed cardboard nuc box ($10 deposit), from which you can transfer it to an eight or ten frame medium depth box.

• Overwintered nucs containing a locally raised (PA) 2019 queen, brood, pollen and honey. By definition “survivor” since it will have come through the 2019-2020 winter in PA, the five frame medium nuc has a queen raised from my best local survivor stock, the queen mother having survived one to four years in SE PA. These nucs are more expensive due to my work caring for them in late Summer, Fall and Winter.  They will be available as soon as brood rearing is well underway and populations are increasing in spring, which is weather dependent.  These will be the earliest nucs I have available, likely the end of March, at about the same time that packages are available.  However, in contrast to that of a package, the population of a nuc will rapidly increase, whereas the population of a package decreases for the first 4 weeks.  Over wintered nuc $350 each.

• Nucs with 2020 queens from the University of Hawaii’s Kaua’i Community College. Five frame medium nucs with marked queens. Because Kaua’i island is mite free and bees have not been imported there for over 100 years, the college raises queens to provide stock to varroa-free beekeepers. These bees have been selected for gentleness and are about 65% Italian stock. The college is the only certified queen exporter on the island of Kaua’i. https://www.kauai.hawaii.edu/apiary-project. Likely availability is mid- to late-April. $175

• Nucs with locally raised 2020 queens bred from local survivor mothers.  Queen mothers may be of Italian, Carni, VSH or other desirable stock; all queen mothers have survived one to multiple winters here in SE PA. Five frames of bees, three frames of your queen’s brood, as well as frames of nectar and pollen. Likely availability is June-July. $165

See the following sites for a discussion of the pros and cons of starting a colony with a nuc vs a package:

http://www.centrecountybees.com/2011/02/where-to-get-bees-for-your-first-hive.html

https://www.thebee.farm/blog/nuclues-colonies-vs-package-bees

https://extension.psu.edu/beekeeping-honey-bees?

I am PA licensed to sell Queens and Nucleus colonies. As part of this program, my queen rearing apiaries are inspected by the PA Department of Agriculture. I use no antibiotics or synthetic chemicals in my beekeeping operations.

To get on the nuc list, go to my web site: https://vincemasterbeekeeper.com/contact/ I do not take advance deposits, as I cannot guarantee availability in advance.  Requests are honored on a first come, first served basis.  Thank you for your interest! Vincent Aloyo

10’x10′ SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT Aluminum Popup-Shade, Wheel-Bag, Spikes. New, never used. (Mountains and sunset not included)

https://getundercover.com/product/uc-3-10×10-super-lightweight-popup-shade-wheel-bag-spikes/

List Price $249. Presently on sale at getundercover.com (link above) for $219. Pick up price from me, Vince Aloyo: $175

Simple Harmony Farms Uncapper. Like new!

Videos:

Screened bottom boards for sale

Screened bottom boards increase ventilation and may help with Varroa mite control.   Brand new.

Email vincent.aloyo@gmail.com or contact via “contact” tab on this web site. $16 each.

Follow @vincemasterbee