We’re providing honey bee packages that contain honeybees and a mated, selected young queen bee. The packages weigh 1.5 kg.
Price per honey bee package is a 80 EUR if buying occurs before the 25th of May, and 60 EUR after the 25th of May. Buyers should come to Bjelovar and collect the honey bee package themselves. In the case of a larger order, it is possible to discuss an organized bee transport in case of a larger order.
It is advisable to buy a bee package as early as possible in the season, optimally towards the end of April. Depending on the climate, we suggest that you buy your honey bee package by July the latest, so that the honeybee package has a chance to develop into a colony by the end of the summer.
How to install honey bee packages
Honey bee packages are best populated at dusk, because the bees could otherwise fly away to the surrounding hives. A cage including the queen bee is opened and placed in the new hive frame. Then the bees are let out of the box and the hive should be closed. It is advisable to give the newly placed bees about 300-400g of syrup, or even a piece of cake, bearing in mind to keep the syrup in place due to the heat.
The first flight of the bees the following day is very intense, as they fly around quite a bit and even attempt to enter other hives. We should leave these bees at peace for the first few days, feed them every evening, and then after ten days have passed, take a good look at them. It is good practice to have the hives set apart further away from each other.
As we populate the honey bee package during the first 6 or 7 days and before a closed brood develops in the hive, we should not miss the chance to effectively treat varroa mites. If there is a chance to feed the bees with 300-500 g of syrup, or the surrounding crops are fertile, it is best to populate the bees straight onto the honeycomb base. That is how we achieve a young, healthy and a greatly built honeycomb within a short time period.
In about fifteen days, the honey bee package will completely finish building 5 to 6 honeycomb bases and the queen bee will breed 3 to 4 frames. The critical period happens after ten days as there are not enough bees to feed the colony, the old bees are dying and the new ones haven’t been born yet. But this short period should not make you worried, because there will soon be a new generation of honeybees. With new bees being born, the bee swarm will be developing itself in a fast paced mode. The further care is same as bee swarm on frames or a natural swarm, and by fall, the new swarm will achieve a solid strength and it will be capable of living through the winter in great shape, and await a normal spring development.