Yarm Bees
Our Bees
We are a small apiary situated in an Ancient Woodland on the banks of the River Tees in Yarm.
Our honey is much sought after locally and we sell it through local shops and at various fairs that are held during the summer months.
Our Queens
We raise Queens as part of our normal beekeeping activities using grafted young larvae selected from hives with good characteristics - principally those exhibiting calm behaviour.
Once hatched the Queens are introduced into Mating Hives where they remain until they have begun laying satisfactory.
The Queens are then marked and transferred into a nucleus with frames of bees and stores to start a new colony.
Overwintering
All our Nucs are overwintered in polystyrene hives. We find that these hives give good insulation to the bees and we have a very good record of bringing colonies through the winter months into the following spring ready for transfer into full sized hives.
Feeding and Varroa Treatment
The Nucs are fed on thick sugar solution at the end of the season to allow them to build up their stores ahead of the winter. In addition, in this area there is also the late crops of Himalayan Balsam and Ivy for the bees to forage on.
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All hives are treated with Apivar and with Api-Bioxal at the appropriate times.
Delivery
For customers living in the Tees Valley area I will bring your nucleus of bees to you when they are ready to move into your hive, usually sometime in April. We can transfer the frames of bees from the nucleus box into your hive together so that you can satisfy yourself that all is well and that the Queen is present.​