Swarm Caught Bees

[unjeff]

Hello!

I'm hoping to start a hive this season with a swarm-caught colony and am curious to know if there's anyone in town who catches and donates/sells bees to other hobbyists. I've been reading a lot on artificial swarm/queen rearing and would rather have a hive that reproduced naturally.

Thanks!

[e-mail]

[Thom]

On one hand, Jeff. they may be good because of being potential survivor stock, byt normally they come with an old queen which gets gets replaced and each new queen that comes along may become just a little wilder and defensive.

Check out the products and services page at orsba.org for people who are selling bees.

[Tom]

On the other hand... I have been beekeeping for twenty-five years, and have only bought bees a few times during that time. I have my bees on my back porch, and do not have trouble with them at all. Perhaps the biggest problem you might face is disease, but buying bees is no guarantee to not have disease either. For most people, the amount of honey you get from a "wild" hive is going to still blow you away.