A new decade and yet another run to Yakima to pickup 5 frame Bee NUCs.

As per the last several years I am putting together a bulk order of 5 frame beehive NUCs. The company I get them from is Sunrise Honey in Yakima (info below) and they host a pickup on the 1st or 2nd Saturday of April (date to be determined later). I will be making the drive over to Yakima at 4am on pickup day to bring the NUCs back to my house in Cottage Lake (near Woodinville and Duvall). Their prices if you purchase from them went up a few bucks so they are $150 per NUC (if you prefer to pick them up yourself). If you want me to pick them up, then I tack on $10 for driving them here from Yakima (so $160).

50% is due on ordering (check or PayPal) since that is what I have to pay them to hold the order. The balance is due at pickup at my house.

If you need to cancel and I can find someone to purchase your NUCs that is fine, I can give you a refund. It hasn't been a problem yet since they sell out and I usually have a waiting list. That said let me know ASAP to make sure all of our bees have a home to go to. If you need help hiving the NUC let me know and we can work something out. :)

MORE INFO (copied from their site):

http://www.sunrisehoney.com/five-frame-nucs.html

What is a Nuc?

The term "nuc" is short for "nucleus." Compared to established hives, nucleus hives or (nuc's) usually only consist of 5 frames of brood and bees and a queen. (Much smaller than an established hive of bees) Making a nuc is a very common way of building a new hive out of already existing hives. A nuc contains, bees, brood, and a queen. All three are vital to establishing a new and successful hive!
Will a Nuc be More Productive than a Package?
Yes!!!, you will be weeks ahead with a Nuc vs. a Package, here's why!

Packages - A package will actually dwindle slightly in strength for approximately 24-28 days before new bees begin to hatch allowing the hive to begin growing. When you install a package the queen has to begin from ground zero. It can be as long as 5 days after installing the bees before she even begins laying eggs to produce new bees, especially if you are installing the bees in brand new equipment with no drawn comb. The brood then takes 21 days to mature and hatch as new bees. Hive growth will not and simply cannot occur untill new bees are hatching.

Nuc's - A nuc comes with about 3 pounds of bees plus 5 frames of brood that is at all stages of development. New bees will actually be hatching from Day 1!!! With our nuc's there is only about a 5 day window when the queen will not be laying eggs, this is the time between when the nuc is made and when your new queen is released and begins laying. Because of hatching brood your hive will grow much faster. It will be nearly a month ahead of a package! The more bees in your hive when the honey flow starts the better your hive will produce!

Learned a lesson my first year keeping bees. Having them on a sloping uneven surface sucks. Between dropping frames, hauling 70lb boxes and loosing things in the grass it was clear that something had to change. I had a large pile of used deck boards available and the solution was simple. A quick deck construction with an integrated platform for the hives to sit on solved the problem nicely. Now the hives sit 14" off the ground on their own deck reducing the amount of work it takes to get into them and the whole structure is level reducing problems with tripping and dropping boxes full of bees. When one gets into your suit it makes it that much easier to run away too...

Time to get busy and build our hives. Being unreasonably cheap we got everything unassembled. Turns out it wasn't so bad. A few hours with a staple gun and a big bottle of wood glue later and Maddie and I knocked out all the frames and boxes we would need. Another evening putting coats of paint on the outside of the boxes and we are all set.