Start your own honeybee colony with our high-quality honey bee packages. This package includes a marked mated Italian hybrid queen bee in a small separate cage with a few workers to attend to her and 3 lb (approximately 10,000-12,000) honeybees. When properly installed into your hive this package is enough to start one colony.
Willbanks Apiaries stock produces honey bees that are varroa mite resistant, productive, with VSH (varroa sensitive hygiene) behavior. These bees are able to cope more effectively with varroa mites. However, they still should be monitored and tested for varroa mite population levels to assure proper colony health. For detailed information go to https://vpqueenbees.com/vp-breeding-program/pol-line.
Pick up dates are April 19-20 after 12pm. A package installation demonstration will be held on April 20 at 2pm (weather permitting). Feel free to join us and ask questions.
3lb. Bee Package - April 19-20 Pick Up
If you are a first-time beekeeper, marked queens are highly recommended for ease of identification during hive inspections when the hive contains 30,000 to 50,000 bees. This will enable you to identify that the original queen is still present and creating sufficient brood. Marked or unmarked makes no difference to the bee colony.