Bee Nucs Frequently Asked Questions

All nuc orders should be placed through our website. We take a £50 deposit to secure your order. We will email you in January, February, or March with details on how to pay your outstanding balance.

We send our overwintered nucs between March-June each year. Our Spring nucs are sent between May - July. Our nucs sell out well in advance every year so we take deposits between Aug-April.

We generally sell out between November and January each year. We take a £50 deposit to secure your nucleus and we advise ordering as early as possible. Nucs will be dispatched in priority order. The earlier your order, the earlier we will delivery your nucs.

Yes. All of our queens are marked with the corresponding colour for the year of mating.

No. Are queens are not clipped and we do not offer a queen clipping service.

Yes. All of our queens are mated and pass a variety of stringent tests prior to sending to our customers.

Unfortunately for nucs, we are unable to offer delivery at the weekend due to risk of delayed delivery.

Yes. We offer collection for our nucs. We generally have collection days on Saturdays throughout April and May. If you select collection, we will be in touch to agree a suitable date and time for collection.

Yes. All of our nucs include FREE UK Special Delivery via Royal Mail. The nucs are collected from us at 530pm and travel directly to the Chester sorting office (bypassing the local office). They are then sent UK wide and are delivered before 1pm the following day.

We offer free postage on all of our nucs. They are £350 each inc free UK Special Delivery before 1pm with Royal Mail

We guarantee the nuc will arrive alive and in good conditon. If the colony arrives dead, we will replace it free of charge. It should be noted, our faikure rate for nucs is below 0.05%. We do not guarantee the time or date of delivery. Even though we use a ‘guaranteed’ delivery service, we don’t provide any refunds or rebates for delayed delivery. RM make it too hard to claim for this so we don’t pursue any losses.

You must be at home to sign for your nucs on the first attempt to qualify for our live arrival guarantee. If you miss the delivery, the nucs will be delivered automatically the following day. Nucs can survive in the post in excellent condition for many days and 99% of the time, they arrive the next day in perfect condition.

We do not guarantee the time or date of delivery. Even though we use a ‘guaranteed’ delivery service, we don’t provide any refunds or rebates for delayed delivery. RM make it too hard to claim for this so we don’t pursue any losses. However, the nucs are very resilient in the postal service and can survive for a good few days in excellent condition. Where delivery fails, RM will automatically attempt to deliver again the following day.

We do not guarantee the time or date of delivery. Even though we use a ‘guaranteed’ delivery service, we don’t provide any refunds or rebates for delayed delivery. RM make it too hard to claim for this so we don’t pursue any losses.

Included in your nucleus colony are the following: 1 x mated and marked queen bees. 3-4 frames of brood. 1-2 frame of stores. 6 frames of bees in total. 1 x paynes poly nuc with ventilated screen.

Our overwintered nucs are made using UK mated queens from our welsh apiaries. They arrive around 4-6 weeks earlier than our spring nucs. They contain a queen from the previous season that has overwintered in the UK. The spring nucs are made up early in the season using top quality, imported queens. They contain a queen that was mated in the current year. In terms of quality, they are identical and they both arrive on 6 frames in a Paynes ventilated poly nuc.

When the nucleus arrives, there will be a QR code on the box that you can scan to access installation instructions. We also send an email in advance detailing these steps so you can prepare for the arrival of your nucleus colony. We have a dedicated webpage for nucleus installation that shows all the required steps. There is also a video demonstrating the process. If you have any questions, please contact us via the website, and we will be happy to assist you. [Nucleus Installation Guide](https://www.blackmountainhoney.co.uk/how-to-look-after-bees)

When you order a nuc, you will receive an email confirmation of order (check spam/promotions). Around Feb/March we will be in touch to collect your outstanding payments and agree a date for the delivery of your nucs (weather dependent). On the day of dispatch around 4pm, we will send you a dispatch notification with tracking code. You will also at this point receive an email/text from Royal Mail advising of the day of the delivery (next day). On the morning of delivery, you will receive a 1hr timeslot from Royal Mail for delivery. You must be at home to sign for the nucs

Yes. You will receive a tracking code the day before the nuc is due to be delivered. (ROYAL MAIL)

Yes. Someone will need to be home to sign for the nuc. We are unable to send nucs on any service that doesn’t require a signature.

We recommend bringing two items when collecting. Some wooden battens to lift the nuc from the base of the car and a small water sprayer to help the bees stay cool in transit. You don’t need a beesuit, gloves etc

Unfortunately, due to the risk of disease, we cannot accept any poly boxes back into our apiaries. They sell well on FB if you no longer need them, but they are a very useful item around the apiary. Perfect for making your own splits.

Our nucs are produced to order with very little float in the numbers available. The £50 deposit for the nucs is non refundable. We are able to move the dates around and carry over to the following year if required.

Our nucs are produced by us here in the UK. The queens are also mated in the UK and overwintered in the UK.

We sell standard national and Langstroth nucs. Both of these are sent in a Paynes poly nuc with a ventilated screen. We do not sell 14 x 12, commercial, dadant, top bar nucs.

Yes. Our Langstroth nucs are designed to fit perfectly into a Flow Hive

Yes. All nucs are treated with Apivar in August for varroa. They are also sublimated with Apibioxal in December to ensure the mite load is very low. We recommend your first treatment should be in August/September and we recommend using Apivar

All nucleus collections will be from Black Mountain Honey, Hendre Foilen, CH7 4EL

Unfortunately, due to the number of colonies being collected and the unsuitable location, you cannot inspect your bees prior to inspection - but you can see our bees on our YouTube channel.

No. We send emails and texts to confirm when your bees will be delivered. Please keep an eye on your emails. We will call you if you do not respond to our emails :)

Overwintered nucs are ready between Mar-May. Spring Nucs are ready between May-July. We do not send any nucs after July.

Yes. Laurence Edwards is a fully qualified and registerd DASH inspection. (Disease Assurance Scheme for Honey Bees).

Introduction In 2010 - 2011 the Farming Regulation Task Force issued an Earned Recognition Plan which, as the title suggests, allows self-regulation to those who show a strong track record of reliability and adherence to standards. This risk-based approach to inspections already runs throughout a number of inspection regimes, e.g. Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) inspections in the pig and poultry sectors, and in livestock welfare and dairy hygiene inspections. In 2013, the National Bee Unit (NBU) and The Bee Farmers’ Association Ltd (BFA) collaborated to develop DASH – the Disease Accreditation Scheme for Honeybees. The aim of DASH is to: Reduce the costs associated with disease within commercial beekeeping operations; Improve the health of honeybees within the operation, and Reduce the regulatory burden in the form of inspection visits. DASH is recognised within the DEFRA Farming Regulation Task Force Implementation – Earned Recognition Plan August 2013. DASH is only eligible to those in the Bee Farming industry and those members that successfully complete the scheme will receive greater autonomy and fewer inspections by Bee Inspectors. This will not necessarily mean a reduction in the total number of inspections, but rather gives an opportunity to improve targeting inspections to those close to disease. Overview of DASH During the late summer months, participants will need to attend a training event to verify that they can recognise disease; In the winter, successful candidates will be expected to update their apiary sites and colony numbers on BeeBase; The following Inspection season, the NBU will then carry out baseline inspections of all colonies. Once this is complete, improvement orders will be issued if necessary, followed by a certificate of competency; From then on Bee Farmers will be required to self-report any disease finds to the NBU as required in the working protocol. Any equipment needed for diagnosis of suspect disease will be provided by the NBU; Members will receive audit visits by Bee Inspectors. Any audit visit which involves ‘Inspection Activity’ still has to be risk based and must fall in line with our operating to the Regulators Compliance Code. There will be no Inspection Activity without a reason

We take a deposit to secure the order for the season to help with planning and preperation. We will purchase equipment such as nuc boxes, frames, queens, wax etc based on the current orders. Bees are produced to order, in the past where we have taken orders in good faith we have been let down. Cancellation not only wastes our resources but time may have already been set aside producing your order.