FAQ

Our Queens are supplied to us imported from Hungary, North Italy & Greece. All queens arrive into the UK with full health certification and are checked by a bee inspector on arrival.

As of 2023 we no longer have a cut off time for Queens, the earliest available dispatch day will always show on our website!

Yes our queens are all marked to the appropriate year -

2018 - Red
2019 - Green
2020 - Blue
2021 - White
2022 - Yellow
2023 - Red
2024 - Green
2025 - Blue

We try our best to ensure queens are sent out marked but sometimes the bees choose to clean the queens mark off in transit, unfortunately this is out of our control.

All the queens we send are mated, we do not deal in virgin queens.

In the unfortunate and rare event your queen does not lay or is a drone layer you are entitled to a free replacement upon receipt of picture evidence via email.

We choose not to clip any of our queens nor do we offer this as an additional service.

Yes, once the queen leaves us you will receive a shipment email with a Royal Mail tracking number.

You can track your queen on the Royal Mail Tracking Service.

Due to Royal Mail regulations the postman will not leave any item without a signature for insurance & security purposes. Any special requests to do so on the order will be ignored.

We require all our queens to be signed for to reduce the chance of fraud and false claims of queens not being received.

Special Delivery items will be returned to sorting office for collection, the postman will not try a neighbour.

First Class will attempt to be delivered to a neighbour, otherwise will be returned to the sorting office.

If you do not think you will be in please either specify a date on the order when you will be available or a different address (work, friends or family) that can accept your item.

QUEEN POSTAGE PRICES - All queens require a signature on arrival - no exceptions. Prices quoted are for UK only - we do not post overseas or to Ireland. Certain postcodes are excluded from the 1pm gaurantee, see Royal Mail website. Certain Postcodes are exempt from Sunday Delivery, see Royal Mail Website. 1PM Gaurantee only applies to Weekday deliveries.
Special Delivery Next Day® (Monday - Sunday)
1 - 5 Queens £8.10
6 - 25 Queens £8.49
26 - 50 Queens £9.91
51 - 100 Queens £12.64
101 + Queens £17.43

Royal Mail Tracked 24® (Monday - Sunday)
1 - 100 Queens £5.50

When you receive your queen we include free instructions on the back of the invoice that helps you introduce your queen. A copy of this can be downloaded here.

Videos can also be seen here -

Please note we are not responsible should your queen not be accepted.

No, a queen on her own will likely die. You will need a 5 / 6 Frame Nuc to begin bee keeping.

Yes, as of 2023 we now offer a 7 day delivery service of live queen bees via Royal Mail Tracked 24 & Special Delivery Services for the same price as weekday postage!

Yes, when ordering there is an option on the checkout to specify a dispatch date. Please remember that dispatch date means the day the queen leaves us, not the date it will arrive.

Once this date is set in the system it is not possible to change it, the only way is to email or call us so we can manually change it on our paperwork.

Whilst we try our best to have and hold stocks of queens for your specified date it can not be guaranteed, any issues with your date we will contact you. This is generally earlier in the season when queen supply's are low but as the season progresses our consignments become larger.

Yes, all our queens come supplied in a free introduction cage.

We use 3 different types of cages

JZBZ which are rounded with a tube of candy and celotaped end
Nicot which are a yellow cage with candy and a breakable clip
Generic rectangular queen cage with candy and 2 bendable clips

Yes, we now post 7 days a week (excluding bank holidays).

We post queens every morning Monday - Sunday.

Pre ordering means we are generally out of season and any order is made on the condition it is supplied during this time. Our website offers options to select your dispatch date.

Yes, when queens are caged they will stop laying causing them to shrink (this can also be seen during the winter or before swarming). As soon as they are introduced into the hive and begin laying they will soon fatten up, sometimes to twice their original size. Do not be concerned, we only sell mated queens.

Yes our queens are all marked to the appropriate year -

2018 - Red
2019 - Green
2020 - Blue
2021 - White
2022 - Yellow
2023 - Red
2024 - Green
2025 - Blue

We try our best to ensure queens are sent out marked but sometimes the bees choose to clean the queens mark off in transit, unfortunately this is out of our control.

No, a queen on her own will likely die. You will need a 5 / 6 Frame Nuc to begin bee keeping.

If you are unable to collect on the date offered, we will offer the nuc to the next customer in the queue, and await the next batch of nucs to be ready for your collection for the following weekend.

Near the end of the season when we are supplying the final orders it does become hard to defer your nucs to a different week so please bear this in mind.

The difference between an overwintered nuc & a normal spring nuc is that generally you are able to receive an overwintered nuc earlier in the season, allowing two potential honey crops. The overwintered nucs cost more due to more overwintering feed and treatment. They have also proved their ability to survive winter.

We reccomend to order as soon as possible. We find many customers leave it rather late and we either sell out or the earlier availability gets booked out.

We begin taking reservations for the following season around October.

Overwintered nucs are more popular than spring nucs and generally are fully booked out by February, it is best to order early if you would like your overwintered nuc during April.

The first batch of spring nucs are generally ready from about the second week of May and will continue until late June, early July. We aim to honour all selected dates when ordering and will contact you if this is not the case. Please see our News & Updates section to see updated schedules.

Please also remember we will contact you, initially by email to book collection / dispatch of your bees. You do not need to call us.

Overwintered nucs are generally ready from about the second week of April. We aim to honour all selected dates when ordering and will contact you if this is not the case. Please see our News & Updates section to see updated schedules.

Please also remember we will contact you, initially by email to book collection / dispatch of your bees. You do not need to call us.

Yes, nucs are shipped via Royal Mail Special Delivery, next day before 1pm. However please realise, this is often paid upfront during pre-order, the delivery date is selected when placing your order. It's very unlikely your nuc will be shipped the following day to the date you placed your order, it just requires a next day shipping method.

MAIN LAND UK NEXT DAY BEFORE 1PM POSTAGE PRICES - Please note that postage is at your own risk, we always recommend you collect. Each Nuc includes a £30 delivery fee INSURED UP TO £500.
Prices quoted are for MAINLAND UK only - we do not post overseas or to Ireland.

When you receive / collect your nuc(s) we include free instructions on the back of the invoice that helps you install your bees. A copy of this can be downloaded here.

Installation videos can also be seen here -

Yes, once the nuc leaves us you will receive a shipment email with a Royal Mail tracking number.

You can track your nuc on the Royal Mail Tracking Service.

All we may require is some form of ID and outstanding payment or confirmation of outstanding payment.

Bee suit is not required although reccomended incase there are any escapees in the car (none to date).

We also reccomend on hot days to bring a small water sprayer to keep the bees cool and hydrated if you are traveling far.

No, these are yours to keep for free. They are ideal for collecting swarms, creating additional nucs or transporting frames of bees in the future.

These retail on our website for £12 inc VAT.

Advantages:

Ideal for new or experienced beekeepers to populate a new hive
Easy to install with our step by step guide
Established colony with brood and bees and laying queen which will build up quickly
Postage anywhere in the UK mainland


Disadvantages:

Only available on Standard National Deeps

Any cancellation must be made in writing to us via email. Please do remember that deposits are non-returnable unless we are unable to supply your bees. Telephone calls or text messages are not sufficient methods of cancellation.

If you have paid a full payment or full payment for postage you will receive a refund less the deposit amount.

Yes, all of our Nucs are produced here in the UK by us.

Unfortunately top bar hives are too fragile to transport and being "non-standard" there is not a set size to produce on.

We use DN4 British Standard National frames. These are the most commonly used frames in the UK.

Please see the following frame dimensions. (Top drawing)

It is not viable for us to produce on several different frame sizes, those looking to install bees on 14x12 frames or Langstroth frames can use National Frames but there are certain methods used for later change over.

Yes, we use Bee Farmer prescribed strips every Autumn to treat our breeding hives. We also regulary vapourise oxalic acid using a sublimator as a form of treatment.

We also use Thymol for the treatment of Nosema.

Unfortunately it is not viable for us to produce nucs on several different frame sizes. However you can use a national nuc to populate a Langstroth hive, using cable ties and attaching the frames to a Langstroth top bar and later slowly migrating the frames over to Langstroth.

Collection address is as follows -
BS Honey Bees Ltd
Hucclecote Lane
Churchdown
Gloucester
Gloucestershire
GL3 2LP

Map -

Please ensure you have viewed the map as a Sat Nav will not take you directly to our gates

This is strictly by pre arranged appointment only - collection times MUST be pre booked in our system before traveling!

For simplicity and efficiency we only offer 10 minute appointment slots on Saturdays, inspecting the bees will not only disturb them it will delay and slow down collections. We do inspect all of our nucs during the week they are due out and offer a full support in the unfortunate event that something is wrong with your bees.

As lots of our bees are in remote areas with poor signal coverage sometimes you will get our answer phone service. Please do try to call again later within our operating hours or leave a message and we will get back to you. We receive quite high volumes of calls during the season and may be on the line with other customers. We would recommend emailing if at all possible, this way we can handle your enquiry whilst traveling between apiaries.

The vast majority of our orders come via the ordering system on our website. Whilst we understand some people do not like using the online system, if you call to place an order over the phone we will be using a very similar order form at our end.

We are happy to take orders over the phone but during the season we are rarely sat infront of a computer, feel free to call us to place an order during autumn and winter, but we can probably only process your order during the season between 8am and 10am, sorry for any inconvenience caused.

We accept the following payment options – Credit / Debit Card (via Card Saver), Paypal (Debit/Credit Card), Instant Bank Transfer, Cheque (upto 5 days processing time).

No, because we have to use different shipping containers and methods for Queens & Nucs we are not able to combine the postage and put them together. Please ensure you order these seperately. This is the same for equipment as the courier we use for a equipment will not accept live bees, sorry for any inconvenience.

No, because we have to use different shipping couriers and methods for Queens & Nucs we are not able to combine the postage and put them together. Please ensure you order these seperately.

The courier we use for a equipment will not accept live bees, sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Yes we are fully DASH Accredited.

Disease Accreditation Scheme for Honeybees - DASH

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.

Yes we are PCI DSS compliant with an annual review every year.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB.

Yes, our website uses the latest security technology and encrypted using SSL.

Phone
01452 645635
Monday - Friday 8:30 - 16.00 (Winter) or Monday - Friday 8.30 - 17:00 (Summer).

Workshop Address
BS Honey Bees Ltd
Hucclecote Lane,
Churchdown,
Gloucester,
Gloucestershire,
GL3 2LP
what3words - ///impulses.balance.advancing
Visits strictly by appointment only

Please use the contact form on our website here.

We do not disclose our email address on the website due to spamming issues.

Tel - 01452 645635
Our phone is manned Winter - Monday - Friday 8.30 - 16.00 & Summer 8.30 - 17.00 - Please do remember we are rarely sat in an office and signal can be scarce deep in the Cotswolds when working our bees.

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.

Please be sure to read all the information and take a look at the videos / pictures available before placing an order.

Ordering is fairly simple. Navigate to the required product page, scroll to about half way down the page and you will see options to select your dispatch / collection / delivery date (where applicable) select the appropriate option. After this type your required quantity into the "qty" section and select "Add to Cart".

After this point you will be directed to a shopping cart where you can then select "Proceed to checkout". From here our system will allow you to create a store username and input all your billing and shipping details. It will also allow you to select your desired shipping / collection option.

This option will present you with 4 different payment methods, Debit / Credit Card, Paypal, Cheque or Bank Transfer.

After all has been confirmed you will receive an email order confirmation and, depending what payment method is used, a payment confirmation. This will be the system we will use to contact you when the bees are ready so be sure to enter a valid email address.

Phone ordering is possible but we are not always infront of a computer to do so.

Due to time constraints, Brexit, paperwork and legalities we only send bees within the UK.

We aim to honour all selected collection / delivery dates and will contact you via email to book into our system. These dates may only change should the weather be poor enough for the bees to progress. We do not have enough resources to call every customer and will only do so as a last resort.

You can buy honey from our approved local outlets.

Cheltenham Chase Hotel - Shurdington Road Brockworth Gloucestershire GL3 4PB - 01452 519988
Minsterworth Butchers - Main Rd Minsterworth Gloucester - 01452 750237
Prinknash Abbey Monastery Shop & Cafe - Prinknash Abbey Cranham Glos GL4 8EX - 01452 812066
The Village Experience - Brook Farm Badgeworth Cheltenham GL51 4UL - 07887875602
Guru Coffee House - 29 Brunswick Road Gloucester GL1 1JE - 01452 532827
The Village Experience - Brook Farm Badgeworth Cheltenham GL51 4UL - 07887875602
Hulberts Country Feed - Swindon Farm Manor Road Swindon Village Cheltenham GL51 9SQ - 07478764596 07769695582 01242 574998

Equipment delivery we aim to dispatch the same business day but please allow up to 48hrs (Monday - Friday) during busy times. Please be aware that DHL Parcel UK deliveries are made during the standard working week (Monday - Friday).

You can buy honey from our approved local outlets.

Cheltenham Chase Hotel - Shurdington Road Brockworth Gloucestershire GL3 4PB - 01452 519988
Minsterworth Butchers - Main Rd Minsterworth Gloucester - 01452 750237
Prinknash Abbey Monastery Shop & Cafe - Prinknash Abbey Cranham Glos GL4 8EX - 01452 812066
The Village Experience - Brook Farm Badgeworth Cheltenham GL51 4UL - 07887875602
Guru Coffee House - 29 Brunswick Road Gloucester GL1 1JE - 01452 532827
The Village Experience - Brook Farm Badgeworth Cheltenham GL51 4UL - 07887875602
Hulberts Country Feed - Swindon Farm Manor Road Swindon Village Cheltenham GL51 9SQ - 07478764596 07769695582 01242 574998

Yes, we have completed and passed Hygeine Certification level 2.

Please contact us for an upto date price.

Unfortunately it is not viable for us to produce moulds to make these parts at this time, however Maisemore Brood & Super extensions are compatible with our boxes.

We offer our 2 in 1 Poly Nucs for British National & 14x12 British National only, unfortunately at the moment it is not deemed feasable to develop in a new frame size.

Unfortunately, after huge investment, the factory producing these went bankrupt during COVID. We have been unable to find an alternative producer thus this product was reluctantly discontinued in April 2021.

We reccomend externally painting your Poly hive in smooth masonary paint. This will prolong the life and durability of the box.

Some ask if painting inside the feeder is required, we personally do not but others do. It is entirely up to you if you choose to do so.

Equipment delivery we aim to dispatch the same business day but please allow up to 48hrs (Monday - Friday) during busy times. Please be aware that DHL Parcel UK deliveries are made during the standard working week (Monday - Friday).

Unfortunately it is not viable for us to produce moulds to make these parts at this time, however Maisemore Brood & Super extensions are compatible with our boxes.

As we are bee breeders specialising in the breeding and sale of bees unfortunately we do not sell much equipment. We prefer to focus on what we are best at nor do we have the time and resources to deal in the equipment side of things.

We use DHL Parcel UK to send out our empty correx nuc boxes. We generally dispatch these within 48 hours.

This will arrive next day.

Yes, we generally produce frame feeders in the winter and you are welcome to purchase one from us in Cheltenham when collecting your bees. You can also purchase online with postage via DHL.

Please see the video below

Equipment delivery we aim to dispatch the same business day but please allow up to 48hrs (Monday - Friday) during busy times. Please be aware that DHL Parcel UK deliveries are made during the standard working week (Monday - Friday).