Hives, Nucleus Colonies, Packages, and Queens are available during active beekeeping season, April through September. Contact me for details. Les – 360-303-0396 OR to order online:

CLICK HERE. NOW TAKING ORDERS FOR SPRING 2026

The following will be updated as new info comes in:

Latest information on the nucs, packages, and queens. Pickup day

will be on a Saturday, hopefully in the beginning of the month of April. The nucs should be nice and fat by then.

Pickup Hours: 9am – 4:30

Pickup will be at the Bartleson Farm, 981 E. Laurel Rd, about 6 miles North of Bellingham.

It will be a fun, busy day!

There’s only one driveway, so give the outbound vehicles right of way.

NUCS

Nucs will come in a Pro Nuc. You’ll get an unmarked, laying queen with 3+ frames of her brood in all stages of growth and 2 frames with food. The nuc will be full of bees.

I have a video on YouTube of how to install a nuc HERE.  There’s an extra step I use to increase the size of the brood chamber and increase your colony’s growth by 40%. The video is HERE. https://youtu.be/gyHN-HSOYsw?si=akzEaMjESbYeytr

Some results of this method can be found HERE. https://youtu.be/gyHN-HSOYsw?si=akzEaMjESbYeytr4

Packages are 3 pounds of bees with a freshly laying, unmarked, caged queen, ready to go

back to work once released from the cage. I recommend spending the extra money to buy a nuc. Packages have a higher probability of the bees killing or replacing the queen and nucs are 3 to 4 weeks ahead in their development as a colony ready to produce honey during the blackberry flow.

If you purchased individual queens, they will be marked and in a corked Mini California

Cage. Don’t forget to ask me for the candy plugs if I don’t give them to you.

EDUCATION

Three things are recommended to begin beekeeping – Take a class, join your local club, and

get a mentor. If you don’t feel fully prepared to start your beekeeping, there will be great

classes coming up. I will be teaching a class in February and Master Beekeeper Dawn Beck will be teaching a class through Mt Baker

Beekeepers Association and Skagit Valley Beekeepers Association that includes Beginning

and Apprentice level materials.

WHEN YOU GET YOUR NUC

I’ts YOUR responsibility to check your nuc for quality. I want everyone to be completely

satisfied with their purchase, but I can’t look in each one. Again, it is your responsibility to have enough knowledge to identify a healthy colony.

As you install your nuc (and each check after), carefully

examine the brood on each frame.

Here’s a picture of a nice, healthy one. It’s a little light on honey and pollen, but the brood

is capped and needs no more food until hatching.

And, here’s a poor brood pattern. If you see a frame with spotty brood something like

this, I want to know immediately. I want everyone to be happy with their purchase, but I can’t replace nucs after

not hearing anything. Feel free to message me with ANY questions. Pictures are very

helpful.

If you use Facebook, be sure to join my group – Les’s Bees – Beekeeping in the Pacific

Northwest

Les – 360-303-0396

As BeeKEEPERS, it’s our job to help the bees do what they want to do (except swarm 🙂).

Nucs, and especially packages REQUIRE feeding to help them get started. The goal is to

fill 2 deep boxes with healthy bees, hopefully in time to make a little honey. For spring feeding,

use 1:1 (1 part white granulated sugar to 1 part hot water) syrup. I suggest an additional

pollen patty at the minimum.

QUALITY OF LIFE

My overriding emphasis is now the health of my bees. By focusing on bee health, all of my

other goals should follow. I want my bees in prime condition. Not only should this help me

with my goals, it should reduce the possibility of disease entering my apiaries.

Several great products are now on the market to enhance the nutrition in the food we

feed our bees or contribute directly to our bee’s health. Through my personal research,

I’ve come up with the supplements I think are best for my bees (and what I’m offering in

my store).

A product we can feed in spring, or preferably, year-round is HiveAlive. It comes in liquid

and fondant form.During late winter/early spring, the 2.2 pound fondant patties are a handy way to give your

bees some added carbs and nutrition – just cut an access hole in the plastic covering and

lay directly on the frames. The bees love it. But, I like using the liquid best. Two teaspoons

in a gallon of syrup does it. The main ingredients of HiveAlive are Seaweed Extracts,

Thyme, and a little Lemongrass Oil. But, the magic (science) is in the Seaweed. It naturally

contains a number of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. Using the product

has been proven to produce larger, stronger colonies, more honey, and reduced winter

losses.

Another supplement that I’m using is the SuperDFM from Strong Microbials. I’m trying

out their new BeeBites, too.

These are mainly pre and probiotics, designed to improve gut health. I don’t know about

you, but I take the human form of both daily. Scientists have found that our digestive

system has its own nervous system and is directly connected to our central nervous

system. They haven’t discovered everything about how the two interact, but they’re

saying the Entric Nervous System (ENS) may be equally important as our Central Nervous

System (CNS).But, I suppose the short story is by providing my bees with everything they need for their

machinery to perform at their highest levels, they’ll produce more and stronger bees and

make more honey.

Lastly, I’m using Global Pollen Patties with Apis Biologix Rocket Fuel to kickstart their

brood production. The Rocket Fuel is one of the latest developments in honey bee

nutrition. They studied the Amino Acid profile of pollen and have created a product that

when combined with the protein in the patties, converts all or most of the protein to the

makeup of natural pollen. The bees love it and it fires up the queen and brood rearing in

the hive.

I’ll have all of these health products available at the farm for purchase.

Please bring cash or check as I won’t have time to do credit transactions!All of these products, along with a complete selection of beekeeping equipment, are also

available now in the store. If you don’t see what you need on my website, shoot me a text

at 360-303-0396. If I don’t have it, I’ll help you find it. And, I’m always available by text

or phone for any beekeeping questions.

Check the website and store here.

The new HiveIQ

I can’t send this out without a mention of these hives. I started with one test hive a

couple years ago. I added a nuc to it in late spring, 2023. It grew to a full double deep by

fall and successfully overwintered. In spring of ‘24, it provided the frames and bees for 2

nucs, which I added queens to and sold. Later in the fall, it was my top honey producer with

21 frames of honey.

At $279 without frames, the kits are expensive, but they can pay for themselves the first

year.I’ve got 10 in my yards now and building more. I can see these replacing our wooden hives

completely. If you’re interested, come by and take a peek.

Thank you for trusting me to supply your bees!

Les’s Bees

2427 Vista Drive, Bellingham WA

98229

360-303-0396

Les Scott

Email: leszbees@gmail.com

Website: leszbees.com

Cell: 360-303-0396