Now open: 2025 Package reservations (but not nucs—yet!)

(scroll to the bottom for Top Bar and Warre’ nuc options)

Bridgetown Bees is pleased to announce that we will again be offering nuc hives from Foothills Honey Company (located near Molalla, Oregon). It is a family-run business that offers high quality five-frame nucs. Bees have been used to pollinate almonds in California. Pricing and pickup dates have not been determined yet, but we hope to have that information by the first half of January, 2025. When we do have the information, you will be able to order them here on this page.

We will again be offering packages of bees from Henry Storch Honeybees (located near Philomath). Henry has well more than a decade of experience as a commercial beekeeper and has been supplying quality 3-½ pound packages with Oregon-raised queens for years. His honey is retailed under the Oso Honey Farm name.

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HENRY STORCH HONEY BEE PACKAGES

Queen source: Mated and raised in Oregon near Philomath.

Number of bees in package: 3-1/4 to 3-1/2 pounds of bees

Price: $210 per package

Full payment required: Full payment is required to reserve your nuc. To place your order through PayPal, please scroll to the end of this section or to the bottom of the page. Or, to save $6 per package, you can pay with check, cash, or Zelle. Please email glen@bridgetownbees.com to make these payment arrangements.

Expected pick-up date for Henry Storch packages: Saturday, May 3, 2024, 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. This date is likely to stay firm but…trying to predict honeybees and the weather is wicked. We will give you as much advanced notice as possible if it changes.

ORDER PACKAGES USING PAYPAL

Please choose the pick-up date (May 3) as listed below. When you add an item to your cart, you will be taken to the PayPal site. At the PayPal site, you can order multiple packages. If you want to order additional packages or nucs for other days, click on "Continue Shopping" and you will be returned to this site.

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FOOTHILLS HONEY COMPANY NUCs pick-up DATES TBD by mid-january

Queen source: Hive bees raised near Molalla, with queens from Kona Queens in Hawaii for the first pick-up and from Kona or northern California for the second pick-ups. Queens in these five-frame nucs are either hybrid Italian or hybrid Carniolan. We no longer have a choice. In our experience, both are reliable in our climate.

Price: TBD

Full payment required: Full payment is required to reserve your nuc. To (eventually) place your order through PayPal, please scroll to the end of this section or to the bottom of the page. Or, to save $6 per nuc, you can pay with check, cash, or Zelle. Please email glen@bridgetownbees.com to make these payment arrangements.

Expected pick-up dates for Foothills Honey Company nucs: TBD

Number of frames: Five Langstroth (deep) frames of brood, honey and/or pollen (early nucs sometimes include a mostly undrawn foundation frame); there is no feeder.

Nuc box: Bees (usually) come in white, waxed corrugated cardboard nuc boxes. There is no deposit required and the boxes do not have to be returned.

ORDER foothill nucs USING PAYPAL (this option will become available when pick-up dates are determined)

Please choose your pick-up date from the options below. When you add an item to your cart, you will be taken to the PayPal site. At the PayPal site, you can order multiple packages. If you want to order additional packages or nucs for other days, click on "Continue Shopping" and you will be returned to this site.

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Cancellations: Orders canceled before the end of the day on Friday, February 28, 2025, will receive a full refund minus a $25.00 cancellation fee per nuc/package. No refunds will be given on orders canceled after Friday, February 28, 2025. Cancellations made before the end of March 15, 2025 will receive a full refund minus a $50 cancellation fee per nuc/package. No refunds will be available after the end of the day on March 15, 2025.

All nucs and packages must be picked up by 10:00am on your scheduled pickup date or they will be considered abandoned. Abandoned nucs will be donated or sold and no refunds will be given.

Pick-up location: 4209 NE Alberta St., Portland, Cully Farm Store--the location for Bridgetown Bees (across Alberta Street from what used to be U.S. Bank; the building is now vacant)

Frame size for all nucs: These Langstroth frames are standard size (approximately 19" x 9 1/8" x 1 3/8") that will fit in a standard deep brood box. They will not fit in a top bar or Warre' hive. (If you are interested in medium frame nucs, please email glen@bridgetownbees.com.)

Number of bees: Up to 12,000 for Foothill Honey nucs

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Disclaimer: Our goal is to make sure you have a positive and successful experience with your nuc hive or package. We make every effort to answer your questions promptly. But Bridgetown Bees does not guarantee the successful establishment of a colony, hiving of the packaged bees, or nuc box, nor does Bridgetown Bees assume any responsibility once the bees leave our facility. During the transfer of frames into your hive, please verify that you have a queen—or at least eggs, because we know it’s sometimes very difficult to spot her! If something is unsatisfactory to you, we want to know about it before the frames get transferred, because once the frames are in your own box, we will not be able to replace the nuc or refund your purchase.

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TOP BAR AND WARRE' NUCS

Bridgetown Bees will again be offering a limited number of top bar and Warré nucs.

Pick-up location: All top bar and Warré nuc pick-ups will be arranged individually with Glen and pick-up will be at his home apiary in NE Portland.

Pick-up date: Top bar and Warré nucs will likely be available for pick-up mid-May through mid-June. Please email Glen for updates on timing.

What is needed from you: Just your top bars—that is all. There is so much variability in hive size—particularly top bar boxes—that you supplying your top bars is the safest method to assure a seamless transfer of top bars from my nuc box to your hive box. The more drawn comb that comes attached to your top bars, the better, but no drawn comb on the top bars will be OK. Typically, we need eight top bars and each bar should have your initials on top of it some place visible. Contact glen@bridgetownbees.com to arrange a time to drop them off. Please be sure to put your name on the sack, box, or container that you bring your top bars in.

When do you need to drop off your top bars: by Mid-April

What Bridgetown Bees provides: A newly mated Italian or Carniolan queen (not a Bridgetown Bees queen), two to three pounds of bees in a top bar nuc box or a standard Warré box. A deposit on these boxes is required (see below).

Cost: TBD

Payment: Full payment is required to reserve your nuc. The remaining balance (the $150 box deposit) is due at pick-up. There are no refunds for cancelled orders. To place your order through PayPal, please scroll to the to the bottom of the page. Save $8 when paying by check, cash, or Zelle. Please email glen@bridgetownbees.com to make these payment arrangements.

Nuc box deposit: $150, and fully refundable when returned to Bridgetown Bees within three weeks.

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ORDER USING PAYPAL

Please choose your pick-up date from the options below. When you add an item to your cart, you will be taken to the PayPal site. At the PayPal site, you can order multiple nucs. If you want to order additional nucs for other days, click on "Continue Shopping" and you will be returned to this site.