2026

Nucleus Colonies for Sale

Get your over-wintered Colorado bees from Free Range Beehives in spring, 2026!

Colorado Honeybees

We are passionate about our bees and take great pride in raising healthy, gentle, productive bees. All of our nucs contain bees that have over-wintered here on the Colorado front range. Our queens are a combination of Italian and Carniolan stock.

Establishing a new nuc requires care and attention. New colonies need to be fed sugar syrup and a pollen substitute (pollen patty) while they are building up. This allows them to build comb if necessary and keep their stomachs full while their foraging force is building. Lack of sufficient food will limit growth and can potentially allow diseases to take hold.

30-Day Guarantee

We spend countless hours inspecting our bees, feeding when necessary, and treating for mites prior to delivering your nuc. However, bees are wild animals and transporting and re-establishing colonies can be stressful. Weather and local conditions can have an impact on how fast your colonies grow. If you are unhappy with your colony or if something goes wrong, let us know within 30 days and we will replace it.

When to Bee Concerned About Your Nuc

Free Range Beehives is here to help you establish your new colony. If you ever have any questions, do not hesitate to call us. Here are some things to watch that may indicate a need to replace your bees:

  • Low population - if you are feeding your bees but your colony is not growing, your queen may not be performing. Sometimes queens are affected by transportation.

  • Queen cells - if your bees have built queen cells, look for eggs and your queen. If you can’t find her or any eggs, she may have been lost during transportation.

  • Disease - if you feel your colony has contracted a disease, send us photos and we can help diagnose the issue. If your colony has contracted a disease, it is a candidate for replacement.

Reserve your Nuc

Pricing

Your 5-frame nuc includes a laying queen, a Pro Nuc box for easy transporting, and 5 frames of bees. Free Range Beehives uses Carniolan and Italian queens and we select primarily for gentleness. All of our bees will receive an oxalic acid vapor treatment to kill Varroa mites around the winter solstice when the colony is broodless.

Your nucleus colony is guaranteed to have:

    • 3 deep frames of brood, 2 deep frames of honey/pollen and the bees with them. We also shake in more bees as necessary to create a full nuc.

    • Guaranteed over-wintered laying queen

    • 5 frame Pro Nuc box for easy transporting is yours to keep, or return for a $10 refund

    • Colorado Bees that have over-wintered in 2025/2026

Exact dates are impossible to determine at this point, but we estimate delivery to be in mid to late May. Communication will be via email and there will be two pickup dates available. Pickup location is also TBD but will be in the metro Denver area.

Pricing: $350, payment required at time of reservation.

SAVE $50 per nuc! Place your order and pay for it before December 31, 2025 and each nuc costs only $300!

We will have a limited number of nucs and will close the ordering when we reach our limit.