Buying bees is the most exciting and most consequential decision a new beekeeper makes, and it is the one that gets the least attention. People spend weeks researching hives and suits, then panic-buy a package in March because a forum post said they were selling out. The bees arrive, the keeper is unprepared, and the first season starts on the back foot. This guide is meant to fix that. It covers when to order, what to order, how much it costs, how to pick a good breeder, what you need before your bees arrive, and what to do in the first week after installation. I have been through this process enough times to know what matters and what is marketing.
When should you order honey bees?
Earlier than you think. Most US bee suppliers begin taking orders in November or December for spring delivery, and popular breeders sell out by February. The 2024 to 2025 season saw record colony losses (55.6% nationally, according to the Bee Informed Partnership), which drove up replacement demand and pushed many suppliers to "sold out" status before spring arrived. If you wait until March or April to start looking, your options will be limited, the best local breeders will be spoken for, and you may end up paying a markup on the secondary market. The rule is simple: order your bees in December or January, even if pickup is not until April or May. Your region's last frost date sets the timing. Bees need consistent daytime temperatures above about 10°C (50°F) to fly and forage, so there is no point installing them into snow.
What are the options: packages, nucs, or queens?
You have three choices, and they are not interchangeable. Each one fits a different situation, and understanding the trade-offs saves money and colonies.
Package bees
A package is the most common way beginners buy bees. It contains roughly 10,000 to 12,000 worker bees (about 3 pounds) shaken from donor hives, a separately caged mated queen they have never met, and a can of sugar syrup for transit. There is no comb, no brood, no stored food. The bees and queen are strangers.
In 2026, a 3-pound package runs between $160 and $175 depending on the supplier, the bee race, and your region. The advantage is price and availability: packages are cheaper than nucs and easier for breeders to produce in volume, so they are more likely to be in stock if you order late. The disadvantage is that a package colony starts from zero. The bees need to draw comb before the queen can lay, and it takes roughly three to four weeks before the first new workers emerge. During that gap, the original package population shrinks through natural attrition, and the colony is vulnerable. First-year survival rates for package colonies tend to run lower than for nucs, and many package colonies produce little or no surplus honey in year one.
Nucleus colonies (nucs)
A nuc is a small, functioning colony: typically five deep Langstroth frames pulled from a working hive, with drawn comb, brood in all stages, food stores (honey and pollen), and an accepted, laying queen. The bees on those frames are her offspring. They know her, and she is already producing.
A 5-frame nuc costs $225 to $240 in 2026, roughly 30 to 40% more than a package. For that extra money, you get a colony that hits the ground running. There is no comb-drawing delay, no stranger-queen acceptance risk, and brood is already hatching. Nucs build population faster and are more likely to produce a modest honey crop in their first season. The downside is that nucs are almost always pickup only (shipping five frames of live brood safely is difficult and expensive), and they sell out faster than packages. If a local breeder offers overwintered nucs, those are even better, since you are buying bees that already proved they can survive a winter in your climate.
Mated queens
Buying a queen alone makes sense if you already have a queenless colony, want to requeen a hive with poor genetics, or are doing splits. A mated queen costs $30 to $50 and ships overnight in a small wooden cage with a few attendant bees and a candy plug. You are not starting a new colony from scratch with a lone queen. Understanding what the queen does and how she shapes colony behavior makes requeening decisions much easier.
Which bee species should you buy?
In the United States, almost all commercially available bees are subspecies of Apis mellifera. The most common options are Italian (gentle, productive, widely available), Carniolan (frugal, fast spring buildup, good for colder climates), Buckfast (a hybrid bred for disease resistance and calm temperament), and Russian (selected for Varroa tolerance). Your climate should drive the choice more than anything else. Italians do best in warmer regions with long seasons; Carniolans and Russians handle cold, short seasons better. If you want a deeper comparison, choosing the right bee species for your climate and goals covers each subspecies in detail.
How do you choose a good bee breeder?
Not all bees are equal, and not all sellers are breeders. Some companies simply resell packages produced by large-scale operations in Georgia, California, or Texas, where bees are shaken off commercial pollination colonies after almond season. That is not necessarily bad, but it means the bees may not be adapted to your local climate, and their mite load and disease history depend on someone else's management. A good breeder will tell you what race of bee you are getting, where the queens were raised, what mite treatments were applied, and what the colony's disease history looks like. They will also be reachable after the sale if something goes wrong.
Here is what to look for: buy from a local or regional breeder whenever possible, since locally raised bees are already adapted to your conditions. Ask whether the queens are open-mated or instrumentally inseminated (open-mated is standard; instrumental insemination is rare and expensive). Ask about the breeder's Varroa management, because controlling mites before they spread is something responsible sellers take seriously. If you are just starting your first season, a trustworthy breeder relationship is worth more than a discount.
What do you need before your bees arrive?
Your hive and equipment should be fully assembled, painted, and in position before your bees show up. That means the hive stand, bottom board, at least one deep brood box with 8 or 10 frames of foundation, an inner cover, and a telescoping outer cover. For nucs, make sure your frames are the same depth (usually deep) as the nuc frames. You also need a feeder (an in-hive frame feeder or a top feeder works best for new colonies), sugar syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar to water by weight for spring feeding), and a hive tool.
Getting the hive location, orientation, and shade right before the bees arrive prevents problems later. The hive should face south or southeast in most of the US, sit slightly tilted forward so rain drains out, and be raised off the ground on a stand. Make sure you have a water source within about 15 meters, because bees drink a lot, especially in summer.
Protective gear is the other half of the equation. You will be opening this hive within a few days of installation and frequently for the first month, so your suit, veil, and gloves need to be ready. At OZ Armour, we make ventilated beekeeping suits, bee jackets, protective gloves, and ventilated veils that US beekeepers trust for exactly this kind of close, frequent hive work. A good smoker and a spray bottle of sugar syrup round out what you need on installation day.
How do you install package bees and nucs?
Installation is simpler than most beginners expect, but timing matters. Install your bees in the late afternoon or early evening, when the air is warm but the foragers are winding down. This gives the colony the whole night to settle in before they start orienting flights the next morning.
For a package: remove a few frames from the center of the brood box, mist the package screen lightly with sugar syrup, pull out the syrup can, remove the queen cage, and check that the queen is alive. Suspend the queen cage between two central frames with the candy plug facing down, then shake or pour the remaining bees into the gap. Replace the frames gently, put the feeder in place, close the hive, and leave them alone for at least three days. Resist the urge to check daily. The bees need time to release the queen through the candy plug and begin drawing comb.
For a nuc: simply transfer the five frames into your brood box in the same order they sat in the nuc box, then fill the remaining slots with frames of foundation. Add a feeder and close up. The queen is already free and laying, so there is no acceptance period. You can do your first inspection in about a week.
Both new package colonies and nuc colonies need to be fed heavily for at least the first three weeks with 1:1 sugar syrup and, ideally, a pollen substitute patty. Low-cost feeding options that keep new colonies well nourished matter most in this window, because the colony is building comb and population and has no stored surplus to fall back on.
What should you watch for in the first week?
After three to five days, do a brief inspection. You are checking three things: is the queen out of her cage (for packages), is she laying (look for tiny white eggs standing upright in cells), and are the bees drawing comb? If the queen is out and you see eggs, things are on track. If the cage is still sealed after five days, carefully open the candy end with a small nail to help her out. If the queen is dead, contact your supplier within 24 hours, as most breeders replace dead-on-arrival or failed queens at no charge.
In the first month, inspect weekly to make sure the queen is laying a solid pattern, the colony is growing, and the bees are taking their syrup. Do not add a second brood box until the bees have drawn comb on 7 to 8 of the original frames. Jumping to a second box too early gives the colony more space than it can defend, which invites pests like small hive beetles and wax moths. Using smart tools to monitor hive health early helps you catch problems before they set the colony back.
How much does it really cost to get started?
Be honest with yourself about the numbers. A single-hive first-year setup, including one nuc ($225 to $240), assembled hive components ($150 to $250), a quality ventilated suit and gloves ($100 to $180), a smoker and hive tool ($30 to $50), feeder and syrup ($20 to $40), and mite treatments ($25 to $40), runs roughly $550 to $800 before any honey is harvested. Packages bring the bee cost down but raise the risk of a slower start. A realistic look at the true cost of starting a beekeeping hobby or business helps you budget properly so you are not caught short mid-season. Most beginners take no surplus honey in year one. Plan for that, and anything you do harvest is a bonus.
Buying bees is the starting line, not the finish. The colony you install this spring will need regular inspections, seasonal feeding, mite monitoring, and eventually its first harvest. Understanding how to manage your hive through swarms, queens, and health checks across the full season is what turns a box of bees into a productive, multi-year apiary. For more hands-on guides, visit our learn beekeeping resource library or read more on the blogs.
Sources: Colony-loss data from the Bee Informed Partnership 2024-2025 national survey. Package and nuc pricing based on 2026 supplier listings from Mann Lake, Betterbee, Lappe's Bee Supply, Sierra Honey Farm, and Meyer Bees. First-year cost estimates cross-referenced with Carolina Honeybees (2025 analysis) and Loudoun Bees' published two-year cost accounting. Installation and feeding protocols consistent with NC State Extension, Penn State Extension, and MAAREC guidelines.