Bee Colonies

Update: As of January 2026, I have colonies available. They are a mix of springtime splits from my overwintered hives and swarms of unknown origin. All are currently friendly, mite-free, and with productive queens. Many of the hives in the Lower North Shore of Sydney are going for many, many months without getting infected and have not needed treatment for Varroa. Many of my hives are also free of Small Hive Beetles, even without traps. This is all much improved from last summer.

Are you ready to host your own hives and enjoy the highs and lows of keeping bees? I can help (if you live in NSW).

Be sure to register as a beekeeper. I will need your hive brand # (Nxxx) before I can provide bees to you. (unless you want me to manage your bees, in which case I will remain the beekeeper responsible for them.) https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/bees/beekeeper-registration

I generally have bee colonies available for sale year-round.

4-Frame nucleus colonies as shown below are usually created by taking frames (with around 6,000 bees) from established colonies and adding a queen bee. They will grow to fill an 8 or 10 frame brood box in a few months in the summer and then a honey super can be added above a queen excluder.

I also sell established colonies (8 or 10 frames). This is a good option later in the season if you want a larger honey harvest.

Below is what a typical “young” frame will look like. These frames have honey, nectar, pollen, eggs, larva, and capped brood. Having brood of all ages is important to maintain balance in the colony population. This is a major advantage of buying a nucleus colony versus “package bees” without any frames/combs.

Typically, buyers will come to my apiary (Huntley Cove, Neutral Bay, Mosman) and we will transfer the frames into your hive. This is best done at dusk, so you get most of the bees as they return for the night. The hive is then secured with screws/tape/straps so it is safe to transport in your car. If you prefer, you can take my nucleus box and return it later, or buy the colony with the hive hardware.

I am using standard Langstroth frames (“deep” size). These will directly replace 4 frames in the lower box of a Flow Hive.

Colonies are guaranteed to be disease-free. I follow beekeeping best-practices to identify and prevent the spread of disease. American Foulbrood is the worst of all diseases and is increasingly common in the Sydney area, It has a long incubation period. If you were to get it within 6 months of purchasing a colony from me, I will refund the cost of the colony and pay for sterilization of your hardware by Steritech (labour & transport not included). I have NEVER had to do this, but it is good to know what the “worst-case scenario” is.

There will often be a couple Small Hive Beetles in the colony, which is typical in Sydney. The beetles will ALWAYS need to be managed with traps. Even if the colony does not have any beetles when you receive it, they will soon…

You will also need to manage the Varroa mite in many parts of NSW. Check the map here to see how “bad” the mites are in your area: www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/varroa. I have detected mites in all of my Apiary locations. Any hive I sell will be alcohol-wash tested and confirmed to be mite-free. You will often get a hive that was just recently treated for Varroa as part of the mandatory 16-week inspection regime.

I will not relocate hives to areas where no mites have been detected (as shown on map). Even if a hive tests clear, I may have missed a very low infection rate, or the hive might catch a mite from my equipment/vehicle. This could still happen to hives I relocate within the infected zone, but in this zone you hive WILL get the mites anyway, it is just a question of time… Managing the mite is a nuisance, but will quickly become part of the routine of managing your hive. Hives in NSW are currently tolerating the mites very well. This is because the mites typically only weaken a colony and it is viruses that kill them. We do not currently have a high virus load in our mites/bees, so colonies are weakened, but do not die…

2026 Pricing:

4-Frame nucleus “nuc” colonies: $380 incl GST

8-frame established colonies: $550 incl GST

Above prices are for the Queen, 5,000+ worker bees, and frames with brood/pollen/honey. The hive box/base/lid is NOT included in prices above.

A 4-frame nuc colony PLUS a 10-frame box/base/lid/roof plus 6 frames with foundation will be about $600. You will soon need to add a honey super to this…

In-person delivery can be arranged. This usually includes a short beekeeping lesson while I do the transfer with you. Figure $80/hour including my travel time from Neutral Bay.

Shipment of bees via AusPost within NSW can also be arranged if you have no other options. This is what the package will look like:

This is my standard nuc-box, with extra ventilation holes (screened with security mesh), and the lid securely screwed down. Extra cost is $50 for the modified nuc-box and $70 for postage and handling. The $50 can be refunded if you get the box back to me.

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