Our Programs
OUR PROGRAMS
Sponsor a “Package of Bees:”
Projected Start Date: December 1st, 2024 for Spring Bees
Thank you for considering supporting a “Package of Bees” at Hood Brook Apiary & Learning Center’s Honeybee Sponsorship programs.
What is a Package of Bees?
A Package of Honeybees is a vented (usually screened) container with 3 lbs. or about 10,000 bees. A package averages about 3 to 4 thousand bees per pound. Within the container in addition to the worker bees and drones, there is also a young, recently mated queen bee and 2 to 3 attendant bees within a small cage in the package. The queen, not being related to the bees in the package, must be kept in her small safety cage until the rest of the bees accept her pheromones or scent. If she is released too soon, the bees in the package may kill her.
The queen cage hangs inside the package next to the feeding can of sugar water. Sugar water is food for the bees while in travel.
When installing the package of bees into a waiting 8 or 10-frame hive, you open the package and remove the sugar water and the queen cage. Set them aside. At that point, you gently shake the bees from the package into the new hive. Then place the nearly empty package near the front entrance of the hive for the stragglers to enter the hive. Then you take the queen cage and gently remove the cork at the candy end of the cage. When the workers are ready for her, they will start eating the soft candy from the outside while the queen and her attendants will start eating the candy from their side. Generally, by the time the candy is consumed allowing the queen to exit her cage, the bees have accepted her. She will move right down and start laying eggs in the wax comb the bees are building.
The new hive is now a colony and starting its growth and development. A strong queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs per day! The hive will grow swiftly under the proper conditions. By mid-late summer, the colony’s population could have easily swelled to 60,000 bees!
Beekeepers often use packages to populate brand-new hives. However, some use them to re-populate hives that didn’t survive the winter. Repopulated colonies usually grow faster than a new hive as repopulated hives already have much of their comb drawn out and ready for eggs or for workers to store food.
Click Here to See and Compare The 3 Programs & Costs
BELOW: Installing “Packages of Bees” at our Vassalboro location in 2023.
Sponsor a “Nuc of Bees:”
Projected Start Date: January 15th, 2025, for “Nucs” arriving Mid-April – Mid-May
Thank you for considering supporting a “Nuc” of Bees at Hood Brook Apiary & Learning Center’s Honeybee Sponsorship programs.
What is a” Nuc” of Bees?
In the world of a beekeeper, a “nuc,” short for “nucleus”, is essentially a smaller colony of a few thousand bees. Beekeepers and many strong hives help control swarming by splitting a strong hive and making a “nuc.” This means taking 5 deep frames from a strong hive or hives and inserting them in a much smaller mini hive called a “Nuc Box.” Carefully making sure you don’t take the queen in the process, the frames you transfer into the “Nuc Box” should be fully drawn comb and a mixture of capped brood, larva, eggs, pollen, and nectar and will contain about 7 to 10 thousand bees. Then a new queen will be inserted into the nuc in her own cage for 4 to 7 days before releasing her or her releasing herself. Then you have a new “nuc” to transfer elsewhere in your apiary or to sell!
Hood Brook Apiary is not a “seller” of “Nucs” at this point. We are recovering from major winter losses and don’t have enough hives to make “Nucs” to sell. So, we are currently a “buyer” of “Nucs.”
Every sponsored “Nuc” of bees purchased for Hood Brook Apiary will be transferred into 8 or 10-frame hives at one of our apiaries in either Pittsfield or Vassalboro, Maine. From there it will grow and become a full colony of up to 60,000 bees over the course of the 1st summer.
Click Here to See and Compare The 3 Programs & Costs
Foster-a-Hive:
Projected Start Date: Currently accepting inquiries and applications!
First, Hood Brook Apiary & Learning Center would like to thank you for considering the big step toward the Foster-a-Hive Program! This is huge as it supplies a double deep hive, frames and foundation, screened bottom board, inner and outer covers, and, of course, a Package or Nuc of honeybees, based on availability. It goes a LONG way toward increasing the honeybee population, helping local farmers and gardeners, and enhancing the ecosystem. You’ll be playing a huge role in Saving the Honeybees!
Foster-a-Hive is a program designed to support honeybee populations by providing resources for beekeepers to maintain and nurture healthy bee colonies. Hood Brook Apiary & Learning Center’s Foster-a-Hive Program has goals of promoting bee conservation, education, and community involvement. Here are some key aspects of the Foster-a-Hive program:
Key Features
- Bee Support: The program allows individuals or organizations to “foster” a beehive, meaning they contribute funds and resources to help beekeepers care for their bees, particularly those facing challenges like colony loss or environmental stressors.
- Educational Component: Hood Brook Apiary is building our learning center which will be hands on classes that travel to schools and other organizations. These classes teach the importance of all pollinators as well as the honeybee. Volunteer positions will be available to help out our lapiary locations from time to time as well. We will also have literature available as educational resources which will help participants understand the role of bees in the ecosystem, the importance of pollinators, and best practices in beekeeping.
- Community Engagement: These programs often encourage community participation and awareness about the significance of honeybees. Participants may engage in events, workshops, or hands-on activities related to beekeeping and pollinator health.
- Support for Local Beekeepers: Foster-a-Hive programs often support local beekeepers. Our program offered by Hood Brook Apiary & Learning Center assists with our two local beekeeping locations here in Pittsfield and Vassalboro, Maine. The program helps by providing the financial support or necessary supplies, that help sustain our operations and promote healthy bee colonies.
- Conservation Goals: Ultimately, the program aims to contribute to the health and vitality of bee populations, counteracting declines caused by habitat loss, pesticide use, disease, and climate change. We also seek out areas where we can plant wildflowers to help build or restore habitats for various pollinators.
- Foster-a-Hive Opportunities: Participants can often sponsor a hive or support specific initiatives, receiving updates or even visiting the hive to see their involvement in action.
Benefits
- Promotes Pollinator Health: By fostering hives, participants directly contribute to improving the health of bee populations, which are crucial for pollinating many crops and wild plants.
- Enhances Local Food Systems: Healthy bee populations lead to better pollination of local crops, supporting agriculture, and improving food security.
- Increases Awareness: Programs raise awareness about the importance of bees and the challenges they face, encouraging broader discussions about environmental stewardship.
- Connects Communities: Foster-a-Hive initiatives build connections between beekeepers, participants, and the community, fostering a shared responsibility for bee conservation.
- Honey!: Yes, as a Foster-a-Hive participant, you will get honey every year for the life of the hive. Generally about 5 pounds of honey per season for local pick up. Until we find a far more cost-effective way of shipping, we don’t ship honey unless you request it and are willing to pay for the shipping charges, which often can cost more than the honey!
- A Plaque for Your Hive: You will have a custom plaque on the front of your hive indemnifying your family, company/business name, or the name of a person you’d like to dedicate it to.
- Children’s Hive Painting Day: As a Foster-a-Hive Program participants we will offer your family a Children’s Hive Painting Day where they can come to one of our locations where we will have tables set up, paints, brushes, and eve stencils for your children to paint various designs or images on honey supers that will be used at out apiaries.
- A Monthly Update: Participants in all our programs will receive monthly e-mail Newsletters about the apiary and specifically your bees or hives. It will include images and video.
- Bee Installation Day: All participants of all programs are welcome to be present on the day we pick up and install the bees into the hives. You can watch from a distance. (As we grow, we will purchase extra protective gear for participants to take part in the installation process!)
In summary, Foster-a-Hive programs offer a way for individuals and organizations to actively support honeybee conservation and education, contributing to a healthier environment and stronger local ecosystems.
Thank you again! Please tell your friends
General Donations:
Projected Start Date: We are now accepting donations to help with the over-wintering of our hives.
To Donate, Use The Button Below Please.
We are working hard to catch up and get back on our feet after heavy losses in the 2021-2022 season due to weather conditions. Please bear with us and our services will be available soon!
Hood Brook Apiary will be offering the following programs. Please carefully view each program for its projected start date. They won’t all start at the same time.
Programs that are currently running have “Projected Start Dates” in GREEN.