Most new beekeepers tend
to buy packages of bees.

Packages of bees can be ordered from breeders and shipped through the USPS. A package of bees is about 10000 bees inside a screened box, with a queen in a cage inside. Once received, a package of bees can be gently installed into a hive, with the queen being placed inside. There is a small piece of candy plugging her cage and the bees will eat through that to release her.

A nucleus hive is
a bit more elaborate.

These are good options for Langstroth Hive users (more on hive styles later, but a Lang is the most common hive type, the kind you see on the side of the road in crops when driving down the highway).
A nucleus is a number of fully drawn combs of honey inside a box with bees and a queen. The advantage of a nuc is that the existing comb gives the bees a head start and can be installed right into a hive.

Our favorite method for obtaining bees is by catching a swarm.

In spring, local feral colonies often grow so large that about half of the colony will leave in search of a new home. This is when a cluster of bees will settle on a branch, an eave, a mailbox, or a fence while scouts fly about determining the best place to take up permanent residence.

As a beekeeper, it’s a great time to step in and usher the bees into a box and take them home to your hive. The bees are most often very docile at this time, as they have no brood to actively protect while in the swarm cluster, and have gorged on honey to sustain them for the flight.

An easy swarm catch would be a large cluster on a low branch that can be shaken into a box.

We do not recommend doing swarm catches that require climing high up on a ladder. Most often, it just isn’t worth the risk of falling or losing the swarm.

Philosophy

Natural beekeeping can be defined several ways, but overall, natural beekeeping means letting the bees do what they have done for millions of years with minimal human intervention.

It also means fostering stronger genetics, bees that can thrive in the face of the chemicals, pests, diseases and imbalance our environment presents to them, by increasing strong colonies, and letting weak colonies die off. This can sound harsh, but the difference is propagating strong genetics or fostering weak ones in a species that is already facing so much difficulty.

One of the biggest differences between natural and conventional beekeeping is the use, or not, of foundation. Foundation is a pressed wax (or plastic) sheet that is shaped like honeycomb. The idea is that it urges uniform cell size for brood development and gives bees a “head start” so they don’t have to build all of their own wax.

There are multiple problems with foundation. For one, bees do not prefer a universal cell size. In response to the local bee population’s health and propagation and their own colony’s needs, a colony needs to decide for itself how many drones are needed at any given time. Drones need a different cell size than foundation provides (as conventional beekeepers try to deter drones, seeing them as “unnecessary” to the beekeepers goal or more honey).

In studies done by Penn State, pressed wax foundation (which is made from the wax harvested in commercial hives that are trucked throughout the country for the pollination of monocrops) has been shown to be riddled with agricultural chemicals, environmental chemicals and medicated treatments. The introduction of it into a hive absolutely starts the bees off with a less than ideal hive environment.

Furthermore, when given the option of foundation or foundationless frames in which to build, bees always choose to make their own comb. After all, it’s what they are built to do! They can control the cell size, the cleanliness, and rate of production.

Management

So often beekeepers fuss with their bees or take unnecessary, interfering steps in order to feel a sense of management over their colonies, but bees are already equipped to take care of themselves; they have been doing it for millions of years! Giving them the best chance at success by providing logical, regular management and an excellent environment to thrive in goes a long way to foster healthy colonies and genetics.

As natural beekeepers, we do not use or endorse the use of chemicals in the hive whatsoever. We are focused on giving bees a healthy environment and promoting healthy genes. In our own apiaries, colonies that succumb to Varroa or other pests and diseases are not increased the next season. Those that survive, we split from and increase our stock.

As backyard and hobby beekeepers, letting bees do what they do best allows them to satisfy their own colony's needs by relying upon the myriad abilities they already inherently have.

There are many natural beekeeping clubs, forums, and high profile natural beekeepers to learn from and be inspired by.

Philosophy

Natural beekeeping can be defined several ways, but overall, natural beekeeping means letting the bees do what they have done for millions of years with minimal human intervention.

It also means fostering stronger genetics, bees that can thrive in the face of the chemicals, pests, diseases and imbalance our environment presents to them, by increasing strong colonies, and letting weak colonies die off. This can sound harsh, but the difference is propagating strong genetics or fostering weak ones in a species that is already facing so much difficulty.

One of the biggest differences between natural and conventional beekeeping is the use, or not, of foundation. Foundation is a pressed wax (or plastic) sheet that is shaped like honeycomb. The idea is that it urges uniform cell size for brood development and gives bees a “head start” so they don’t have to build all of their own wax.

There are multiple problems with foundation. For one, bees do not prefer a universal cell size. In response to the local bee population’s health and propagation and their own colony’s needs, a colony needs to decide for itself how many drones are needed at any given time. Drones need a different cell size than foundation provides (as conventional beekeepers try to deter drones, seeing them as “unnecessary” to the beekeepers goal or more honey).

In studies done by Penn State, pressed wax foundation (which is made from the wax harvested in commercial hives that are trucked throughout the country for the pollination of monocrops) has been shown to be riddled with agricultural chemicals, environmental chemicals and medicated treatments. The introduction of it into a hive absolutely starts the bees off with a less than ideal hive environment.

Furthermore, when given the option of foundation or foundationless frames in which to build, bees always choose to make their own comb. After all, it’s what they are built to do! They can control the cell size, the cleanliness, and rate of production.