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Free Delivery £60+ | Free Gift £70+
1.5kg Package Bees with Mated Queen
Our 1.5kg package bees are produced from our own colonies here in Northumberland and supplied with one of our own UK-reared mated queens.
Package bees will not be available for the 2027 season. For 2027, we are simplifying our live bee production to concentrate on our queen-rearing programme and a limited number of nucleus colonies.
If you are looking for package bees for sale in the UK to establish a new colony, our overwintered nucleus colonies are the closest alternative within our current bee offering.
£260.00
Package bees are useful for installing bees into hive types such as top bar, Warré or foundationless hive systems. Essentially like a swarm of bees, a package of bees is made up of young worker bees together with a mated queen.
We produce our package bees from our own colonies here in Northumberland, together with our own UK-reared mated queens.
For the 2027 season, we will not be offering package bees for sale. We are simplifying our live bee production for the coming season to concentrate on our queen-rearing programme and a limited number of nucleus colonies.
For beekeepers looking to establish a new colony in 2027, our overwintered nucleus colonies are the closest alternative within our current bee offering.
A package of bees is quite different from a nucleus colony.
Package bees contain a quantity of young worker bees together with a queen, but without the established frames of brood, stores and comb supplied with a nuc. This makes package bees particularly useful for foundationless, top bar and Warré hives, or where a beekeeper specifically wants bees to establish themselves on fresh comb.
An overwintered nuc, by comparison, is already an established small colony containing a laying queen, worker bees, brood, food stores and drawn comb which has successfully come through the winter.
For beekeepers looking to buy bees for the 2027 season, our overwintered nucs are our principal colony option.
View Overwintered Nucleus Colonies →
Our 1.5kg packages of bees with a mated queen were priced at £260 for the 2026 season.
Package bees are not currently available to order for 2027.
Package bees are collected directly from our bee farming and queen-rearing operation in Northumberland and are not posted.
If you’re looking for bees for the 2027 season, please see our current Bees for Sale range for available nucleus colonies and queens.
Our package bees are supplied with one of our own UK-reared mated queens, supplied marked.
Queen breeding remains at the heart of our bee farming operation, and our current UK-reared queens can be found through our Queen Bees for Sale page.
Package bees have a very high feed requirement because the colony needs energy to draw new comb after installation.
When installing package bees, feeding should begin immediately so the bees have access to the resources required to establish new comb and develop the colony.
Package bees require experience to install and manage. As with a swarm, there is a risk of swarming or absconding following installation.
Our detailed guide explains how to introduce and establish a package of bees successfully.
Read our Guide to Installing Package Bees →
We have taken the decision not to produce package bees for sale during the 2027 season, allowing us to concentrate more of our bee production on our UK queen-rearing programme and nucleus colonies.
This is a change to our 2027 production plans rather than the removal of package bees from our website, and we are retaining this page both for customers familiar with our package bees and as a useful resource for beekeepers considering the different ways of establishing a colony.
If you were considering one of our package bees for 2027, take a look at our overwintered nucleus colonies or our wider Bees for Sale range.
| Weight | 1.5 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 10 × 15 × 15 cm |
| Queen Type (this is a preference, please note depending on availability early in the season we cannot always guarantee your prefered type) | Northumberland Buckfast VSH Line, Northumberland Dark Bee |
| Clipped Queen | Yes, No |
| Collection Date | Friday 12th June 2026 2pm – 6pm |
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Karen Goring (verified owner) –
Such an easy way to restock our hive when our colony ‘left home’. Instructions were clear, super helpful and it all worked perfectly. We were reassured that Luke and Susie were on the other end of the phone if we needed help. The colony has overwintered well and we are looking forward to the spring. Highly recommend Northumberland Honey for quality of service, excellent goods and helpful back up.
michael_riley (verified owner) –
very pleased with my purchase of 1.5kg package of bees, they have settled in nicely and have a very placid temperament after a long journey in hot weather back home to their mew hive. I was very pleased with the customer service I received, and a beautiful location in Northumberland
jlasundry (verified owner) –
Can well recommend Northumberland Honey for bees (and other fine products). Communication with Luke beforehand was of great help in co-ordinating the collection of the package of bees. After a long road journey back to their new home the bees are now well settled and thriving. Very pleased with the calm temperament of these bees. All in all the Northumberland Honey team are very professional and well organised. Many thanks
hflaverty (verified owner) –
I bought two packages of bees from Luke and Suzie. Where to begin, arrived 15 minutes early and not a problem the bees were ready to go. They were contained in lovely secure yellow boxes with the queens handed to me separately. Didn’t need gloves or a bee suit to carry them. Secured them in the car and drove back the 77 miles (these bees are worth the drive) back to west Cumbria. Installed the bees in a 6 frame nuc box with drawn comb and a feeder on top. These are the calmest bees I have come across in 8 years of beekeeping. After one week the queen was laying eggs and grubs present. Transferred the queen and bees to a full size hive and not one bothered me at all. As calm as anything. Would I buy these bees again, yes I would and the all round trip of 4 hours is worth the drive. Value for money yes and supporting local business is so so important in this economic climate. First class bees from a first class company run by first class people. If you want bees book early and travel that little extra distance. Thank you to you both. Hugh laverty