Order your 2026 Nucleus Colonies Today!!!

With spring right around the corner—maybe even a little sooner than normal with the warm weather we’ve been having here in Charlotte, NC—it’s time to start preparing for the 2026 beekeeping season. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow your apiary this year, we believe the best way to start a hive is with a Nucleus Colony (aka a “nuc”).

If you’ve ever bought bees before, you’ll know that starter hives traditionally come in two varieties:

1. Nucleus Colonies (Nucs)

A nuc is a five-frame, fully functioning hive that includes:

• Five drawn frames (typically two brood frames and the remaining frames filled with food)

• Bees at all stages of their life cycle

• A newly hatched and mated queen (marked upon request)

2. Packages

A package is essentially a nuc without frames. It consists of:

• A mass of worker bees

• A caged queen

• No drawn comb, brood, or stored food

From this comparison, you can probably see why we prefer selling—and purchasing—nucs. A package is basically a swarm of bees that can take months to become fully functional and productive. A nuc, however, already has everything it needs to grow quickly and efficiently.

By the time our first round of nucs is ready in early April here in Charlotte, NC, the nectar flow is already going strong. This means there’s a much higher chance you’ll be able to harvest honey from your nuc in its first year. At the very least, nucs require far less management than packages to successfully make it through to the following season.

At Queen’s Orders Honey, we are always focused on raising better queens. What makes a queen “better”? Simply put—queens that produce bees that are less temperamental and have genetics that allow them to clean varroa mites from the hive. This trait is known as Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH).

Each year, we raise queens for our nucs from colonies that demonstrated the strongest VSH characteristics during the previous season. Best of all, these are Charlotte, NC–local queen bees, bred and adapted specifically for our climate and environment.

Ready to order your Charlotte, NC local honeybee nuc for the coming season and see what all the buzz is about? Use the link below to place your deposit. Once your order is placed, you’ll be added to the spring pickup queue. The sooner you place your order, the sooner you’ll receive your nuc!

Order Link for Nuc Deposit