Shadow Wings Farm
Natural Raw Sourwood Honey
What is a new "Start"? How does it differ from a 2 or 3 pound 'package' of bees or a 'nuc'?
It all boils down to family.
A 'package' of bees are bees that have been compiled at large and are poured through funnel, weighed till they get to the 2 or 3 pound level. A seperate queen that was grafted artifically, placed in a cage with some sugar, is inserted into this package of bees and sold to consumers. I can't even begin to imagine the dynamics of these bees reacting to a foreign queen that they do not know and have not accepted yet...that's why she's in a cage.
A 'nuc' of bees are a group of bees that are somewhat of a family, who have had a queen introduced that was artificially grafted and introduced to the hive family. They've already gone through the acceptance process and she is laying brood by the time this nuc is sold. In my opinion, a nuc is better than a package of bees because of unknowns of "will she be accepted", etc. have already been worked through. Nucs cost more than package bees for obvious reason.
A new "Start" is a beehive with a queen who is a "daughter or granddaughter" of a queen who has proven to have the genetics to make it through the cold winters and is able to build strong, healthy hives. This newly mated queen was raised from the egg of her mother or grandmother by the bees in that hive. They fed her, they nourished her, they nutured her and they took care of her until she finally emerged from her Queen cell. She's gone on her maiden flight where she has mated with the drones and comes back home to her family and begins carrying on the tradition that her mother and grandmother had done before her
Some things in life only require common sense. I've bought package bees and I've bought nuc bees. I sustained huge amounts of losses with the package bees and the nucs, while better, were no where near as strong and prolific as the new Starts that we make each year. I have not had to buy any bees for a long time now and Lord willing, I never will have to again because the method that we now use in our apiary is one that mirrors the instict of the bees and honors the way that God originally created them.
We only sell new Starts for obvious reasons. I'm so grateful that God brought my friend Lynn across my path several years ago. She was in need of a Kangal and little did I know at the time that I was in need of her experience and knowledge with bees. When she found out I had bees and began to share the method that she had been taught by Mel Disselkoen, the lightbulbs went off and began to shine brightly.
We are grateful and proud to offer such a quality product to those who desire to get into beekeeping.
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My brand new bee hives!...Well, they're not 'brand new' hives...they're established hives but it was the first time I had ever had a bee hive!
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The bees were busy checking out their hive.
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Contact us at 706/633-0507 or by email at: ShadowWingsFarm@yahoo.com
