These 2027 packages each are an artificial swarm of bees, consisting of 3 Pounds of fresh bees (roughly 10,000) and a young, mated Russian Queen from a certified Russian Honey Bee Breeder Association breeder raised on Treatment-Free comb.
 
DETAILS:
No shipping available - pickup only in Driftwood, TX
Purchase based on a pre-order basis while supplies last
We recommend purchasing early as supply is limited and demand very high
Pickup is scheduled for April 2027 (early in the season)
Specific pickup instructions and exact pickup address and date will be sent at least 2 week(s) prior to pick up for exact pickup date/time
 
CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY:
50% cancellation fee until March 15, 2027 (50% refund)
No refunds after March 15, 2027
If you no longer want the bees you ordered after March 15, 2027 or cannot come and pick them up, you may sell or transfer them to someone else, or have someone else pick them up for you. Just have that person come at pickup day with your printed order to retrieve it.
Packages are perishable, those not picked up within the assigned pickup window on the scheduled pickup day will be forfeited with no refunds.
 
RESOURCES
To become a confident beekeeper, or increase your beekeeping knowledge and your bees' chances of survival, consider one of our programs:
our comprehensive Beekeeping Apprenticeship at Bee-Mindful.com/apprenticeships
our intensive Beekeeping Workshops at Bee-Mindful.com/workshops
To build your own full size hive to host these bees as they grow into a larger, fully established colony, consider using our FREE, easy, DIY Top-Bar hive plans at Bee-Mindful.com/plans
We also sell hive kits and assembled hives at Bee-Mindful.com/hives-and-bees
 
Horizontal Top-Bar Hives are much cheaper and easier to manage than other hives, which makes them best for Backyard beekeeping.
 
ADDITIONAL INFO ON THESE CERTIFIED RUSSIAN BEES
WHY CERTIFIED RUSSIAN BEES?
Russian honey bees are known for performing well under both Treatment-Free and conventional, treatment-based apiary management, making them an excellent choice for beekeepers across a wide range of management approaches.
Not all package bees are the same. These packages include a young, mated Russian queen from a Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association (RHBA) certified breeder, raised on Treatment-Free comb.
Certified Russian honey bees are selected for Varroa mite resistance and honey production, screened for tracheal mites and Nosema, and tested for hardiness, reliability and survivability.
Their resistance to Varroa is especially interesting because it does not depend on a single trait. Instead, Russian honey bees exhibit several complementary resistance mechanisms and behaviors that work together to help limit mite population growth. 
 
WHAT DOES RHBA CERTIFICATION MEAN?
Becoming a certified breeder with the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association (RHBA) involves much more than simply raising and selling Russian queens.
RHBA breeders must annually demonstrate their qualifications by producing queens from designated Russian lines in isolated mating yards stocked with sufficient numbers of appropriate drone-source colonies.
Line queens must be produced in sufficient numbers so that colonies established from them can be monitored and evaluated. Queens are also distributed among fellow RHBA members to head drone-source colonies and allow the lines to be evaluated across the membership.
Once the data from the monitoring period has been collected and evaluated, emerging workers from the highest-rated colonies are tested by the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Genetics and Physiology Laboratory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for genetic purity. 
 
SELECTED FOR RESISTANCE, PRODUCTION & SURVIVABILITY
Certified Russian honey bees are:
Selected for Varroa mite resistance and honey production
Screened for tracheal mites and Nosema
Tested for hardiness, reliability and survivability 
 
MULTIPLE NATURAL VARROA-RESISTANCE MECHANISMS
One of the strengths of Russian honey bees is the combination of resistance mechanisms and behavioral strategies working together, rather than reliance on any single trait.
Grooming behavior: When dead Varroa mites are collected from Russian colonies and compared with mites from other domestic stock, those from Russian colonies show a higher proportion of missing or damaged appendages and damaged exoskeletons. Russian bees have also been observed biting Varroa mites and inflicting this damage. This behavior is sometimes referred to as Varroa Sensitive Grooming (VSG).
Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH): Relative to the general domestic honey bee population, Russian honey bees exhibit a high level of VSH. Workers can detect brood cells containing reproducing female Varroa mites, uncap a high percentage of those cells and eliminate many of the mites exposed.
Slower Mite Population Growth (MPG): Compared with other domestic stock, a higher proportion of Varroa mites in Russian colonies may be found on adult bees rather than reproducing within brood. This helps slow mite population growth. At the same time, having more mites exposed on adult bees makes them more vulnerable to the bees' grooming behavior. In other words, these resistance mechanisms can complement and reinforce one another.
Strong hygienic behavior: Interestingly, although RHBA does not specifically select for hygienic behavior, Russian honey bees have demonstrated excellent hygienic responses in repeated tests measuring the removal of freeze-killed brood. 
 
RESOURCE-SMART BROOD REARING
Russian honey bees tend to adjust brood production closely to the resources available to them.
Early in the season, they may maintain relatively small brood nests until significant pollen and nectar become available. During periods of dearth, or when annual pollen and nectar flows end, brood production may again decrease substantially or temporarily stop.
This shorter overall brood-rearing period means less time for Varroa mites to reproduce within capped brood. It can also create longer periods during which mite populations can decline while exposed mites remain vulnerable to grooming behavior.
This resource-driven brood rearing also helps conserve the colony's food stores.
Importantly, this frugality does not mean Russian colonies are incapable of rapid growth. When conditions improve and strong pollen and nectar flows begin, they can expand their populations extremely quickly to take advantage of those resources. 
 
HARDINESS, CONSERVATION & OUR EXPERIENCE WITH RUSSIAN BEES
In our experience, Russian honey bees are remarkably quiet during dearths and the off-season, conserving stores and energy in ways that may contribute to their strong wintering ability and resilience.