BEE KEEPING
We stock all of the equipment needed to keep your bees healthy and thriving. Whether you're a beginner looking to get started or a seasoned bee keeper, consider us your one-stop shop.
2026 will be our 15th year in a row purchasing NUCs from Golden West Bees! We are happy to support Randy and his sons Eric & Ian in their family-run business. Sales start November!
RANDY OLIVER NUC
Go with the best! Golden West Bees raise really good bees. They are some of the most gentle bees we’ve encountered, they make lots of honey, and most importantly, have performed well against varroa mites. Our Nuc, or nucleus, is a ProNuc box with 5 frames of brood, 1 cageless queen bred for mite resistance, and thousands of bees raised by the Oliver family. Nuc pick-ups always happen at night. Fill out the order form, and we'll work to schedule the best Nuc night for you based on the information you give us.
Thanks, and we will be in touch to confirm your order with next steps.
3 REASONS YOU'LL LOVE RANDY'S NUCS
HOW TO RESERVE: Pay through the onine portal above, or call us at 510-665-5509 or stop by the Urban Farm Oasis to pre-pay and reserve your Nuc.
Our store hours: Daily 10am-6pm
1. Bred only from colonies that exhibit mite resistance. Randy picks 20-30 hives (out of his 1,200+ hives) that do best against mites each year (lowest mite count). He makes queens from those hives, and those are the ones they breed for your Nucs. Read about his efforts to breed for mite resistance here!
2. Gentle Bees. Randy often inspects his hives without a veil and gloves and has bred his bees to be very mellow. Gentle bees are great for beginners who are learning to hive inspect, as the bees are more forgiving and take longer to rile up.
3. Lots of honey! In addition to mite resistance and gentleness, Randy has bred his best honey producers. These Nucs are booming and build up fast! If you manage them correctly, you will likely get two boxes of honey your first year. Leave one for the bees for the winter and harvest the other one in October.
Hint: If your reserve bees earlier, your bees will come earlier and have more time to make honey.
BEFORE YOU GET YOUR NUCS
These Nucs grow quickly. We highly recommend that you take our classes so you can successfully inspect and manage them, even if you’ve kept bees before. A refresher never hurts! There are a bunch of zoom classes to take: Backyard Beekeeping, Hive Inspection & Varroa Mite Management, and more. Go to CLASSES & EVENTS to register online for these classes.
More questions? Please join Bee Teacher/BFO co-founder, Jennifer Radtke’s bee group, Learn from the Bees