Hire a hive

Our ‘hire a hive’ programme was born out of the realisation that those just starting out on their beekeeping journey often felt daunted by the idea of having their own hive of bees.

Here at Buckley’s Bees, you can host your own bee colony at our apiary during the main beekeeping season (usually April to August), tending to your bees on a weekly basis with the support and guidance of our expert beekeepers on a one-to-one basis.

We will guide you on a step-by-step journey through everything from hive management, swam control, propagation, supering, disease identification, etc., to extracting your own honey, some of which you can then take home.

An essential part of bee management involves the inspection of the hive on a weekly basis, so you will be able to visit your colony once a week at a time convenient to you. Don’t worry though – if you cannot attend, we will take care of your bees!

Having your first hive with Buckley’s Bees means there are no ties at the end of the season. However, you are, of course, welcome to purchase your colony should you wish to continue beekeeping – which we are pretty sure you will!

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Pricing for hire a hive is based on our time and expert tuition, breeding the bees and loan of equipment.

What you’ll get:

Your first choice of hive (subject to availability).
A bee colony.
A mated queen bee.
One-to-one personal support and tuition to learn about your bees and how the colony is working. We aim to cover most topics, including swarm management.
Disease treatments (if needed).
Bee feed (if needed).
Extra equipment, such as supers, frames, foundation, etc.
Honey extraction.
Loan of bee suit and gloves.
10 jars of your colony’s honey to take home – the best present.
(Please note all activities and honey are weather dependent… bees can produce no honey on years with particularly bad weather).

What you will need:

• Wellies

• Long trousers and sleeves under your bee suit

• Waterproofs (in case it rains)