In beekeeping you truely know if a colony has successfully over wintered until March when you can inspect the lay patterns for the Queen but so far we seeing good signs. This winter has been remarkably warm so far. We monitor temperatures at some of our apiaries and have seen a very narrow range between 4 and 9 degrees, and very little time below freezing, This has meant the bees have been more active than typical and getting through food. We support the bees with fondant ov

We have opened our order book for overwintered and spring nucs for 2026. You can order here!

The difference between an average queen and an exceptional one often begins with a larva that is less than 24 hours old. At SIPA Honey Bees, we pay close attention to larval age because those first hours of development shape the entire future of the colony. The Critical First 24 Hours All honey bees start life the same way — as fertilised eggs laid by the queen. For the first three days, they develop inside the egg. When the egg hatches, it becomes a tiny larva. At this stage

Why We Raise Buckfast Bees At SIPA Honey Bees, we carefully choose the type of bees we work with. One of the key reasons our colonies thrive is because we raise Buckfast bee  - a strain developed for temperament, productivity, and resilience. Originally developed by Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey  in the early 20th century, Buckfast bees were bred with one clear goal: to create a honey bee that performs reliably in the British climate while remaining calm and manageable for b

All of our Queen Bees are raised by us in Berkshire! We raise our bees on some of the larger country estates which means we have tighter control of mating with other beekeepers in the immediate area.