Living Systems Institute

For Sale:  Bees, Honey, Wax

I am a bit old fashioned.  You can't order over the web.  You have to call me (303-248-6677) or email me (dstudin@yahoo.com). I don't receive "texts".  Let's make a human connection.

Bees for Apitherapy (Denver Metro Area)

Some people have found medicinal value in honeybee venom.  In fact, every hive product has medicinal value.  You can read more about apitherapy here.  Treating ailments like arthritis and fibromyalgia can be accomplished using a procedure called Bee Venom Therapy (BVT).  In an effort to help those who wish to practice BVT, we provide honeybees which can be used for intentional stinging.  Small jars of live females can be acquired with just a little advanced notice, usually less than a week.  The fee is $20 for the time spent collecting the bees.  The bees themselves and the container are free.

Honey, especially raw, unheated honey, is highly effective for treating wounds (read more from PLUS ONE here) and also may be effective at reducing allergy symptoms (read more from Dallas Morning News here).

Colorado Bees for Colorado Beekeepers 

Are you frustrated that you can only get bees from California, Texas or other remote places?  Me too.  Have you bought a queen and find she was bred from Hawaii or Georgia stock?  Me too.

I'm selling Colorado Bees for Colorado Beekeepers.  Every nuc sold must have proven genes that can survive in our place and in our time.  Colonies used for this MUST have come from a family line that has survived the most recent two winters right here on the front range.  How does this play out?  Let's say a colony survived winter of 2011/2012 and was healthy enough to throw a swarm.  That swarm represents genes that have survived at least one winter.  If the colony (the swarm captured) successfully lives through winter of 2012/2013 and is healthy enough to split spring of 2013, then they represent genes that have survived at least two winters.  The daughters of those 2013 splits can be sold as Colorado Bees for Colorado Beekeepers.  This two winter criteria will be met every year moving forward.  Am I guaranteeing that the honeybees sold will survive?  No.  This is agriculture.  No one can make that guarantee.  I am just increasing the odds of survival by starting with proven genes.

Supply will be limited, very limited.  We are a small operation.  If you want to reserve a nuc, please call well in advance.  In 2012, our eight 2013 nucs were all sold before 12/31.  First come, first served.  Payment of $150 per nuc will be required in advance.

These will be 5-frame nucs with a healthy, laying queen verified.  Delivery is guaranteed.  Here's why:  if for any reason, the split process fails, then the customer will receive the mother colony rather than the split nuc.  Customer keeps the 5 frames, but returns the wooden nuc box.

Raw Local Honey, "Slow Honey" (Denver Metro Area)

One-pound jars of Honey ... Local Raw Unfiltered ... sell for $12 each.  We do keep a waiting list for "next harvest" when we run out.  More images of honey harvest can be found here.  We call our honey "Slow Honey."  It's a hat tip to "Slow Money" with their permission, a concept we believe in very strongly.  We buy locally whenever possible because circulating our money locally helps our neighbors.  If you choose to learn about Slow Money, you will see what we mean and what we practice.

There may be a spring harvest in 2013.  If that happens, then we will have honey for sale about May 1.

We keep a list of customers needing honey for medicinal purposes.  We call these folks to check on their honey stock whenever we get a harvest.  If you wish to be added to that list, please call Don.

From Bee.Health.eXtension@gmail.com Wednesday, December 5, 2012 4:19 PM

What is nectar? Nectar is comprised of approximately 20% sucrose, 79% water and 1% other substances (vitamins, minerals, pigments, etc). Sucrose is also a very important product of photosynthesis in plants and is vital as an active messenger that relays information on the energy status of individual tissues. Honey bees use the enzyme invertase to catalyze the breakdown (hydrolysis) of the disaccharide sucrose in the honey stomach. It is broken down into two main monosaccharide’s glucose (dextrose) and fructose (levulose). These two monosaccharaides are more easily digested by honey bees. There are also some other sugars involved but these two are the most notable. They then distribute this “transformed” nectar around the edges of the brood nest to evaporate moisture from it. They will increase the rate of evaporation by fanning the nectar until the moisture content is 18.6% or less. If the moisture content is below 17%, it should not crystallize but this also depends on the amount of glucose in the nectar. Once the moisture content is low enough, the bees will cap the honey for storage. Honey is the bee’s main source of carbohydrates. ...

Pollen is a bee’s main source of protein and is necessary for queen vitality and brood production. Pollen consists of proteins (chains of amino acids), lipids (fats), minerals, and vitamins. Before bees use pollen, they add nectar to the packed pollen and it goes through lactic acid fermentation. This process changes the properties of the pollen and allows the pollen to be stored in cells for a longer period of time without deteriorating like natural pollen in a cell would. At this point, it is now called bee bread. An interesting fact about pollen vs. bee bread is that regular pollen lacks vitamin K but once it has gone through lactic acid fermentation vitamin K is present. Why is this important? Vitamin K is important because it aids in protein biosynthesis (manipulating amino acids into new proteins). This may be important for royal jelly quality? ...

Royal Jelly is a protein-rich secretion that the worker bees feed to 2-3 day old larvae of drones and workers. The royal jelly also contains lipids, vitamins hormones, minerals, enzymes and other life-sustaining compounds. The queen is fed this substance her entire life and it is the single reason how she became a queen in the first place. Royal jelly contains royalactin which is the single protein that triggers the development of ovaries in a diploid egg which then eventually transforms into a queen. This is why pollen/pollen supplement feeding is important for queen vitality. The queen needs a constant supply of protein rich (many different amino acids) royal jelly. Where is royal jelly made and what bees make it? The worker bee’s hypopharyngeal gland in the head is the production plant of royal jelly.

Natural Beeswax

Honeybee Wax from our chemical-free hives is available while supplies last.  It would be nice if we could say "chemical-free" wax, but, of course, we can't because we have no idea what the bees are picking up as they forage.  As folks use less poisons on our environment, the wax will contain less residues.  We harvest twice each year, early April and early September.  Wax is available for $1.00 per ounce or $15 per pound.  Chunks are irregular in shape and may contain small amounts of debris.  We keep a waiting list for those that want to save their place in line.

Starting with this ...

 You can end up with this ...

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