Chicago Queen Honeybees
Donation protected
Hi,
My name is Jefferson and I'm a beekeeper in Chicago, IL. I started beekeeping in the spring of 2014 with The Chicago Honey Co-op. I fell in love with the work. The past two winters I have worked in California raising queen honeybees and creating bee packages. I have learned a lot about raising queens and want to do it here!
Beehives in the Midwest are installed as packages in the early Spring. A bee package consists of 3-5lbs of workers and a queen in a screened wooden box. These are shipped as cargo from queen production companies in California and the South to beekeepers in climates that experience cold winters. This is a system that works but is hard on the bees and is not environmentally friendly, as shipping goods thousands of miles seldom is. I would like to create a solution that is better for the environment, the beekeepers, and the bees.
Overwintering nucleus hives is an option that is currently not being employed on a large scale in Chicago. It is successfully done in places with cold winters like Vermont and even Alaska. I have taken notes from these systems and will be experimenting this winter for the best method here.
My goal for this Winter is to prove a system for overwintering small nucleus hives in Chicago and expand next year. I plan to build the equipment, raise queens, and create the nucs in the next month.
Successfully done, this will reduce the necessity for shipped packages of honeybees to Chicago. It will also help to create a breed of bee adapted and selected for this environment: a Chicago Queen. Chicago Queens will be specifically bred for Chicago Winter survival and Chicago honey production. A locally sourced honeybee!
For this experiment I need equipment. $300.00 is a good start to buy supers (bee boxes), frames, extra wood, insulation, feeders, sugar, and queen grafting equipment.
I'm super excited to continue working toward this dream. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Jefferson Shuck
My name is Jefferson and I'm a beekeeper in Chicago, IL. I started beekeeping in the spring of 2014 with The Chicago Honey Co-op. I fell in love with the work. The past two winters I have worked in California raising queen honeybees and creating bee packages. I have learned a lot about raising queens and want to do it here!
Beehives in the Midwest are installed as packages in the early Spring. A bee package consists of 3-5lbs of workers and a queen in a screened wooden box. These are shipped as cargo from queen production companies in California and the South to beekeepers in climates that experience cold winters. This is a system that works but is hard on the bees and is not environmentally friendly, as shipping goods thousands of miles seldom is. I would like to create a solution that is better for the environment, the beekeepers, and the bees.
Overwintering nucleus hives is an option that is currently not being employed on a large scale in Chicago. It is successfully done in places with cold winters like Vermont and even Alaska. I have taken notes from these systems and will be experimenting this winter for the best method here.
My goal for this Winter is to prove a system for overwintering small nucleus hives in Chicago and expand next year. I plan to build the equipment, raise queens, and create the nucs in the next month.
Successfully done, this will reduce the necessity for shipped packages of honeybees to Chicago. It will also help to create a breed of bee adapted and selected for this environment: a Chicago Queen. Chicago Queens will be specifically bred for Chicago Winter survival and Chicago honey production. A locally sourced honeybee!
For this experiment I need equipment. $300.00 is a good start to buy supers (bee boxes), frames, extra wood, insulation, feeders, sugar, and queen grafting equipment.
I'm super excited to continue working toward this dream. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Jefferson Shuck
Organizer
Jefferson Shuck
Organizer
Chicago, IL
