Package Bees - Golden West Bees (2026, Early April Pickup)



Package Bees - Golden West Bees (2026, Early April Pickup)
Package pickup date is confirmed for April 11th!
We do not ship bees.
3 lbs of bees with a mated Golden West queen (find Italian, Carniolan, Saskatraz here). Packages are produced by Olivarez Honey Bees.
Package pickups will be available in Shoreline, WA; Carnation, WA; and Olympia, WA.
Happy Beekeeping!
Peter and Amy Beth
About the Golden West queen line:
The Golden West queen line was developed by Eric, Ian, and Randy Oliver, of Golden West Bees and scientificbeekeeping.com. The Olivers keep their bees in the foothills of northern California. While it's not Washington, the bees experience the full range of weather, and adapt well to our area. We've used the Olivers' bees ourselves for the last 10 years, and they have done a terrific job with both survival and honey production in our cold, wet, unpredictable Puget Sound climate.
Randy Oliver is known for his honey bee research, and it shows in the bees that he and his sons raise. They are productive, gentle, and have a reasonable degree of mite resistance (NOT mite immunity. Plan to treat your bees for mites). If well managed, the Olivers' bees will serve you well for many years.
Golden West queens tend towards an Italian look, but as a hybrid line can look like any number of races. They overwinter with moderately large clusters, and are very easy to work with (we always work the Olivers' bees barehanded, and very rarely have any issues).
We are a family-run business bringing you ultra local honey that is raw and unfiltered. Our hives are located throughout the Puget Sound region.
When there's a honey we need for you that we can't produce ourselves, we source it directly from other responsible local beekeepers.