Decatur Ridge Apiaries: Refining Beekeeping Standards

Welcome to Decatur Ridge Apiaries, a family-owned business nestled in the heart of SW Michigan. Since our establishment in 2017, we've passionately dedicated ourselves to beekeeping, evolving from a simple hobby into an obsession: raising the finest queens for beekeepers like yourself. We are happy to offer to you f1 virgin daughters from our breeder queens along with nucleus colonies and honey products. Virgin queens will be commonly available from May through July. While we are no longer focusing on selling mated queens, we occasionally offer them in small quantities. Check our Facebook page or website for availability.

• Our VSH breeder queens undergo a rigorous selection process:
• All candidate colonies are raised under treatment-free conditions.
• Our open-mated breeders must survive two Michigan winters.
• Multiple mite washes are performed on breeder candidates. To qualify for breeder status the queen’s colony must show consistently low mite washes. The goal is for the colony to show suppressed mite reproduction (SMR) by not allowing significant spikes in mite counts throughout the year.
• Breeder candidates must also score high on the Harbo assay. Queens are tested at least twice and must score an average of 3.5 or better.
• Six-hour pin kill brood tests are performed on breeder candidates as well. All candidates must score at least 50% or higher.
• From the candidates that meet the above qualifications, we then chose queens from the gentlest colonies. We do not breed from aggressive colonies!
• Our open mated breeders are also tested for productivity. Gone are the days of “VSH bees don’t make honey”! Our breeder daughters consistently produce a few boxes of honey in years where they begin as nucs.
• We raise our virgins in strong cell building colonies that are packed with healthy nurse bees and all the resources needed to produce strong queens.
• Virgins are nursed in strong, queen-less colonies prior to delivery.
• Overwintered nucleus colonies are often available on a very limited basis along with small quantities of spring nucs. Overwintered nucs are usually available early to mid-May and spring nucs around the first of June

We aim to honor Jesus in all we do! When producing queens, we believe in following the golden rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

Thank you for considering Decatur Ridge queens, nucleus colonies and honey products!