Treatment free beekeeping can be defined in many ways. Treatment free beekeeping to us means we do not put any chemicals in our hives. We do not treat for Varroa mites, a parasite that weakens bees and transmits viruses. This may seem harsh however, in our opinion if wild bee colonies can survive without the intervention of a beekeeper treating for mites, we want the same for our bees. You can read more on our treatment free approach here.

We want our colonies to be strong enough to fend for themselves however in certain circumstances we will feed our bees to help them. When we do feed our bees we feed only the highest quality food on the market.

A roughly six foot square space is enough room for the hive including space for the beekeeper to work and space for the bees to fly in and out, think of it as a runway.

Yes, we consider children and pets when placing a hive. Keeping the hive a safe distance from dog kennels and children’s play areas is essential.

Planting pollinator friendly plants would help the bees but not always practical for homeowners. The only essential thing hosts need to provide is a water source for the bees. We will cover this in our site assessment, there are several ways to achieve this.

If having the hive on your property is not working out please let us know. We will work to remove the hive as quickly as possible according to the host a hive agreement.

Yes, it has been shown that the yield of fruits and vegetables can increase by about 20% with pollinators on the property.

Yes, we have host a hive mentoring programs available.

Hive sponsorship is nonrefundable.

Your sponsorship lasts one season. If you would like to renew your sponsorship for subsequent seasons please let us know.

Absolutely, once you add the sponsorship to your cart you can increase the quantity to as many hives as you like.

Please see our cancellation and refund policy, here.

You don’t need to bring anything. We will provide you with water and palate cleansing apples as well as everything you need to have a great experience.

It is important that you are comfortable however we do require that you wear boots. We will provide you with a bee suit but we need to make sure your ankles are covered.

It is highly unlikely that you will get stung on a hive tour however we cannot guarantee that. If you have a known bee allergy it is not recommended that you attend a hive tour.

Hive tours are suitable for children 10 and up with an accompanying adult.

We limit the number of people on the hive tours to 8-10. We want everyone to have a positive experience and be able to see easily.

One hive can make 30-100 pounds of honey a year however this is very dependent on the weather and some years there is no harvestable honey.

We usually harvest honey once a year in September, during national honey month. For our specialty honey such as chestnut honey at Nash Nursery, we do a special harvest when the chestnut trees are done blooming.

Raw honey is not heated. Heating honey kills the beneficial enzymes in honey. Filtering honey removes the pollen which has many health benefits. Decker Apiaries produces honey that is not heated and not filtered giving you the best possible honey.

It does not harm the bees to remove wax. It is actually a benefit as wax will harbor the pesticides that the bees encounter when foraging. We have an aggressive harvesting schedule that keeps pesticides low giving you a cleaner product and our bees a healthier hive. Learn more about pesticides and wax here. We are very conservative when harvesting propolis only taking small amounts from each hive. Propolis is very beneficial to the hive so we do not want to take too much. Learn more about propolis here.