Over Wintered Buckfast Nuc – National | Spring 2027

5 Frame overwintered Buckfast colony for British National hives

Start the 2027 beekeeping season with a strong, established colony of Buckfast bees, raised and overwintered by our own beekeeping team here in West Wales.

Every National nuc we sell is produced entirely in house by Gwenyn Gruffydd. From establishing the colony and introducing the queen, through feeding, treatments, overwintering and Spring inspections, the bees remain under the care of Gruff and our own experienced beekeeping team.

These are our bees, managed in our own apiaries alongside the colonies on our working Welsh honey farm.

We use carefully selected queens from trusted breeders, including the same queen lines we rely on in our own honey production colonies. Our focus is on healthy, well established colonies with proven laying queens, calm temperaments and the ability to build up rapidly in spring.

Every nuc is individually inspected and health checked by our team before leaving the farm.

Suitable for standard British National hives, supplied on British Standard National DN4 frames.

Your nuc at a glance

• ✓ 5 British National DN4 frames of bees

• ✓ Brood at all stages, subject to normal seasonal colony development

• ✓ Overwintered 2026 Buckfast queen

• ✓ Queen marked for identification

• ✓ Established food stores

• ✓ Raised and overwintered entirely by our own beekeeping team

• ✓ Fully inspected and health checked before leaving our farm

• ✓ Supplied in a brand-new ventilated travelling box

• ✓ Aftercare from our experienced beekeeping team

• ✓ Access to our extensive library of practical beekeeping videos

Raised by us. Overwintered by us. Supplied by us.

When you're buying live bees, we think it's important to know where they've come from and who has looked after them.

Every Gwenyn Gruffydd National nuc is produced by Gruff and our own beekeeping team here in West Wales.

We don't outsource the production of our National nucleus colonies. Every stage is carried out by our own team, in our own apiaries.

From the initial establishment of the nuc through autumn management, overwintering and the final spring inspection, we know the history of the colonies we sell because we've looked after them ourselves.

It's the same hands on approach we use across the hundreds of colonies we manage for our own honey production.

For us, producing good quality nucleus colonies isn't simply about supplying bees. It's about the experience, time and care that goes into raising them.

Why choose an overwintered nuc?

An overwintered nuc is a colony that was established during the previous beekeeping season and has successfully gone through winter together.

That gives you an important head start compared with a newly established colony produced during spring or summer.

Your queen has already been accepted by the colony and has successfully overwintered with her bees. As temperatures rise and forage becomes available, the colony should be ready to expand.

For beginners, an overwintered nuc can provide an excellent start to your first season.

For established beekeepers, it's a great way of increasing colony numbers early in the year.

And because you're starting with an established colony earlier in the season, there is more opportunity for it to develop ahead of the main summer honey flows.

Could you get honey in your first year?

Potentially, yes.

A strong overwintered nuc can develop quickly in favourable conditions and may produce a surplus honey crop during its first season.

However, bees don't read rulebooks! Weather, forage, location and colony management will all influence how the colony develops, so a first year honey crop can never be guaranteed.

Our Buckfast bees

The Buckfast bees we sell are the same type of bees we choose to keep across our own commercial honey farm.

Our queens originate from carefully selected UK and European Buckfast breeding lines, and we select colonies for the characteristics that matter to us as working beekeepers.

Good temperament

We want bees that are pleasant and manageable to work with, making them suitable for both new and experienced beekeepers.

Strong colony development

A healthy colony needs to build effectively through the season and respond well when forage becomes available.

Honey production

We are honey producers ourselves, so productivity matters. These are the same type of bees we rely upon across our own apiaries.

Overwintered in Wales

Your colony hasn't simply arrived here immediately before sale.

It has spent the winter under our management in West Wales and is assessed again in spring before being released to you.

Why buy your bees from Gwenyn Gruffydd?

Buying bees isn't quite the same as ordering another piece of beekeeping equipment.

You're buying a living colony, and we believe knowing who produced it matters.

🐝 100% produced by our own beekeeping team

Every National nuc is produced in house by Gwenyn Gruffydd.

From establishing the nuc through to the final spring inspection, Gruff and our own beekeeping team do the work ourselves.

No third party nucleus production. These are colonies raised, managed and overwintered by our own team.

🏡 From a working Welsh honey farm

We manage hundreds of colonies across West Wales for honey production, nuc production and our wider beekeeping operation.

The experience behind your nuc comes from managing bees every day, not simply selling them.

✓ DASH accredited

Gwenyn Gruffydd is accredited under the Disease Assurance Scheme for Honeybees (DASH).

DASH is operated in conjunction with the National Bee Unit and supports professional bee farmers in maintaining high standards of honeybee health and disease management.

✓ Bee Farmers' Association members

We are members of the Bee Farmers' Association, representing professional bee farmers throughout the UK.

🔎 Individually inspected before leaving us

Every nuc undergoes a final inspection by our own beekeeping team before it is released for collection or delivery.

We won't knowingly send out a colony we're not happy with.

☎️ We're still here after you've bought your bees

Particularly if this is your first colony, questions inevitably arise.

Our relationship with you doesn't end when the box leaves the farm. Our team can provide aftercare and advice, and our YouTube channel contains an extensive library of practical beekeeping videos. If you need help or advice from a real person, not an AI Chatbot, call the office on 01558 668 518 or email post@gwenyngruffydd.co.uk and a real human will help you out.

What exactly will I receive?

Your overwintered National nuc will contain:

• 5 British National DN4 frames populated with bees

• Brood at different stages of development

• An overwintered 2026 Buckfast queen

• Queen marked for identification

• Food stores appropriate to the colony and time of year

• An established colony ready to transfer into your National hive

• A brand-new ventilated travelling box

Your colony will have been inspected and health checked by our own beekeeping team before leaving us.

Suitable for British National hives

Our National nucleus colonies are supplied on British Standard National DN4 brood frames, suitable for standard National brood boxes.

These are the correct nucs for beekeepers using standard wooden National hives and compatible National poly hives.

Not sure whether you need National or Langstroth?

Please contact us before ordering. We're happy to help make sure you order the correct nuc for your equipment.

If you own a Flow Hive, ANEL hive or any other Langstroth hive, you'll require our Langstroth nucs instead.

Spring 2027 price & deposit

Reserve your overwintered National Buckfast nuc with a £100 deposit.

The remaining balance will be automatically collected on 1 April 2027, using the payment method associated with your pre-order.

Collection from our farm is free. Delivery is available to eligible UK mainland addresses for an additional £30 per nuc.

Your deposit secures a colony from our Spring 2027 production.

How your pre-order works

1. Reserve your nuc

Choose whether you'd like to collect from our farm or have your bees delivered and select your preferred provisional date.

2. Pay £100 today

Your £100 deposit reserves your overwintered National nuc for Spring 2027.

3. We overwinter your colony

Throughout autumn, winter and early spring, your nuc remains under the care of Gruff and our own beekeeping team here in West Wales.

4. Your balance is collected

The remaining balance, including any applicable delivery charge, will be automatically collected on 1 April 2027.

5. We inspect your colony

Before release, each nuc is individually inspected by our beekeeping team to make sure we're happy with its condition and development.

6. Collect your bees or receive your delivery

We'll contact you ahead of your provisional date to confirm arrangements.

Collection from our farm

Collection is FREE and, where practical, is our preferred way for you to receive your bees.

It reduces travelling time and disturbance for the colony and gives you the opportunity to collect directly from the people who have raised your bees.

Collection is from:

Gwenyn Gruffydd Ltd
Bryn Bach, Cwrt Henri
Dryslwyn, Carmarthenshire
SA32 8SE

Your nuc will be secured in its ventilated Correx travelling box ready for the journey home.

Full collection instructions will be provided before your collection date.

Delivery

Can't make it to West Wales? We can arrange delivery of your nuc to eligible UK mainland addresses.

Delivery: £30 per nuc.

We currently dispatch live bees on Tuesdays for delivery on Wednesdays only.

Someone should be available to receive the bees on arrival.

Unfortunately, we cannot send live bees overseas or to Ireland.

A note about your collection or delivery date

Bees don't work to calendars.

When ordering, you'll be able to select a provisional collection or delivery date.

We know customers need to plan ahead, so we'll always do our best to meet it. However, the development of an overwintered colony is governed by the bees, the weather and spring conditions — not a fixed production schedule.

We will only release a nuc when our beekeeping team is satisfied that the colony is ready.

If a prolonged cold spell or poor spring weather delays colony development, your date may need to move.

We will never release a colony early simply to meet a date on the calendar.

If your date needs to change, we'll contact you and keep you informed.

New to beekeeping?

Your first colony is exciting but having your hive and equipment ready before your bees arrive makes everything much easier.

You'll need a compatible British National hive, protective clothing, smoker, hive tool and the appropriate feeding equipment.

If you're not sure what you need, our team is happy to help.

Learn with us

We also run our Introduction to Beekeeping Course here at Gwenyn Gruffydd, designed for people preparing for their first colony or in the early stages of beekeeping.

And you'll find a large library of free practical beekeeping videos on the Gwenyn Gruffydd YouTube channel.