This is a strong, healthy 6-frame nucleus colony of Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm) bees, bred from treatment-free stock right here in the Bangor and Bethesda area. My beekeeping journey spans nearly a decade, during which I’ve never used synthetic treatments for varroa or antibiotics. These bees originate from stock shared by members of the Lleyn & Eifionydd Beekeeping Association, who have bred treatment-free bees for over 15 years. Since then, I’ve focused on selectively breeding from the best colonies for calmness, productivity, health, and low swarming. All queens are grafted (not raised from swarm cells) and open-mated locally. One of the clearest signs of their temperament? My daughter, not yet two years old in the photo below, was able to help hold a brood frame wearing just a child-sized veil. That kind of gentleness only comes through careful, ongoing selection. Photo: My daughter inspecting a frame from one of our gentle colonies – Summer 2025, Bangor. ⸻ 🔑 Key Traits • Treatment-Free: No synthetic varroa treatments, ever — these bees are naturally resilient • Calm Temperament: Inspected without gloves; queens from defensive colonies are requeened • High Honey Yields: Strong nectar foraging and storage behaviour • Low Swarming: Carefully selected from colonies with minimal swarming tendencies • Disease-Aware Breeding: Hives with DWV or poor health are excluded from the breeding pool • Locally Grafted Queens: Queens are hand-grafted and open-mated in Bangor​/​Bethesda ⸻ 🧬 Understanding Open-Mated Queens Like all naturally mated queens sold by beekeepers (unless clearly marketed as AI breeder queens), these queens are open-mated — meaning their drones are selected by nature, not the beekeeper. I do everything possible to influence those genetics: I only breed from the best colonies and flood the area with drones from gentle, productive hives. But there is always natural variation — in temperament, honey yield, disease resistance, and swarming behaviour. This is completely normal, and it’s the same with any nuc or queen you buy, unless you’re purchasing an artificially inseminated breeder queen with controlled parentage. ⸻ 📦 What You’ll Receive Your nucleus will come in a used poly nuc box, which you can keep or return for a £40 deposit refund: • 4 frames of brood (in all stages) • 1–2 frames of stores and space • A marked, newly mated queen from my own grafted stock • Calm, productive bees ready to grow