What is in a honey bee package?

A honey bee package is a complete set of bees sold to beekeepers so that they can start a new hive. They are usually sold by weight. Packages include a queen and workers, but no drones.

The queen and workers are usually unrelated in honey bee packages, but some retailers sell all-related bee packages called "nucs" or "nucleus colonies." Since packages are often sold with an unrelated queen, there is a chance that the workers won’t accept her. Queens must be introduced to her new workers slowly and carefully. Prior to sale, queens should already be mated to produce the next generation.