Welcome to the Warm Colors Apiary website. WCA produces and sells honey, pure beeswax candles, and products using honey and beeswax. We provide pollination services to local orchards and farms. Beekeepers can purchase queens and honeybees, and attend workshops in the Warm Colors bee yards. In other words, most activities involving honeybees happen at our apiary.

Order your Russian Nucs and Queens for 2021. Email warmcolors@verizon.net and request a Nuc and Queen order form. Dan will send a reply with form and instructions. We are not selling packages of bees for 2021.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: We have closed our shop to the public until further notice due to the Coronavirus. COVID-19 is a serious threat and we will follow Governor Baker’s recommendations to limit exposure – for us, our friends and our customers. 

1. Our Beekeeping Workshops will be scheduled with several changes. We will include Zoom for on-line classes, and will limit in person training to the outdoor hands-on sessions that require masks and distancing. Safety is our first concern and we do not want anyone made to feel uncomfortable while learning to become beekeepers.
2. Honey Sales – we are not allowing people into the shop. We will put up orders for curbside pick-up. Please call 413-665-4513 to place a honey order. Leave your name, phone number and your honey order. We will call when it is ready and arrange a convenient pickup time.
3. Bees are now on sale for April-May pickup at Warm Colors Apiary. We are selling 5-frame Russian Nucs, and Queens for 2021. We will not be selling package bees in 2021.
4. We have arranged for Dick Conner (Red Barn Honey) in Northampton, and Matt Guertin (Maggie’s Farm) in Greenfield to take bee orders and distribute Nucs. Although these bees are not raised by Dick or Matt, They are Nucs produced by certified members of the Russian Honeybee Breeder Association.  

Watch a video interview of Dan Conlon on WGBY (September 2019)

Warm Colors Apiary was founded in 2000 to produce regional honey from flowers in western Massachusetts. Located on eighty acres of woodland, open fields, and wetlands, the land provides a variety and abundance of nectar & pollen plants that bloom from early spring to late fall. Having a location with flowering plants blooming successively throughout the warm months makes our apiary ideal for honey production and the raising of honeybees.

Our mission is to develop, test, and use beekeeping methods that improve the health of the honeybee. Through selective breeding, we endeavor to manage a sustainable apiary system that minimizes the use of harmful chemicals and employs the natural defenses and heritable behaviors shown to improve the honeybee’s mite tolerance and resistance to disease.

Our goals include raising honeybees capable of surviving the rigors of a New England winter and having the individual & social immunities to withstand the stresses associated with honeybee decline. Our work focuses on using the best available breeding stock, providing natural sources of forage and nutrition, and the early detection and prevention of disease and pests. Proactive management that reduces stress and the resulting problems, before they become too serious to correct, is our long-range goal.

BEE SALES for 2021: 

We will not be selling package bees this year. Our focus is to increase availability of Russian Nucs and Queens for the 2021 season. Nucs will go on sale in December 2020 for pickup late April and May. All our Nucs and Queens come from “Certified” Russian Queen producers. Warm Colors Nucs and Queens are available in June. We have been a certified apiary by the RHBA since 2016.

 Beekeeper Events: Unfortunately most in person bee meetings have been canceled or postponed due to the Corona Virus. Many clubs and associations have been using on-line venues to host meetings. I encourage beekeepers to participate in state, county and national on-line meetings as a great opportunity to safely learn from expert speakers and connect with other beekeepers. 

We look forward to things returning to a normal and safe schedule where we can again enjoy talking about bees and seeing friends at meetings. We remain an active community of dedicated beekeepers.

        Beekeeping can start young. Dan shows a future beekeeper the queen bee.

News:

• Dan Conlon interview on “Beekeeping Today” with Kim Flottum and Jim Tew: Dan Conlon: It’s All About The Russians (Russian honey bees, that is)

• Warm Colors Apiary received the 2018 “Local Hero Award” (farmer of the year) from CISA (Community Involved in Sustainable Agriculture) and a Congressional Award recognizing Warm Colors Apiary for our outstanding and invaluable service to the community from Congressman James McGovern. Bonita & I appreciate these honors from people and organizations we respect and support. CISA and Congressman McGovern promote nutrition, farms, and access to fresh foods for all Massachusetts residents. We share their philosophy that all people deserve fresh, nutritious food. We thank CISA and Congressman McGovern for their ongoing commitment to making local food available to all citizens.

Queen test yard #1

For the Beekeepers

Warm Colors is no longer maintaining an inventory of beekeeping equipment at our South Deerfield store. We will continue to sell a limited amount of equipment (only items we use in our apiaries). As our apiary has grown so has the time required to maintain our bees, produce honey and provide service to our honey customers. Getting out of equipment sales allows more time for our beekeeping. The core of our business remains honey production & raising honey bees.

We recommend ordering from the following equipment suppliers:

Starhart Hollow – Colrain, Massachusetts. 413-824-2657, Starharthollow@yahoo.com Locally manufactured beekeeping equipment.

Maggie’s Farm – Leyden Rd. Greenfield, Massachusetts. Distributor of RHBA Russian bees, and supplier of equipment and supplies for beekeepers. Maggie and Matt Guertin are beekeepers and farmers, producing a variety of crops. Matt has been an employee of Warm Colors for several years and We consider him a valuable asset to our business.

Betterbee Inc. – Greenwich, New York. Full-line of bee equipment & supplies. Friendly service and sound beekeeping advice.

Mann Lake Inc. – Pennsylvania & Minnesota. Full-line of services, shipping included with purchase over $100.

Knowledge + Management = healthy bees.