Beekeeping – Tubbs Berry Farm

Intermediate Beekeeping

Heidi Tubbs — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 21:04:20 +0000

This class builds on our Beginning Beekeeping class and is geared towards people who have experienced a year or two and are looking for more information and supervised experience and discussion that goes beyond simple beekeeping. Please note that our intermediate class is not recommended for new beekeepers. If you are new to beekeeping or have difficulty keeping bees alive through the winter we recommend our Intro to Beekeeping and our Beginning Beekeeping courses.

It is assumed that at a minimum you have the experience/knowledge of our Beginning Beekeeping Class and a couple of years of beekeeping behind you. This class will focus on more advanced topics that are of interest to beekeepers including splitting, swarming, queen rearing, treatments, and more. If you are wanting to answer "why did my bees not survive winter?", the beginning class will be a better fit. This class will be largely driven by the interests and experiences of attendees, please come ready to get into hives and find answers to questions you didn't even know you had.

Class is 3 hours long. You must pre-register, this is hands on and space is limited. We will be handling live bees, please bring protective gear (veil/jacket, gloves, etc if you own them), (We will have a few suits and veils available for use, or they can be purchased before the class begins)

Class is $30/person, and will be from 2-5 on April 18. Class will be held at Tubbs Berry Farm, 1250 S Park Ave W in Twin Falls.

Beekeeping Equipment and Supplies

Heidi Tubbs — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 19:01:42 +0000

Tubbs Berry Farm has been Idaho's source for beehives, beekeeping equipment, bees, beekeeping classes and more for over 15 years! Due to health issues and economy issues we have decided to not ship equipment (there are many great places that provide this service) and limit our store hours. Our goal is to allow us to continue providing service to our community in spite of our challenges, and also keep product in stock for our local market. Yes, we have hive tools, bee boxes, frames, hives, pollen patties, mite treatment, bee jackets, and suits in stock. Our showroom isn't very large so if there is something you are looking for and don't see please ask, it might be in the storage area. Prices for our hive kits are below, you can see prices have increased dramatically over the last year! We do our best to be competitively priced and carry quality equipment. We don't sell products that we don't recommend.

Beekeeping Supplies are available for pick up in our store. In order to serve our local customers we are not shipping this item so it won't add to cart. There are lots of great places that ship beekeeping supplies. Thank you!

Store will be open on Tuesdays from 4-6 March 17 - August 2026 and on our Bee Pick up Days. We have beekeeping equipment in stock! I will post a pdf list as prices are finalized for spring.

Queen Bee

Heidi Tubbs — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 19:08:20 +0000

Bees are pick-up only. For the health of the bees, we do not ship bees. Bees must be picked up during our Bee Day!

Customers must examine the contents of the package bees and queens for satisfaction when they pick them up. We can help you do that if you need it and we will exchange any queen or package not to the satisfaction of the customer. Leaving the premises with the bees constitutes customer satisfaction with the order. We will do our best to help you be successful, but as with any other livestock, we cannot guarantee the health of the bees once they have left our facility!

Carniolan bees: are known for winter survival and the queens are very responsive to changes in food and temperature. Carniolans tend to survive winter with a smaller cluster, and do really well in areas that have slow steady nectar flows, and in cooler climates. They build up a little slower than the Italian strains, so if the spring nectar flow comes early sometimes they miss it, on the other hand, they survive cold wet springs well. These queens are open mated drones with the thought that while the queens are Carniolan, the offspring may show traits of both Italian and Carniolan workers! The breeder is extensively involved with several of the breeding projects in California, bringing in diverse genetics, selecting for hygienic behavior and traits. These bees are generally extremely gentle as well. We have been very happy with these bees here on our farm! Queens are not marked.

Italian bees: are known for gentleness and honey production. They have been selected for mite and disease resistance and hygienic behavior. They are generally large and golden colored. Italians generally build up fast, but need a lot of food to get through the winter because they winter in such large clusters. Queens are not marked. These are Cordovan Italian queens from Koehnen.

Introduction to Beekeeping

Heidi Tubbs — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:41:08 +0000

New to beekeeping? This is a basic introduction to beekeeping course. If you are thinking about getting bees and need more information, or are planning on getting bees but aren't really sure where to start, this is for you! We cover what you might expect your first year, options for getting bees and equipment, what things might cost, as well as basic beekeeping terminology and information. You should come away with a pretty good understanding of what will be involved and how much work beekeeping will be, and what you will need and need to know to get started! You will have lots of opportunity to ask questions and will have the opportunity to try on bee suites, veils, gloves, etc. and handle hives and equipment. No live bees in this class. We have had experienced beekeepers sit in on this class and come away saying they were surprised how much they learned! No live bees in this class. Class is 3 hours long. Cost is $20/ person or $35/couple (we'd love you to bring a friend or a spouse!) You must pre-register. Class will be Saturday, March 14th, 2026 from 1-4, at Tubbs Berry Farm.

Beginning Beekeeping

Heidi Tubbs — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:24:44 +0000

This class builds on our Intro to Beekeeping class. If you did not take that class, please read up on bee biology and basics. We recommend the book First Lessons in Beekeeping. Twin Falls Library has it, we also have it in our store for $9.95!

This is a hands on class geared towards those who are either getting bees, or have bees and would like a little more information and supervised experience handling them. It is recommended that you have attended the intro class or have read and have a basic understanding of bees and terminology. (First Lessons in Beekeeping is a great book to start with!) There are live bees in this class, participants will have the opportunity to see inside and work actual colonies. We will open hives and look for some of the things we talked about in the introduction course, including how to identify brood and the stages they are in, whether the queen is functioning properly, identifying and treating disease, and more. Here is an outline you can download of prerequisite knowledge you should have. Bee Class recommended knowledge base.

Class is 3 hours, there will be 2 sections on Friday, 10-1 and 2-5 as well as a Saturday morning section from 10-1. Each section will cover the same material, choose one class time when you register. For beekeepers who have experience with bees, there is an Intermediate class on Saturday from 2-5. Class is $30/person, $50/couple.

Beginning Beekeeping will be held again April 2027. Registrations will open Feb 1 2027.

3LB Package of Honey Bees with a Queen

Heidi Tubbs — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:23:54 +0000

Package Bees & Queens are for PICK-UP ONLY! We do not ship bees! If you are looking for bees in Southern Idaho we have some of the best quality and carefully handled package bees you can find!

2026 Pick Up Day/Bee Day is scheduled for Friday April 24 2-6 and Saturday April 25 9-1

Please note that date is not guaranteed and may be changed due to weather or extreme circumstances (this has happened twice in the last 12 years) so make sure you enter a valid email at checkout so we can contact you!

Bees must be picked up during pick up times, no exceptions! If you will be unable to pick up your bees, please do not order them, or find someone to pick them up for you. No refunds given after April 1st.

Hiving Demonstrations will be at 3 and 5 on Friday, and 10 and noon on Saturday.

New to beekeeping? Don’t forget, we also have a full store stocked with beekeeping equipment. Also, if you are new to beekeeping, check out our Beekeeping Classes and our farm blog!

Yes, you can transport packages inside a vehicle, they do best traveling at temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees with some ventilation.

Packages bees are our recommended way to get started in beekeeping. They are simply a shoe box size screen box with a queen and workers that you dump into your own hive.

Package includes an unmarked queen and 3 lbs of bees to get your hive started! Wooden cage, candy plug, sugar syrup can, and 1/2 lb pollen patty also included.

Idaho sales tax is 6%, not included in the listed prices.

We begin taking orders on Feb. 1st each year, they are available until we sell out. Make sure you list a valid email at checkout as this is how we will contact you with bee pickup day information!

We have a few packages with Italian Queens left as we go into Bee Day, they are available for purchase in the store on Friday and Saturday on a first come basis.