The Bee Place
South Central Texas Bee Farms est.2014
Honey • Bees • Hives • Supplies • Services
• Honey Bees For Sale • Supplies • Educational • Help • Honey • Pollination • Photo Gallery • Contact Us •
Our main location is in Somerset, about 30 minutes southwest of downtown San Antonio, Texas
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We're committed to ensuring the future of honey bees in our communities
The decline of the global honey bee population has been a subject of serious discussion and concern around the world for the last twenty years. Through a joint effort with the community, we hope to help rescue, restore, and rebuild at least some of the bee population, as well as help educate others about the importance of these unique and much needed creatures. Our goal is to offer assistance to anyone wanting to get involved in the age-old art of beekeeping by providing the basics needed to get started.
Listed below are the honey bee related products and services we offer to help keep existing bees from becoming statistics and also help those with crops in need of pollination to satisfy their needs safely and effectively.
By helping educate the public about bees and bee safety, helping newcomers get started with frequent Basic Beekeeping Classes, and offering local and nation wide Pollination services where they are needed. Providing Bees and Beekeeping Supplies for beginners as well as experienced beekeepers, we hope to do our part to keep the beloved honey bees going strong in our area by contributing healthy hives to the community both locally and nationally.
Are you or someone you know wanting to keep bees or add to your current apiary? We offer honey bees of a gentle nature and top quality genetics from the nations top queen breeders.
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Depending on the season and what we have in stock, we offer a variety of options including starter "Nucs" (nucleus colony), full size hives with a Nuc installed and Queen bees (seasonal).
Please visit our Honey Bees For Sale page for prices, options and availability.
The Bee Place... your official South Central Texas Mann Lake Beekeeping Supply Rep since 2015.
If we don't stock it, we can get it!
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The standard 10 Frame Langstroth style hives are the most common, so that is what we stock (and recommend for those without a reason to have smaller gear) and use in our own yards. These are the type we have most readily available, but we can order the Langstroth 8 frame equipment if needed.
We keep the most of the basic beekeeping supplies in stock, but for large orders we may require time to fabricate and / or treat raw woodenware to protect it from the elements.
Thanks for understanding.
We offer group classes that provide the basic information and offer guidance to get new folks started in beekeeping as well as next level classes for second year beekeepers and beyond.
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Honey Bees 101 for adults and youth as well. Bees can be fun for the entire family to experience and enjoy. Come out to pick up your hives and stay for an afternoon of gleanings in beekeeping, as they say, with a member of the Master Beekeeper Program of Texas including a Q & A segment as well as hands on segment over an active hive - where you will learn to identify the various makings of the hive, including locating the queen and finding her eggs as well as learning first hand the difference in sealed and unsealed brood and capped honey, nectar and pollen.
Honey Bees 201 - our Intermediate Class for the Next Level beekeepers that are looking to step up their skill levels and start making their own splits, grading and checking hives for mites and more.
Visit our Educational section for general information for learning more about honey bees. Try the FAQs & How To section for articles and images explaining a lot of the most commonly asked questions we receive about beekeeping.
View the Additional Resources page for links to trusted information including websites and videos from well known beekeepers that lecture around the world.
The bulk of the world's crops require pollination by pollinating insects such as honey bees, some birds and even bats. Many crops benefit and produce at a much higher rate when honey bees are introduced to the fields when the crops are in bloom.
Visit the following pages for more about this branch of the beekeeping tree in the Pollination section. Including photos and more from the California Almond Pollination, Citrus Groves, Row Crops and even the New Mexico adventure at the Pumpkin Patch.
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We understand this need by fellow farmers, but we also value our bees, so we focus our pollination efforts to chemical conscious farmers. Anyone requesting our bee pollination services must be operating a pesticide free environment and sign a contract agreeing to meet this requirement. Meaning, if and when chemicals are to be used on the farms around or near the bee stations, ample notice will be given so the bees can be removed.
Ask about our honey bee hive lease options for large scale farming pollination needs and small scale community gardens or individuals needing an Agricultural Valuation aka "Ag Exemption" on property sizes from 5 to 20 acres, or 6 to 21 if there is a home on the property.
Food reserves for the bees... and yet so much more!
It's one of the best perks that comes with being a beekeeper, but it does require a good deal of work and understanding. Visit the Honey section to discover a few of the fun facts and clarify some of the myths about things like:
Where does honey come from?
What gives honey it's color and flavor?
How do the bees turn their harvest into honey and why?
How does honey heal burn wounds so fast?
Does honey really lasts forever and never spoils?
How much honey does a hive produce a year?
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The various blooms in our area all offer their unique flavors and colors in the nectar that ultimately produces such wonderful Honey. Our local honey can be ordered online or purchased at specific locations in our region.
For those that do not care to become beekeepers, but want to have bees on their property to service the community and save on property taxes, we can help.
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We lease our hives to land owners needing pollination bees on their property to qualify for tax breaks. These are hives that are there to pollinate the crops, gardens, flowers and trees in the area for the entire community. With this service, we do everything from the initial set-up of the apiary and place the hives in a suitable location out of the way of normal foot traffic and pets on the customer's property. We then manage the hives for the required time period their county requires to qualify for the ag value on the land. We charge an annual fee based in part on mileage to the property from our location. We have a simple maintenance agreement that the property owner can attach to the application to the appraisal district for the initial Ag Valuation or conversion from a different type of ag use on the land. Such as raising goats, cattle, or even hay production. Visit the Agricultural Exemption - with Honey Bees page or Contact Us for more details.
We're from here!
We are a family owned and operated local small business established in 2014. We specialize in providing top quality very gentle honey bees and the guidance to get new beekeepers started on the right track. We offer hands-on beekeeping classes and supplies as well as hive leasing services to the land owners in the community as well as large scale farms nation wide.
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We offer a full line of Beekeeping Supplies. From basic Bee Hive Sets to full Apiary Starter Kits to Individual Hive Parts, from Clothing & Protective Gear, and Feeders, to the Tools & Accessories needed, we are here to help and have classes to assist the beginners learn how to keep bees strong and healthy.
The standard 10 Frame Langstroth style hives are the most common, so that is what we recommend and use in our own yards. These are the type we have most readily available, but we also offer the Langstroth 8 frame equipment if needed. We keep the most of the basics in stock, but for large orders we may require time to fabricate and / or treat raw woodenware to protect it from the elements. Please Note: Beekeeping Supplies and Bees are Local Pickup and by Appointment Only - We are a bee farm and work our bees at more than one location. We do not have a brick and mortar store for "walk in shopping", therefore all equipment and bee pickups are on scheduled pickup dates or by appointment only. Thanks for understanding!
More About Us here.
Quick Links
• Honey Bees For Sale • Supplies • Educational • Help • Honey • Pollination • Photo Gallery • Contact Us •
Visit the Help page for more information about beekeeping in general and using this website and our order process.
