# Olympic Wilderness Apiary :thumbsup:



## jcase (Jul 30, 2016)

Unfortunately earlier this summer we had to cut down a large western red cedar tree, due to a risk of it falling on our house. Half way down it, bees started coming out. We knew we had a hive, but did not know it was so near our house and did not know where. We had the arborist take out a long and lay it down.

That is when I got ahold of Dan from OWA (http://www.wildernessbees.com/). Dan came right out, spent quite some time with me cutting the log in half and removing the bees(http://imgur.com/a/BfPuh bees!). I mentioned how I have been wanting to keep bees for years in passing. About a month later my phone rings "Hey it is Dan, do you want YOUR bees?".

I drove out to his apiary, he hooked me up with hive boxes, told me what gear to get, taught me some basics, told me what book to get and sent me home with my bees.

It became obvious a month or so later that just one hive wasn't going to cut it for me. Yesterday, while everyone locally is "sold out", Dan again came through, inviting us into his apiary, spending more time educating us, and hooking me up with another hive.

Dealing with OWA feels more like dealing with old friends than a business, and the whole idea behind breeding for positive traits really has my interests peaked.

Great experience
Great help
Great people

Only downside? I can see myself spending way too much time and money on this now. Already trying to figure out how many hives my property could support.


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## J.Lee (Jan 19, 2014)

Nothing but good things to say about OWA. Got some queens from them awhile back. They did good. The biggest thing I noticed from having their bees around is that the queens my other hives raised when they swarmed were some of the best I have ever seen. Second generation better than the first. I think it might be the feral bees in their bloodline. Hope to get more in the future. Thanks to Dan and Judy.


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## jcase (Jul 30, 2016)

J.Lee said:


> Nothing but good things to say about OWA. Got some queens from them awhile back. They did good. The biggest thing I noticed from having their bees around is that the queens my other hives raised when they swarmed were some of the best I have ever seen. Second generation better than the first. I think it might be the feral bees in their bloodline. Hope to get more in the future. Thanks to Dan and Judy.


Beyond even the quality of bees is the quality of people Dan and Judy are. They have came out numerous times to help me or check up on my hives. 

Very excited for next year.


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## Scottsbee (Jan 11, 2017)

All Queens arrived alive and well a month ago. Followed the instructions for introduction and all are laying a great pattern! Thumbs up!! 

Thank you jcase and OWA!


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## jcase (Jul 30, 2016)

Scottsbee said:


> All Queens arrived alive and well a month ago. Followed the instructions for introduction and all are laying a great pattern! Thumbs up!!
> 
> Thank you jcase and OWA!


They are just really great people all around. Really helped me hone in my selection and pickiness on my queens. Always there to help, from cutting out two hives that had not been opened in a decade (What an utter mess) to performing liquid nitrogen assays.


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