First ... good idea on the bee forum. I made a TBH but missed the "cutoff" for ordering bees by a slight margin. I gave up but figured I'd throw this out to whoever. Thanks.
I have heard that a lot of the bee supply places are having trouble filling their orders, because f bad weather. The young queens will not fly to mate in bad weather, and if they are not mated at the proper time, they will be forever barren. But, out here the local beekeepers often split their hives after the spring honey flow. Since there aren't many flowers for them to work after the blackberries bloom, the beekeepers might set them to work on a new hive instead. In Kansas, June is a very good time to buy a nuc from a local bekeeper.
You might also want to check with a beekeeper that collects swarms and let them know you would be interested in one. Last year was my first year with bees (only 1 hive), but another beekeeper called me twice when folks called him about swarms. He helped with the first one but I was on my own for the second.
Find a local beekeeper that makes splits and buy a nuc. It's a partial hive all you do is transfer the frames and bees into your hive box.
