kudzumon:

preposterousness:

oh HELL yeah

In the United States, bees are primarily raised in mild southern climates, and sold to beekeepers across the country. The bees are raised the year before they are sold, and they are packaged as soon as the weather allows. You can easily replace any bees you lost over the winter, provided you order them in advance. 

Italian bees are the most common in North America. This is an advertisement for a standard 3lb package with a marked queen. A marked queen is a queen bee with a colored dot on her back so you can find her more easily.

In some places one can also buy orchard and/or mason bees; Solitary bee species which have been growing in popularity for certain agricultural/horticultural settings.