- Mating Nucs on a recent summer afternoon. These newly emerged queens will replace last year’s queens, then produce next year’s Spring Nucs and a round of daughter queens in July.
My 2024 Queens will be available later in July, maybe a few in June. This is a good time to requeen to improve your stock or to reinvigorate spring nucs and packages that didn’t work out as hoped for. Queen rearing can occur early or late in summer, depending on….well, that’s a long list!. I try to time “mating week” for balmy-calmy July weather after the new queens emerge late June. It surprises me that this usually works!
My queens originate from admirable local stock and I’ve been improving those qualities for 14 years, since 2010. Each year, breeder queens are selected from colonies that produced lots of honey last year, survived the winter handily, then produced a strong 10-frame nuc in the spring and rapidly built up a powerful foraging force for the summer flows.
These are Carniolan-style bees, so slightly more “swarmy” than other mellifera subspecies. I don’t select against swarming as I’m able to prevent all swarms most years. Every beekeeper should strive to do this. Swarms generally go uncaptured and without Varroa control they become “mite-bombs,” jeopardizing the health of all colonies within flying range.
All my queens survived last winter’s record cold and the long, cold spring that followed. They produced a record number of nucs in the spring. Their bees produced another bountiful honey harvest. All my hives were requeened in June and none combined in the fall as they were all strong enough to over-winter. I’m pretty satisfied with these queens.
Queens are supplied in a JZBZ cage that’s secured in a brown paper bag. I include a small strip of absorbent fabric soaked with syrup to keep the bees and queen nourished in transit. Queens are marked bright fluorescent orange for high visibility on the frame. There will be a few dozen attendant bees in the bag, not in the cage. When you’re ready to install the queen, remove the queen cage and shake the attendant bees out of the bag a good distance from your hives. Install the queen cage using your preferred method, or use the cross frame cage hanger I provide.
Queens: $70 each
Two or more: $60 each
Contact me or text (360) 483-9754.
