Live Queens

Live Queens.

We raise queens that meet our rigorous personal breeding standards. If we wouldn't keep it in our own hives, we won't sell it. Our selective breeding program focuses on phenotyping for the most desirable traits, ensuring you receive queens bred for balance and productivity. Available throughout the season when possible. If stock is not available, contact us to be added to the waiting list. Our queen are open mated in our selected breeding areas, where we also pay attention to the drone stock.Pick up or local delivery is preferred, though shipping is available except in periods/locations of extreme temperatures. We ship Monday and Tuesday only.See what we select for in our queens below, or learn more about our breeding philosophy and trait selection in the complete article Breeding the Best Queens (How We Do It).

————————————

What We Look for in Our Breeder Queens

These are the traits we prioritize, and what we strive to provide our customers:

Hygienic Behavior & Low Mite Counts

This is our first priority. We routinely test our colonies, and any queen from a colony with comparatively high mite counts is excluded from breeding, even if other traits are strong. Remember, “Dead bees don’t make honey.”

High Honey Production

Balance matters here as well. We select from colonies that demonstrate strong populations, hygienic behavior, and exceptional honey production. Practically speaking, we choose breeders from colonies with the largest stacks of supers in a given yard. Part of this quality include high early populations.  That makes our queens also good for pollination purposes. 

Gentle Temperament

We’ve worked mean bees, and it’s just not worth it. While aggressive bees sometimes make more honey, many hobbyists and commercial beekeepers alike prefer not to work “spicy” colonies. Extremely gentle bees can occasionally underperform, but colonies with balanced defensiveness often produce the best results. We look for colonies that are the gentlest of the best performers, and none that might take the joy out of beekeeping. This also means requeening overly defensive colonies, as well as removing their drones.

Overwintering Ability

We do not select breeder queens that have not successfully overwintered at least one, and preferably at least two, winters. Even daughters of proven queens must prove themselves.

Spring Buildup

We favor queens that maintain moderate to strong winter populations. While not everyone prefers this trait, we find these colonies overwinter better in our climate and are ideal for spring splits. Larger colonies consume more food but also collect more stores collectively, both in preparation for winter, but also during honey making season.

Queen Appearance

This is lower on our list, but it matters. Extremely large queens are fascinating but often underperform. Very small queens may lay well but lack longevity. We look for a well-proportioned, average-sized queen.

Propolis Production

We avoid breeding from colonies that produce excessive propolis, as it makes colonies difficult to work. However, research clearly shows the importance of propolis to colony health. We aim for moderation (again, everything in balance).  We do maintain a few high-propolis colonies for our own purposes (propolis production/collection). Queens from those lines are available by special order.

Our Philosophy

The bottom line is simple: we breed queens we want to use ourselves. If we wouldn’t use it, we won’t sell it.

We strive to have queens available throughout the season for those who need them. Our queens are open-mated in carefully selected and proven breeding areas. They are primarily Italian in genetics, with intentional inclusion of Caucasian and other lines to maintain healthy diversity.