The queen bee is the sole reproductive female in the colony, responsible for laying all the eggs that sustain the population. Her genetics dictate the size of the workforce, temperament, and disease resistance of the entire hive. For beekeepers replacing a failing queen, requeening an aggressive colony, or starting a new hive, acquiring a mated queen is a foundational task.
Timing Your Purchase and Ordering Logistics
The timing of your queen bee purchase is dictated by the natural production cycle, which peaks during late spring and early summer. Commercial queen breeders rely on warm weather and abundant forage to successfully raise and mate high-quality queens. Therefore, beekeepers generally need to place orders well in advance, often in late winter or early spring, to secure stock for the upcoming season.
High demand, especially for specific genetic lines, necessitates early pre-ordering, sometimes requiring a non-refundable deposit. When ordering, beekeepers must specify a preferred pickup or ship date, coordinating the queen’s arrival with the recipient hive’s needs. The most common purchase is a “mated” queen, meaning she has completed her mating flights and is ready to begin laying eggs immediately upon introduction.
Alternatively, some sources offer less expensive “virgin” queens. These require the beekeeper to provide conditions for the queen to successfully embark on her mating flights. This option carries the risk that the queen may be lost or fail to mate properly, potentially leading to a laying worker crisis. Planning the purchase around local weather patterns and the needs of the colony is important.
Primary Sources for Queen Bees
The search for a queen bee typically begins with local beekeeping associations or clubs, which often coordinate bulk orders from regional breeders. This method provides stock acclimated to the specific local climate and pest pressures. Logistics usually involve a single pickup day at a designated location, streamlining the process and reducing shipping stress.
A second primary source is the professional, large-scale queen breeder, many of whom operate online and ship queens across the country. These operations maintain large breeding yards and offer the widest selection of races and specialized genetic traits. The queen is typically shipped via express mail in a small cage, accompanied by a few attendant worker bees, to minimize transit time.
When ordering from a professional breeder, the queen cage contains a plug of candy or fondant. This serves as sustenance and a time-release mechanism for hive introduction. The queen must be retrieved immediately upon delivery and housed in a cool, dark place until she can be introduced.
A third common avenue is purchasing a queen as part of a nucleus colony (nuc) or a package of bees. Nucs are small, functioning colonies with frames of brood and honey, ensuring the queen is already accepted and actively laying. Package bee sellers also include a caged, mated queen with the shipment.
Choosing the Right Queen Race and Quality
Selecting the appropriate race of queen is a significant consideration, as different lines possess distinct behavioral characteristics.
Italian Bees
The Italian bee is the most widely available, known for its prolific egg-laying, gentle temperament, and tendency toward large colony populations, making them excellent honey producers. They are sometimes prone to robbing and can consume large amounts of honey during winter.
Carniolan Bees
Carniolan queens are prized for their exceptional overwintering ability and tendency to conserve resources during periods of dearth. They exhibit a lower swarming impulse and are characterized by a burst of spring brood production, timed perfectly with the main nectar flow. This race is often preferred in cooler climates.
Russian Bees
Russian queens are valued for their natural resistance to the Varroa destructor mite. This resistance often manifests as Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) behavior, where worker bees detect and remove mite-infested pupae. Choosing queens with documented VSH genetics can significantly reduce the need for chemical mite treatments.
The quality of the queen correlates with her genetic background and the breeder’s methods. Locally raised queens are sometimes favored because they are selected for traits that perform well in a specific microclimate. Pricing for a mated queen typically ranges from $40 to over $60, depending on the race, time of year, and specialized traits.
Safe Arrival and Introduction to the Hive
Once the queen arrives, typically in a small cage secured with a mesh screen, the immediate priority is to ensure her well-being. The cage contains the queen along with approximately six to ten attendant worker bees, who feed and groom her during transit. Upon receipt, the beekeeper should inspect the queen to confirm she is alive and healthy.
The purchased queen must be introduced into the receiving colony using the cage she arrived in. This process is designed to allow the hive workers time to adjust to her pheromonal signature. The cage is usually suspended between the top bars of the frames, positioned near emerging brood, allowing the workers to interact with her through the screen.
The final step involves exposing the candy plug, which the worker bees slowly chew through over several days, releasing the queen in a controlled manner. Beekeepers must monitor the hive for signs of acceptance, such as workers calmly feeding the queen through the screen. Successful introduction is confirmed about a week later when the queen is found actively laying a uniform pattern of eggs.