The Queen Bee

Beekeeper Looking for the Queen!

Most springs, many beekeepers can not find queens or packages to replace winter losses. With the improved honey prices and the severe winter losses across most of North America, beekeepers recently ordered queens in record numbers. Unfortunately, if you do not order your package bees or queens early in the season (by January or February), you may find that queens and bees were not available for sale anywhere on the planet! As a precaution against such a situation this spring, beekeepers are being urged to contact queen breeders early in the season. You really should have bees and packages lined up in the next month or two, with a deposit in the hands of the producer. Give your favourite breeder a call or start examining the bee journals and select a dealer. To get a list of queen breeders and for related information, go to our list of queen breeders and info on this site.

A few hundred queen bees in cages, ready to be sent through the mail to beekeepers in the north. Several hundred thousand bees fly at 30,000 feet every spring. Don't blame them if they arrive tired!

A queen pupae, about three days before she would have emerged from her cell. The queen cell is similar to a butterfly's cocoon, though made of beeswax. The cell hangs vertically in the hive. When the time is right, the new queen bee chews away the tip of the cell and crawls out to face the world.

Here the beekeeper is raising many queen cells in a finishing hive. The hive is kept strong by adding frames of young nurse bees which will feed the new queen larvae. The hive is also helped by supplemental pollen feed, which is visible on the tops of the frames.

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Beekeeping: The Beekeeper's Home Pages
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
(Beekeeping@shaw.ca)
http://www.badbeekeeping.com