Queens

****QUEENS WILL BE BACK IN SPRING 20206*** 

OUR PA QUEENS are open mated in our bee yards in Pennsylvania and are based on our primary goals: not aggressive, good honey production, and the mother (breeder queen) showing mite resistance. We are not suggesting that you do not treat or test for varroa--always test your varroa mite levels throughout the season as many factors can influence that, including sudden mite pressure from nearby bees or robbing later in the season. Our breeder queens are not treated (monitored and tested carefully), but our production colonies are treated with organic mite treatments when needed. Each season we produce a limited number of high quality Pennsylvania mated queens, based on local and inseminated genetics from VSH Carniolan, VSH Pol-line, NWC, and others. While we have dedicated drone yard genetics with a mix of the above, the mated queens are still "open" mated, so the queen you purchase will be based on the mother, plus a mix of the above stock and any other colonies nearby. When you buy a queen from a varroa-resistant mother, you won't really know whether her daughters (your colony) will inherit that trait until the end of the season, if you're testing, so if you want to be sure to add such genetics to your apiary, buy more than one! The good news is that regardless of whether the workers (via the queen) inherit varroa resistance, all (100%) of your drones from that colony will spread varroa resistance (because drones don't have fathers, only grandfathers, so they are passing on the trait from the breeder queen).