How to Buy a Queen Bee

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The queen bee is the heart of the hive and absolutely essential for colony success. There will be times when the beekeeper needs to buy a queen bee for one of their colonies. Queens fail for a multitude of reasons. When the option to buy a mated honey bee queen ready to work is available, it can be a great advantage. In this article, you will learn some important tips to keep in mind if you are shopping for a queen.

Plastic queen cages with queen honey bees that beekeepers will buy.

In my years of experience, queen quality has played a major role in colony survival and production. The primary role of the queen is to lay eggs thousands of them. But, she plays a part in colony unity that promotes health and vitality.

Where to Buy a Queen Honey Bee

Maybe your colony queen is failing or you need a replacement for a queen bee killed by the bees – you must know where to look.

Time of year plays a big role in availability. Purchasing a new queen bee is very easy during the warm season. From late Spring through early Fall, you should not have a problem.

If you live within driving distance of a beekeeping supply, they will often have extra queens for sale during “bee season” – especially early Spring. This is one of the best options.

In some regions the local beekeeping association can provide helpful information. Beekeepers in your area may raise a few extra queens to sell to folks seeking to requeen a beehive.

If the beekeeper is knowledgeable and reputable, this is a great way to add some new genetics to your bees.

And believe it or not, you can buy a queen online and have her shipped right to your front door. Now, whether she will arrive alive is another question but many queens are shipped through the mail each season.

Placing Your Queen Order

These are the most common steps in buy a queen for your hive.

  1. research reputation of seller
  2. choose which type of honey bee queen you want (breed)
  3. place your order – you may have to pay in advance
  4. if queen is shipping in the mail – choose the quickest delivery time and review any guarantees (or lack thereof) of live delivery
Purchased queen bee and workers in introduction cage image.

How Much Does a Queen Bee Cost?

The cost of a queen honey bee will vary from one seller to another and depending on breed. A mated queen that is ready to lay eggs should cost about $30-$50 on average.

If the queen has been vaccinated against American Foulbrood or has other special qualities she will be more.

These queens are open mated. This means that virgin queens fly free to drone congregation areas to mate. After returning to the hive and laying for a couple of weeks they are ready to sell.

Of course, if you are buying honey bees from special breeding programs you can expect to pay more. Breeder queens are artificially inseminated with chosen drone semen.

These bees are often hundreds of dollars. Don’t panic, the average beekeeper does not need an expensive queen.

What to do if the Queen Bee Dies in the Cage

If your queen is dead upon arrival, call the supplier immediately. They will instruct you on the next steps to take.

Before ordering queens through the mail, it is a good practice to ask questions about live arrival guarantees. Will the supplier send a replacement or will you have to file a claim with the post office to get a refund?

Benefits of Buying a Queen

In addition to giving your hive a new mother in a emergency situation, there are other benefits of buying a new queen bee.

  • add different genetics to apiary
  • colony is unable to produce a queen – or attempts to requeen failed

New Genetics

Sometimes, the beekeeper wants to introduce new genetics into the bee yard. Some bee breeders focus on developing a line of bees with special characteristics. Better suited to cold or warm climates, calmness, honey production are only a few things hoped for.

Having healthy productive hives is a big part of what being a beekeeper is all about. This should always be our major goal – healthy colonies.

Varroa Resistance

Buying a queen from a bee breeder focusing on hygienic behavior (to control mite populations) may be appealing if you struggle with varroa mite control. Colonies with hygienic behaviors tend to have fewer problems with varroa mite infestations.

Calm Temperament

Temperament is another characteristic than can be affected by inherited factors. Though there are many things that make a colony of bees more aggressive, some breed lines are worse than others.

Do keep in mind that these are only breed tendencies and you can have calm or jumpy colonies from any line of bees.

Colony Unable to Requeen Itself

Though honey bee colonies are able to produce new queens in most instances, it is a tenuous time and does not always work.

Very young female bee larvae from fertilized eggs are necessary to start. And, many things can go wrong – from poor development of the queen to the risk of her not returning safely from her mating flight.

A mated queen purchased from a supplier has at least mastered her journey to adulthood. And, hopefully she is well mated and ready to produce.

Purchased queen bees in cages and beekeeper inspecting hive.

Care Before Installation

When you pick up a queen (or if she arrives in the mail) she will be in a small cage. This small box (queen cage) can be either wood and wire or plastic.

She may be marked or you can later mark the queen bee yourself. It should be easy to tell which one is the queen due to her long abdomen.

Don’t worry if she is not as plump as you might hope. Young queens bulk up in size once they get in the hive and begin laying.

She does not travel alone but will have a few worker attendants in there with her. They will feed and care for her until she is released.

Don’t panic if a couple of the workers are dead. Bees die every day and these may have simply reached the end of the bee’s life cycle.

Storing queen bee in cool dark place prior to installation image.

You can care for a caged queen for several days -if needed. Though I recommend placing her in the hive as soon as possible.

Until you can get to the hive, keep her somewhere safe. Place the cage in a cool (not cold) dark place and try to avoid bothering them. Once a day, put a drop or two of water on the screen of the cage.

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Some beekeepers use special queen introduction frames when introducing a new queen – but its not a requirement.

Bee eggs and tiny larvae contrasted to larger larva not suitable for becoming queens.

Don’t Wait Too Late

Monitor your hives. A queenless beehive that stays that way for a while is a special challenge. Older larvae do not work – the hive must have tiny larva. As, the colony population drops, laying workers may develop.

There comes a point that even introducing a new queen is too little too late. Most of these situations, can be overcome and a quality queen introduced if they are caught in time.

Final Thoughts

Sometimes, you need to shell out some money to buy a queen. This is just a standard cost of beekeeping that we all expect to pay at times.

You never truly know what you will get and keep your fingers crossed for a good queen. Even the queen suppliers can not make guarantees – there are too many variables involved.

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