Our queens come from Can-Am Apiaries in California. We have Italian and Carniolan queens from April 12 till September 1st. We try to get all queens marked to make it easy to find in the hive.  We also ship queens to outlying area's.

The Carniolan bee, A. m. carnica is a dark European race of honey bee that originated in the region of Yugoslavia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Austria.  Some of the earliest importations of the Carniolan bee into English speaking countries came from Upper Carniola, hence the name Carniolan.

The Carniolan race is known for its ability to withstand harsh winter temperatures and conservative use of winter stores.  Carniolans winter with a relatively small, tight clusters, but build rapidly in the spring when pollen and nectar become available. 

Carniolans are excellent honey producers for areas that have quick early honey flows.  Colony population is carefully regulated by pollen and nectar availability.  Such a characteristic is ideal for a harsh environment, but may not be ideal in certain areas.  Carniolans tend to reduce brood production in hot dry climates to the extent that they may miss the fall honey flow.

The Italian honey bee is thought to originate from the continental part of Italy, south of the Alps, and north of Sicily. The subspecies may have survived the last Ice Age in Italy.^[1] It is genetically a different subspecies than that from the Iberian peninsula and from Sicily. It is the most widely distributed of all honey bees, and has proven adaptable to most climates from subtropical to cool temperate, but it is less satisfactory in humid tropical regions.

Italian bees, having been conditioned to the warmer climate of the central Mediterranean, are less able to cope with the "hard" winters and cool, wet springs of more northern latitudes. They do not form such tight winter clusters. More food has to be consumed to compensate for the greater heat loss from the loose cluster. The tendency to raise broods late in autumn also increases food consumption.

 2014 Queens

2014 Price

$35.00

includes  2014 queen of your choice in a 3 hole cage, and taxes..

Send mail or requests to taccon105@icehouse.net with questions or comments about supplies or this web site.
Last modified: February 07, 2011