British Bred Queens or Imported Queens - peoples choice?

[HoneyQueen]

Most Beekeepers buy their Queen's in rather then breed their own.
Would people choose to buy British bred queen's over imported queen's of the same breed/quailty & does the price of the queen effect your decision?
Also would you buy artificially inseminated British Queen over an open mated British Queen that had been bred at a specific drone flooded breeding site?

We run a few hundred hives for honey production & already breed our own queen's from specifically choosen hives to replace & expand our stock. We are now looking to expand our business and wanting to gauge the demand for British bred Queen's so we can scale our business appropriately, then see where it goes

 

[BMH]

It's more the timing.

People want queens early in the year so unless you plan on mating queens in late summer and overwintering, queens from warmer climate will always have the advantage.

I also suspect, overwintering ramps up the cost.

The queens from overseas are bred for our climate anyway so there's no benefit to them being British bees.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

 

[Beefriendly]

Most Beekeepers buy their Queen's in rather then breed their own.

Bit of a sweeping statement!
I buy quality queens in to breed my own queens from.

 

[HoneyQueen]

Yes imported queen's have the advantage of being available earlier in the year as we wouldn't over winter queen's as they would more valuable to us in honey production for the year or replacing any losses.

Just wondering when both imported & British Bred are available at the same time which people would more prefer or whether it really makes no difference a queen is a queen!
We plan on queen breeding this year regardless just seeing which road to go down

 

[B+.]

We are now looking to expand our business and wanting to gauge the demand for British bred Queen's so we can scale our business appropriately, then see where it goes

What sort of bees are they?

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

My own circumstances mean that breeding my own is a no brainer as the time taken is better spent looking after production colony's. Early queens and packages (April) from Italy are invaluable to me as they replace winter losses and any poor queens, the ones I get overwinter here perfectly well with no noticeable difference in stores consumed and seem to get going well in the spring.

For any required after May I have a UK breeder which I have used for a number of years and have not had many duffs, any are replaced with no question. I usually run about twenty five/thirty nuc's overwinter with September queens from the same breeder splitting up any hives with third season queens to make these, I do not have any queens over two year old in production colony's, I would personally not be swayed to using another breeder as I have built up a good working relationship with the two I use, loyalty for me means a lot and this is how my business works.

The British market is expanding year on year for quality queens but it always seems to be feast or famine, the fickle nature of our weather does not help, I do get asked to take when they are not really needed but this guarantees supply when I need them.

My area some BIBBA members are actively encouraging farmers only to allow keepers on their ground who are engaged in the local black bee breeding program, this is very short sighted but it might be worth your while contacting BIBBA about breeding for them.


I suppose the answer to the original question is no I would not change, but I am only one.

 

[mike99]

I currently have one colony that was gifted to me from Millet. I have just treated them for Varroa using the trickle method and added some fondant even though the BB is still heavy.
However I want to expand to two hives this year and am wondering about the best way to achieve this. Do I artificial swarm or do I get a mated queen and expand that way? I am such a novice, I really don't know the best way to achieve the second colony.

 

[Finman]

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All kind of queens are wanted. It is not either or.

 

[Murox]

It is wonderful that there is such a wide choice available, as Finman said its not an "either /or". Personally I would usually choose to go for an overwintered queen given the dodgy weather patterns in UK and importing from abroad may well become much more difficult soon anyway.

 

[Finman]

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You may buy early foreign queens to add colonies, and later you can change the queens to better.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

I breed what I need from my own queens and they do well for me. I sell a few too and welcome someone who breeds queens here in the UK rather than importing them.

 

[For want of a better word]

Most Beekeepers buy their Queen's in rather then breed their own.
Would people choose to buy British bred queen's over imported queen's of the same breed/quailty & does the price of the queen effect your decision?
Also would you buy artificially inseminated British Queen over an open mated British Queen that had been bred at a specific drone flooded breeding site?

We run a few hundred hives for honey production & already breed our own queen's from specifically chosen hives to replace & expand our stock. We are now looking to expand our business and wanting to gauge the demand for British bred Queen's so we can scale our business appropriately, then see where it goes

to the BKF.........

Can I place my order for 500 English bred Amm queens** for this March as I too intend to increase the number of hives I have in honey production
** ( with DNA certification that they are not Irish/French? Danish.......)

OK I will leave the sarcasm to others on here who are masters in everything!!

For someone claiming to be running just a few hundred hives ( do you mean colonies ?) merely for honey production and already rearing queens.... one would have thought that you would already be aware of where to obtain your stocks from and that hobbyists with just a couple of hives do not really care much where the queens come from..... as long as they can buy them when they feel they need them!

With thousands of queens being brought in from outside the UK and increasing I think there is a market for home bred queens of all types... forget producing honey... start breeding bees!!

The number of queens imported into England, Scotland and Wales from other EU countries continues to rise year on year. Import numbers for 2018, at time of writing, are as follows (2017 figures in brackets for comparison):
• Queens imported from the EU 15,944 (15,210)
• Packages/Nucs of Bees imported from the EU 1,970 (1,795)
• Of which from Italy 976 (1,310)
• Full colonies imported from the EU 52 (0)
• Queens from Third Countries 525-Argentina (525-Argentina)

APHA figures

 

[birdsandbees]

while I do now produce queens for myself I also like to try out others, I currently have a couple of imported BF and Ligustica queens that I bought in the autumn, I think I'd personally rather buy within the UK but then it depends on what you are after.

My main focus is on amm, if I could buy in fresh blood for my own breeding from different breeders in then UK that would be great, likewise with any other race, however, the geography and mix we have throughout most of the UK means it is very difficult keeping anything pure and reliable without I.I unlike the European breeders.

I guess what I would see as a big plus point for buying within the UK is that you have direct contact for any issues or advice and you know where they came from where as buying through an agent its more pot luck as to the reliability. (by which I mean beekeeping suppliers rather than breeders)

 

[For want of a better word]

I breed what I need from my own queens and they do well for me. I sell a few too and welcome someone who breeds queens here in the UK rather than importing them.

 

[B+.]

With thousands of queens being brought in from outside the UK and increasing I think there is a market for home bred queens of all types... forget producing honey... start breeding bees!!

There is definitely a shortage of good bee breeders.....but, breeders who test and improve their stock, not another "me too" pushing out junk mongrels.

 

[birdsandbees]

There is definitely a shortage of good bee breeders.....but, breeders who test and improve their stock, not another "me too" pushing out junk mongrels.

And that's the key, they'd need to be consistent in type, I suppose it wouldn't take long for reputation to come into play, one way or another but if someone thinks they can do it, go for it I say.

 

[Finman]

I breed what I need from my own queens and they do well for me. I sell a few too and welcome someone who breeds queens here in the UK rather than importing them.

12 hive owner is not a Queen breeder.
.

 

[birdsandbees]

12 hive owner is not a Queen breeder.
.

depends on your definition of breeding surely.

Animal breeding is the process of selective mating of animals with desirable genetic traits, to maintain or enhance these traits in future generations. For livestock, this involves estimation of the genetic value of individuals for traits including growth rate and yield of products such as eggs, milk or meat.

If the daughter queens are from Queens that are carefully selected, mated with Drones from similar Queens and progeny are tested for these same or improved desirable traits then that's breeding, no matter whether its ten or ten thousand hives.

Queen increases through open mating with mixed genetics would be queen raising/rearing rather than breeding though

 

[Finman]

If the daughter queens are from Queens that are carefully selected, mated with Drones from similar Queens and progeny are tested for these same or improved desirable traits then that's breeding, no matter whether its ten or ten thousand hives.

At least I do not buy queen from 10 hive owner, and from 20 hive owner neither.
Test what from queens.... Fairytales.
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[birdsandbees]

At least I do not buy queen from 10 hive owner, and from 20 hive owner neither.
Test what from queens.... Fairytales.
.

I love your grumpy negativity sometimes.