Poor Queens

[Madmac76]

Having considered expanding by 25 colonies I purchased 3 lots of 10 queen's from a Portuguese supplier here in the UK. Obviously price came into my decision to use this importer. Out of 30 queen's 25 have either swarmed, superseded or simply disappeared. Having tried to discuss this issue with the supplier he wrote it off as these things happen. Speaking to another 2 people who have purchased from have seen the same issues.

This post is not about the importation of queen's it is to simply raise awareness that sometimes quantity and price can compromise quality. Please contact Mr should you wish to know the supplier so you don't make the same mistake by using them.

 

[blackcloud]

Well I've bought queen's from a supplier who advertises on this forum over a few years and they have all been utter junk.
I have reverted to my own feral stock with the view to improving them slowly as retirement gets closer.

 

[mbc]

Having considered expanding by 25 colonies I purchased 3 lots of 10 queen's from a Portuguese supplier here in the UK. Obviously price came into my decision to use this importer. Out of 30 queen's 25 have either swarmed, superseded or simply disappeared. Having tried to discuss this issue with the supplier he wrote it off as these things happen. Speaking to another 2 people who have purchased from have seen the same issues.

This post is not about the importation of queen's it is to simply raise awareness that sometimes quantity and price can compromise quality. Please contact Mr should you wish to know the supplier so you don't make the same mistake by using them.

Caveat emtor springs to mind.
There are more sustainable ways to expand without introducing poluting genetics.

 

[Madmac76]

Caveat emtor springs to mind.
There are more sustainable ways to expand without introducing poluting genetics.

Caveat emtor springs to mind.
There are more sustainable ways to expand without introducing poluting genetics.

Unfortunately nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities. Genetics have had to be poluted for some time hence why native strains were wiped out. Quisque suos

 

[mbc]

Unfortunately nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities. Genetics have had to be poluted for some time hence why native strains were wiped out. Quisque suos

Sounds to me like you'd have been much better off spending a little more with any of the very many British queen producers capable of producing a couple of dozen queens for your needs.
Your second sentance is just untrue, and the third stands to reason

 

[PeaBee]

Unfortunately nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities. Genetics have had to be poluted for some time hence why native strains were wiped out. Quisque suos

ITLD may disagree on that point. Think Murray/Jolanta exceed the stated quantity of 30 by a few thousand. I am sure if you got your order in with sufficient notice either directly (if you are a beefarmer/trade) or via an outlet such as Black Mountain you could have got 30 UK bred queens. I have not come across other UK rearers such as BHP (Ged Marshall, though handed over the reins) struggling with those quantities. Plus there are plenty part time dabblers (myself included) on here who could have produced an extra 30. So to say " nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities." is simply not correct.
Maybe no UK provider would match the imported queens price, but like so many other things if you buy cheap, you buy twice.
What do you think it is about the queens you purchased that caused the bees to behave like that?
What proportion swarmed, superseded and disappeared ? As the seem quite different behaviours with potentially very different causes.
What method did you use to introduce them?
I am sorry your expansion plans were thwarted but sometimes there is more at play than simply duff queens.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

ITLD may disagree on that point.

no, he'd probably agree

 

[PeaBee]

what that no UK producer could supply 30 queens (in 3 batches of 10)?

 

[Erichalfbee]

No that any U.K. producer could do that n number of times at once ( n being the number of beekeepers wanting that many queens during the year )

 

[PeaBee]

I have queens in 10s and 20s from UK suppliers both planned and booked in advance and short notice. and never had issues. Sure if the OP had got intouch early enough with someone like Black Mountain or BHP they would have had no problem getting that number. I doubt supply was the factor with thier choice to go overseas more to do with price. I am a really small queen rearer for my own use but pretty sure I could have generated 3 extra lots of 10 during the season without to much extra effort. If there was not enough home grown queens to meet the current demand ( which is greatly reduced by people choosing imports) the Likes of Laurence at BMH and Becky's Beez etc would not waste time, money and effort with advertising. If the OP had wanted 3 batches of 10 UK queens they could have got them. I have no issue with imported queens at all but do think that saying "nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities" is nonsense.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

You are talking about meeting the demand of one single individual, not the national demand (which is what you imply) so your assertion that there are plentiful UK bee breeders that can meet the weekly national demand for queens - especially early on in the season, is more fantasy than nonsense. And you will find that Murray has more or less said so on numerous occasions.

 

[PeaBee]

Yes I was only talking about meeting the demand of one single individual and did not mean to infer anything of about the national picture. The point I was trying to make was that the OP could have got his 30 queens from the UK if he wished and that saying he could not was nonsense. As they said "Unfortunately nobody in the UK can produce sufficient queen's on such quantities" Which I think does a disservice to those suppliers in the UK who could have easily met his demands. and is certainly not my experience with buying from some of the excellent queen producers we have in the UK.
When it comes to the national picture of course domestic production is nowhere near demand and never will be.

More interesting would be to know more details about the colonies that failed.

 

[Erichalfbee]

no, he'd probably agree

Just spotted on facebook
1st year Beek, I’m after a bit of advice,
I had/have a hive that is really nasty (gifted swarm)so decided to re-Queen at the end of July
killed the old queen and my new Jolanta arrived 7 days later. Placed her in day 7 then waited till day 11 to release the tab (knocked down all qc’s on days 3/5/7&11)
Checked the cage was empty 2 days later suspected she had been killed as a couple of the attendants were dead in the cage. Opened to inspect a week later and no sign.
Decided to give it another shot & bought another queen, Carni this time.
To give her the best chance I pulled the last of the capped brood out into a nuc (3 partial frames)and a couple of frames of stores after the flyers had left (2days) introduced her in the cage for 2 days popped the tab, fed them and went on holiday for 2 weeks, hoping to combine when I got back.
Got back last night, checked this afternoon, She had been killed inside the cage

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

no wonder they killed her if they'd been left queenless for a week

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's the cavalier attitude in just having another go with another queen that gets my goat!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's the cavalier attitude in just having another go with another queen that gets my goat!

disposable beekeeping rears its ugly head again

 

[Murox]

Is there a 'slap forehead in disbelief and exasperation' emoji ?

 

[pargyle]

Is there a 'slap forehead in disbelief and exasperation' emoji ?

NO,.... but perhaps there should be !

 

[jeff33]

And one for the beek as well?
I was devastated with the 2 I lost on introduction this year. Not about the money loss but more about the lost opportunity and potential of the queens, their daughters and improvement to the local population with their drones. The nucs didn't get a 2nd queen to try, they were reunited with a q+ colony

 

[Nige.Coll]

Introducing queens that have been in the postal system or banked for a while is a pain in the rear end and generally ends badly unless you know what you're doing.
Another thing is what type of bee do you have? If your changing the subspecies that adds another layer of problems or it can with some.
There are numerous suppliers that can supply UK raised queens in much higher numbers than you require and in several subspecies.
The cheap option isn't always the best option.