Manitoba Queen Bees

 

We raise our Queen bees in Manitoba for use in our own Apiary, and for sale to other beekeepers in Manitoba and elsewhere.


Queens are selected on the basis of:

  1. • Over-Wintering Capabilities

  2. • Varroa Tolerance (Spring and Fall)

  3. • Honey Production

  4. • Overall Colony Temperament

  5. • Absence of Spring Dysentery

  6. • Spring Strength and Spring Build-Up

Currently, we are not set up to process orders through our Website. However, if you are interested in purchasing Queens, contact us for availability and shipping costs. Contact information is found in the About US page.

  1. • Buckfast Queens

  2. • Selected Local Queens

  3. • Queen Cells

  4. • Spring Nucs

Buckfast Line (Maternal Red Line)

  1. •We are currently in the process of evaluating multi-generational offspring of Buckfast queens obtained from Ferguson Apiaries

  2. •The Buckfast line received from Ferguson Apiaries typically survives the winter with very large clusters, while at the same time, maintains sufficient food stores from fall feedings. We winter all our colonies out of doors.

  3. •Our trials with the Buckfast Queens and their offspring have shown significant demonstration of lower varroa levels in both Spring and Fall mite counts.

  4. •We have not seen and sign of Chalkbrood in any of the Buckfast queens or their offspring since we obtained the stock a number of years ago.

  5. •The spring dysentery levels for the hives headed by the Buckfast queens are comparable with the lowest in our Apiary.

Selected Line (Maternal Green Line)

  1. •Since our first year of beekeeping, we have been evaluating queens purchased from a reputable local queen breeder: Ted Scheuneman. Mr. Scheuneman has been actively selecting for Varroa tolerance for a number of years.

  2. •We currently have queens from Ted’s line in production in our Apiary. Some of these queens show superb varroa tolerance on screened bottom boards.

  3. •The Scheuneman stock has been successfully over-wintered for many years, and shows rapid build-up in spring and a large surplus honey crop with gentle temperament.

In an effort to maintain genetic diversity and to help improve our stock, we continuously acquire queens from other sources to evaluate and test. If the queens meet our selection criteria, they are incorporated into our breeding program, and we offer their offspring for sale. We are currently evaluating queens from two other lines, and will sometimes raise stock from them. The price for all queens is $25 per queen.

Four-Frame Spring Nucs - SOLD OUT FOR 2012

  1. •We offer a limited amount of four-frame nucs in Spring. The nucs have been over-wintered, and contain our own marked queens from the previous year. Our over-wintered nucs typically come through the winter full of bees, and are quick to build-up to full hives and produce sufficient honey crops. Nucs will be in four frame configuration. Nucs are typically available in the first week of May and priced at $140.

  2. •If you place your nuc order, we will contact you for confirmation in April. At that time, we will require a deposit of $20 per nuc. If we confirm the sale, and the nucs are not ready in the first week of May, we will discount $5 per nuc for each full week that the nucs are not ready after the first week of May.

Queen Cells

  1. •During the queen-rearing season, we sometimes have surplus queen cells for sale. The queen cells are from our documented lines, and maternal parentage can be verified. We sell our surplus queen cells for $7 each. If an order is placed with a minimum of three weeks notice, we will raise queen cells from the desired lines, for the customer to fill the order.