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2024 Italian Queen mated, marked, and in JZBZ Cages with a candy plug. (Pick Up at Store Only) in Colorado Springs. We do NOT ship queens. .
TO PURCHASE A QUEEN FOLLOW THESE EXACT INSTRUCTIONS: ADD THE DESIRED NUMBER OF QUEENS TO YOUR CART. PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. SELECT "PICKUP IN-STORE". INDICATE THE DATE AND TIME (within our business hours) TO PICKUP YOUR QUEEN. ORDERS FOR NEXT DAY PICKUP MUST BE PLACED BEFORE 5 PM THE DAY PRIOR.
If you did not select "PICKUP IN STORE" when checking out, you will have to call the store and let us know when you are coming to get your queen so we know when to bring the queen to the store...otherwise, we may not have her there for you when you come. 719-375-5094
PLEASE MAKE SURE WE HAVE A GOOD EMAIL AND PHONE NUMBER FOR YOU.
ALL QUEENS MUST BE PICKED UP WITHIN TWO BUSINESS DAYS AFTER ORDER.
All orders are FINAL. There will be a $30 re-stocking fee on unwanted queens that have not left the store. There are NO REFUNDS on queens that have left the store. NO EXCEPTIONS.
We cannot bank queens for you. We cannot guarantee the quality of any queens that we hold for you. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFULLY ABLE TO INTRODUCE A QUEEN INTO ANY HIVE; SEE "NOTICE" AND "PREPARING YOUR HIVE TO ACCEPT A QUEEN" BELOW. You need to pick up your queen no later than TWO BUSINESS DAYS after your purchase and/or notification call.
We do not "reserve" queens. Please time your purchase and pickup in a time frame that will work for you.
NOTICE: You cannot install a queen by herself into an empty hive or she will die. You must have 10,000 worker bees in order for her to survive. These cages have a CANDY PLUG...your queen will be released by the workers within 3 to 5 days after hanging her for acceptance. Unsure how to hang a queen for acceptance? Try one of our Queen Cage Holders. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOUR QUEEN IS REJECTED OR DIES AFTER YOU LEAVE THE STORE WITH HER.
The Italian honey bee is thought to originate from the central and upper southern regions of continental Italyand are known for their winter hardiness, rapid spring buildup, and exceptional honey production. They show excellent resistance to tracheal mites and are great comb builders. Queens produced from this breeder are open-mated with all of their stock for genetic diversity and hybrid vigor. Italian brood up quickly in the spring, tend to be low to moderate propolis producers and are excellent honey producers. Extremely gentle bees--winter well in Colorado and are great for beginners.
Italian traits:
NOTICE: You cannot install a queen by herself into an empty hive or she will die. You must have some worker bees in order for her to survive.
Preparing Your Hive to Accept Your Queen: In order for a hive to accept a new queen, you must make sure that your hive is queen-less. Queenless means that there isn't a virgin queen in there (which happens after a hive swarms). A hive "in transition" after it has swarmed will need about three weeks for a virgin queen to become mated and begin to lay eggs. Many times, a hive will recognize a queen cell as their queen or a laying worker as their queen and reject a new queen that you introduce. A hive may also be queen-less if the queen, for some reason has become old or injured and has died. Before introducing a new queen, make sure you have removed any virgin queens, laying worker, or queen cells and give them 24 to 48 hours to realize they are queen-less. Hives with hot or Africanized genetics are typically harder to re-queen...try smoking the hive a bit to get rid of old pheromone and use a re-queening frame.