Breeder Queens

SOLD OUT - 2024 Overwintered Breeders - SOLD OUT

Queens $985 each*
Quantities are limited.
*Price does not include UPS overnight shipping and is subject to change.

2024 Regular Season Breeders

Thank you for your interest. We are NOT accepting new regular season breeder queen customers at this time.
2024 Breeder Queen Prices* 
4-9 Queens $730 each
10-14 Queens $710 each
15-19 Queens $690 each
20+ Queens $670 each
Minimum order of 4 queens. Payment in full is due at the time of ordering to secure your order. Once your order has been received and confirmed, it may not be changed as we graft according to orders received.
Quantities are limited.
*Prices do not include UPS overnight shipping and are subject to change.

Latshaw Apiaries operates one of the largest and longest standing breeding programs in the US.  Dr. Latshaw has nearly 30 years of experience selecting and instrumentally inseminating queens. Our approach to breeding and selection is simple.  We simply want good bees!  We pride ourselves on the durability and performance of our stock.  Selection and evaluation are both key to a successful breeding program.  Although we do not advertise our stock as “mite resistant” or “mite tolerant”, our stock is run without treatments.  This approach adds another level of selection pressure to our breeding program.  Over the years, Dr. Latshaw has inseminated tens of thousands of queens – of which some are sold, some are culled, and some are placed in the field for long-term evaluation.  Our inseminated breeder queens are evaluated in full-size production colonies.  We strive for strong, healthy, productive colonies to deliver the next generation of queens.  While we have yet to find one perfect bee, we manage both Italian and Carniolan strains in a similar manner and evaluate them for commercially viable production qualities.  Three breeder queen options are available: Italians, Carniolans and Hybrids.

The Italians are what beekeepers have come to expect for pollination needs, emphasizing larger populations and enhanced brood production.  While larger populations mean an increase in honey consumption, our selection efforts have made our Italians resourceful honey producers too.  In our central Ohio area many of our Italian queens used for grafting are 2 years old and the occasional 3 year old presents itself. 

Our Carniolans are rugged, durable honey producers.  Their populations quickly catch up with our Italian colonies in the spring.  The somewhat “mindful” nature of Carniolans enables them to be overall better honey producers in our central Ohio area.  Most of our Carniolan breeders are 2, 3, and 4 years old with the occasional 5 year old.

Utilizing these older Carniolan and Italian breeder queens provides us with greater opportunities to evaluate their performance over time and, in some instances, evaluate the performance of their daughter queens as well.  Again, we emphasize colony performance.  The older queens must still head a full-size production colony AND be productive. 

The third option for breeder queens is a Hybrid between the Italians and the Carniolans. There are two variations of hybrids available: Italian queens inseminated with Carniolan semen or Carniolan queens inseminated with Italian semen. The resulting daughter queens are half Italian and half Carniolan. The characteristics of the resulting hybrid daughter queens tend to favor the queen side of the cross.  These queens are real “workhorses” and are very popular among commercial beekeepers.  They combine many of the desirable qualities from each strain and work well as a dual-purpose bee for both honey production and pollination. 

We keep and manage the very same stock we supply to beekeepers. Let us talk with you about which option may be the best fit for your operation.