The nectar flow is on here in the southern Rockies. We are experiencing our glorious monsoon rains which are livening up the landscape. Though we are so grateful to have the rains, water indeed, can be a blessing and a curse….not enough and forage withers…too much and nectar and pollens are washed away.
Aye- Mother Nature does indeed keep us humble 🙂
We are focusing this summer season on building up our hive numbers. Summer is our most favorite time for rearing queens and making honey. In order to make bees and for bees to make honey, they need their populations robust. So, we have decided to keep our production queens for our own needs and share breeder queens with queen producers who would like to incorporate tested survivor stock into their apiary and management systems. We encourage queen producers to incorporate tested survivor stock and to further promote cross stocks between our breeder queens and their stock. Crossing out diverse genetics lends to hybrid vigor, and generational promotion of the hereditary trait of longevity along with promoting a better developed overlapping network of health both of individual bees and the hive organism as a whole.
Longevity is the umbrella trait that we use for selection as it encompasses productivity, demeanor, pest and disease resistance, and endurance. Healthy hives have healthy queens….and healthy queens make healthy bees which produce healthy products which we consume. We are what we eat….
ZQB Virgin Queens: Unmated Queens for enthusiasts looking to outcross our survivor stock with their area drones. Virgin queens are installed same as mated queens, though once released, will conduct mating flights then begin to lay (we recommend leaving undisturbed for minimum 3 weeks post installation) $20 + shipping
Enchanted Empress LongeviBees: Prize Breeding Companion Queens- selected from our most resilient and productive stock. Recommended for queen producers wanting to add tested survivor stock for enhancing genetic pool and for grafting for production queens. $200/each
Best way to place an order is to call us or send a text at 505/929-8080 or to email ziaqueenbees@hotmail.com. We are terribly behind in