Mated Queen Bees
Our queen honey bees are produced locally from survivor stock in our Minooka, IL mating yard (currently several hundred mating nucs). Each spring we evaluate our apiaries and select a handful of top quality colonies with the traits below. The selected mother queens from these colonies are grafted from to produce daughter queens which we mate in our Minooka IL apiary.
- Colony and mother queen must survive one or more Chicagoland winters
- Colony must have produced 125+ pounds of excess honey in prior year
- Colony must have a gentle temperament and be easy to work
- Colony must show mite and disease resistance
Drone Production Colonies
We work with neighbors surrounding our mating yard to create a ring of desirable drones 1/2 to 3 miles out. The drone colonies flood the area with drones to ensure the daughter queens are well mated.
Queen Evaluation
The new queens laying patterns are evaluated before offering them for sale. We watch for a solid capped brood pattern and any spotty pattern queens are removed.
Local Queens for Pickup and Shipping
Mated / marked Illinois queen bees are $35 throughout the spring, summer and fall and are available for pickup as well as shipping. Call 815-521-9116 or email dave@meyerbees.com for details and to arrange a purchase.
Bee packages and nucs are available seasonally.
*** 2020 Packages, Nucs and Queen Honey Bees – click order form below – NOTE PACKAGES/NUCS SOLD OUT FOR SEASON!
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