# My best queen



## Nicksotherhoney (Jun 10, 2017)

I have a thing for dark queens! Absolutely love them!


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## Honey Hive Farms (Nov 1, 2012)

What do you like about her ? Why is she your best queen? Thanks


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## jcwoods (Jun 17, 2021)

Honey Hive Farms said:


> What do you like about her ? Why is she your best queen? Thanks


Over the last several years I have migrated to using primarily dark Carniolan type queens, for various reasons. I still keep several Italians in brood factory nucs, but the Carnies have become my staple. This queen is not one of my own, but came in a package this spring(incidentally from Honey Hive Farms), and she has outperformed all of my other queens by far. Started her package on 3 frames of drawn comb(prime factor), and even with a very late, cool and cloudy spring, she filled 3 deeps with brood, and 4 medium supers. Also took four 2-frame queen making splits off of her also. Her offspring aren't neccesarily top performers, but they are certainly doing quite satisfactorily, and I will be grafting off of her next spring for sure.


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## ankklackning (Dec 10, 2020)

jcwoods said:


> Over the last several years I have migrated to using primarily dark Carniolan type queens, for various reasons. I still keep several Italians in brood factory nucs, but the Carnies have become my staple. This queen is not one of my own, but came in a package this spring(incidentally from Honey Hive Farms), and she has outperformed all of my other queens by far. Started her package on 3 frames of drawn comb(prime factor), and even with a very late, cool and cloudy spring, she filled 3 deeps with brood, and 4 medium supers. Also took four 2-frame queen making splits off of her also. Her offspring aren't neccesarily top performers, but they are certainly doing quite satisfactorily, and I will be grafting off of her next spring for sure.


That's very cool to be able to fill up 3 deeps and 4 supers. With we had flow enough to support that. We'd had drought.

I do like dark queens also.


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## ursa_minor (Feb 13, 2020)

Those are beautiful pictures, what is it about queens that makes you sigh with awe when you spot one? The most satisfying event for me is spotting my queens purposefully walking across a frame.


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## jcwoods (Jun 17, 2021)

ankklackning said:


> That's very cool to be able to fill up 3 deeps and 4 supers. With we had flow enough to support that. We'd had drought.
> 
> I do like dark queens also.


To clarify; the third deep, and three of the supers given to them was mostly drawn comb. We did not have either exceptional weather or flow here in KS. Most of my other colonies produced only one or two supers, and not neccesarily fully packed with honey. This hive just seems to have had everything aligned for them somehow.


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## NotSoWellKnown (Dec 23, 2021)

jcwoods said:


> 1st year Carniolan


look at that beaut! long live the queen


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