# Queens from Hawaii



## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I was thinking of ordering a couple of queens from hawaii. Just something to do, and not for any particular reason. Is there anyone with any experiences with these queens, and is there a problem with cold-weather states, and other areas of concern? Thank you.


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2004)

Gus Rouse (queenbee AT aloha DOT net) sells
fine queens, and ships exactly when he says
he will. That said, even he would admit that
your primary reason for paying extra for
at least the shipping (if not the queen)
is to get "early" queens, for requeening 
and splits in California and other warm places.

I doubt that they would have any left by
the time shipping to PA was an "acceptable
risk".


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## db_land (Aug 29, 2003)

I've used KONA queens (nice, big, fat Italians) for requeening in March in NC. They did fine.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Hi Bjorn
I got a Carnolian Kona Queen this fall. So far very happy. they were quite helpful over there. I can give you an update in early spring if you want, see how she did. It was easy to tell she was laying, the new bees at the entrance were a lot darker from the Italians...

david

[This message has been edited by BerkeyDavid (edited December 07, 2004).]


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>nice, big, fat Italians<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I got some this fall and they were really big and fat Italians. They also layed quite well.









They delivery a lot of queens, so I would call asap and put my order in for this spring. 

[This message has been edited by magnet-man (edited December 07, 2004).]


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I requeened everything fall of '03 with Kona NWC. I had some failures in acceptance, but it was late in the year. I would have liked to have used Heitkems or Strachens instead, but I was too late in ordering. The Kona's did well this year, I recomend them to anyone especially in the North.

>It was easy to tell she was laying, the new bees at the entrance were a lot darker from the Italians...

You should see the difference when you requeen a Cordovan colony with NWC.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I purchase Carnolian Kona Queens every spring. Very happy with them and would recomend them to anyone. They are very winter hardy.

Ian


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## The Honey House (May 10, 2000)

I requeened a few hives with Kona NWC this past spring. I did not have very good success. Honey production was about a third off for me.

I had a few lost to acceptance too. My major issue was that the queens shut down for no apparent reason (wasn't too hot or cold)
and were slow to pick up. The brood area just did not get huge like my Italians. The cluster size going into winter has me a bit concerned. Maybe this is a trait that I'm just not used to seeing. 

On the positive side they really do like the cooler weather. They were flying while the Italians stayed inside.


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

>On the positive side they really do like the cooler weather. They were flying while the Italians stayed inside.

Maybe the Italians have more sense than to fly in cold weather.


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## tarheit (Mar 26, 2003)

I got a few packages this past spring that had kona queens. They built up well and performed about the same as my other hives. So I'd say I was happy with them.


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## TwT (Aug 5, 2004)

I didnt know they got there old stock from Weavers. sence they can't import bees now wonder what stock they get there bee semen from now,
http://www.konaqueen.com/about.html 

[This message has been edited by TwT (edited December 09, 2004).]


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## Beemaninsa (Jun 9, 2004)

I got some early spring Italians from Kona for last 2 years. I found them to be very good producers but a bit more defensive than what I am used to. I like Big Island queens. The queen I received from Big Island were gentle, good production, cordovan.


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## tarheit (Mar 26, 2003)

I think kona works with Sue Cobey, at least they appear to based on info at her site. http://www174.pair.com/birdland/Breeding/NWC.html


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## suttonbeeman (Aug 22, 2003)

Kona queen was started as a joint venture between Weaver Apiaries and Jim Powers (at the time the largest beekeeper with 50,000+ colonies) about 1980. The queens were a little hot at first as the wild stock in Kona was hot. Over the years they have became gentler. I spent a few days at their outfit three years ago and got a few stings working all day setting up mating nucs in short sleaves and veil. Gus Rouse was a employee and purchased a interest and finally all the company. Kona is a perfect place to raise queens...there is a consistant nectar flow, Temps in the 80's and sunny. Adding this to the fact Gus is queen professional and you get good queens!!! Rick


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

I am having second thoughts about my Kona Italian queens. I treated some nucs with OA and my Kona queens are throwing out a lot more mites than my Carnolian. See the attached links. It just may be because the Italians may still producing brood but this is 10 days after my third treatment. If it is warm enough I will take the nucs outside and check them for brood. http://members.cox.net/wsamplesis/pictures/HouseCleaning1.jpg http://members.cox.net/wsamplesis/pictures/HouseCleaning3.jpg http://members.cox.net/wsamplesis/pictures/HouseCleaning4.jpg


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

First thought I had when viewing those pictures was 'were those mites brushed off when the bees squeezed through that small screen?' That would not explain the debris only being on the outside of the wire, so it must be cleaning, which I see as a good sign.

The test of your true effectivness of OA vapor treatment is going to be reading the trays UNDER the SBB.


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## magnet-man (Jul 10, 2004)

The bees have an opening to the outside on the other side of the nuc, so these pictures are of vent holes. It is surprising how far the trash gets thrown out of the hive. Not sure but I think the bees fan the stuff out. Bill did you zoom in on the pictures? You can see the mites feet!

UPDATE:

Today was a nice day so I checked a few hives and nucs. Of the three hives I checked only one had brood and I did not see any queens. I found quite a bit of wax cappings and dead varroa mites on the bottom board of tow of the hives. When I was putting my tools away I saw a small cluster of 30 bees on the ground. Yea, it was one of the queens from one of the hives but what hive? She was a big fat juicy queen too and I sure did not want to lose her! I saw one hive with a lot of bees on the landing board and thought this might be the hive. I put her down hoping she would not be balled and she walked into the hive and the other bees started to follower her. Talk about luck, finding her in the first place and selecting the right hive.

I checked two of my four indoor nucs. One nuc had no brood and I could not find the queen. The second nuc I found the queen and there were about ten sealed brood and 30 eggs but no larvae. I found a lot of dead mites at the bottom of all the hives and nucs.

One thing I did notice is that fructose syrup crystallizes a whole lot quicker than honey does.


[This message has been edited by magnet-man (edited December 31, 2004).]


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