# Chilean Queens



## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Hi all,
Since the Canadian dollar sucks bad and our early imported queen prices are going to be even higher this year, I have been trying to get all the information I can on Chilean Queens. All I know is that Nunez is attached to the name and some who I have spoken to say sometimes they can be mean and sometimes not. Well for 25 bucks versus 40 + for Olivarez, I have to consider the Chilean Queens.

I had some mean Olivarez out of the 100 we tried last year, so if any of you had past experiences with them, please let me know, I have never had them.

If you want to email me instead of posting on here, please send comments to [email protected]

Thanks and have a great day


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I know guys that use only Chilean queens and like them.
Your right about the cost, I'm considering the same


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

We have used Chilean for several years and found them to be very good queens. Temperament and honey production with them are very good.


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

In Mexico, the Chilean Queens did real good for a few years, and then, a couple of the big brokers got to buy "bulk" queens from just anyone and Dump them into the Mexican Market. It has made a lot of people upset for the later queens arrived with problems that were difficult to eradicate. 
A delegation of Chilean queen breeders were in Mexico last year defending their products, but the damage was just too much and they did not recuperate the reputation damaged by the previous queens sold. Their price is reasonable for Mexico; anywhere from $8.00 to $12.00 US dollars. If the transportation is the only factor from Mexico to Canada, why are they sold in Canada for $25.00? Is this US dollars?


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Canadian dollars. Our exchange rate with the US is terrible. 1 Canadian dollar is worth .69 cents USD.
Beekeeping equipment is really taking a pounding from it since most everything is made in the USA and sent to Canada. But that's life


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I think I can just bite the bullet and deal with some meanies and requeen with my own raised queens as I need it. 
It's painful to have 37-40 dollar queens get superseded or do poorly. It's not the producers fault I know it just happens but the outlay of money is so much more now and I wouldn't be out as much if we lost 10% of them versus the expensive ones.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

So I guess my choice to go with the Chilean just got a little easier because I just got an email from Olivarez and they have no queen shipping dates until after June 1st . * Is that strange ? *


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

No, it is not strange. It is a sign of U.S. demand for queens to increase colony numbers and to split for singles that can be sold or used for honey production.

On the flip side of the Canadian dollar, I can order just about anything from Canada for a 30% discount. I know it hurts though, I have relatives in B.C.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

"Ben , I can make you feel better...... You could not give me a queen from Mr. "Zero"(we write on the roofs the source of the queen, and Christian says it's a zero, not an "oh". ). For us, they do not work in minimal flow conditions, but sure do perk up when the feed pail goes one. They must feel entitled.

Crazy Roland


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## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Ben Little said:


> So I guess my choice to go with the Chilean just got a little easier because I just got an email from Olivarez and they have no queen shipping dates until after June 1st . * Is that strange ? *


Why Olivarez? There are plenty of other breeders in N Cali. Many of which produce a higher quality queen imo. I will never buy queens from Ray. Guy has no respect for beekeepers around him.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Why don't you raise your own queens Ben? Raise them this summer, use them for your requeening, and winter the rest for use next spring.


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## Dominic (Jul 12, 2013)

Ben Little said:


> Canadian dollars. Our exchange rate with the US is terrible. 1 Canadian dollar is worth .69 cents USD.
> Beekeeping equipment is really taking a pounding from it since most everything is made in the USA and sent to Canada. But that's life


No kidding. Gotta import as little as possible this year, the dollar is terrible.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

BUT, remember the positive side of this currency equation... Selling honey.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Michael Palmer said:


> Why don't you raise your own queens Ben? Raise them this summer, use them for your requeening, and winter the rest for use next spring.


I need pollination units for end of May, I will be raising queens this year and making more nucs. Last year I was shorted on queens from local producer(s) due to the very late spring. I don't want to buy package bees @ 220.00 Canadian, so we just keep splitting and making nucs for insurance. I hope to be able to be more self reliant in a year or 2.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

RAK said:


> Why Olivarez? There are plenty of other breeders in N Cali. Many of which produce a higher quality queen imo. I will never buy queens from Ray. Guy has no respect for beekeepers around him.


Truthfully, I don't really know. It was the first place that our province imported from in Cali. Either way the prices this year will still be bad from the US and money is tight for me right now.


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## Dominic (Jul 12, 2013)

Ian said:


> BUT, remember the positive side of this currency equation... Selling honey.


Or exporting just about anything else. As another said, makes canadian queens a lot more affordable to american beekeepers. Wish I was already big enough to export queens there.


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## Keith Jarrett (Dec 10, 2006)

RAK said:


> Why Olivarez? There are plenty of other breeders in N Cali. Many of which produce a higher quality queen imo. I will never buy queens from Ray. Guy has no respect for beekeepers around him.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

RAK said:


> Why Olivarez?


Its US; Olivarez, Strachen, or Foster


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

RAK said:


> Why Olivarez? There are plenty of other breeders in N Cali. Many of which produce a higher quality queen imo. I will never buy queens from Ray. Guy has no respect for beekeepers around him.


Due to the requirements for importation there are a limited number of queen producers willing to work through the process. Here are the Ontario options for this season:

http://www.earlyqueenarrivals.com/1952.html

I had a >50% supercedure rate on Olivarez queens last season and have no plans to import again this season.


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Strachan!!!!!! Better than 99 percent acceptance rate(NWC), and very few supercedures that season. I hope you got your order in last year. They ussually book up real fast.

Crazy Roland


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

I think a lot of the issues with acceptance/superseding is the shipping conditions and timeline they go through. One more reason to try relying on over wintered nucs for making splits and requeening.
As far as queens go, I think "most" producers have a good product, I just have bad luck sometimes. Plus most of you know that fresh local queens are better then imports any day.

So for me, I will be getting the Chilean and deal with issues when they show up for this season. Our Honey production suffers regardless because we split heavy, we need that pollination cheque to pay the bills and ourselves , Honey sales seems to be winter survival money.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

Well I chickened out and went with Olivarez and Kona coming end of April. *Can anyone tell me if you have had any aggressive Chilean queens please ? *


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## B&E (Dec 27, 2011)

Ben Little said:


> Well I chickened out and went with Olivarez and Kona coming end of April. *Can anyone tell me if you have had any aggressive Chilean queens please ? *


Yup. I have had mean ones. I mean really mean. My employees no longer want them. Sorry. You asked.


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## Ben Little (Apr 9, 2012)

B&E said:


> Yup. I have had mean ones. I mean really mean. My employees no longer want them. Sorry. You asked.


Thanks, that's what I need to know.


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## dgl1948 (Oct 5, 2005)

Ben Little said:


> Well I chickened out and went with Olivarez and Kona coming end of April. *Can anyone tell me if you have had any aggressive Chilean queens please ? *


We have used them since they became available with no issues. We get them from Beemaid in Winnipeg so we go in and pick them up on the day they arrive. Acceptance is good and they have been good producers.


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## KatieBee Honey (Mar 3, 2016)

I may sound stupid for asking this but can Chilean queens be shipped to the U.S? I've just never heard of them


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

>> ... can Chilean queens be shipped to the U.S? 

No, (unless you are a university or government agency with appropriate permits). Queens can be imported into the US from Canada or New Zealand. 



> *Importation of Honey Bees (* Apis mellifera mellifera) and Beekeeping Equipment
> 
> Adult queen honey bees and package bees (worker bees, drones, with a queen) can be imported into the continental United States (i.e. not including Hawaii) from Canada and New Zealand:
> 
> ...


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## sharpdog (Jun 6, 2012)

Ben Little said:


> Well I chickened out and went with Olivarez and Kona coming end of April. *Can anyone tell me if you have had any aggressive Chilean queens please ? *


We bought 7 nucs with fresh Chilean queens in 2013. I kept them all together that year and and they outperformed my other hives for honey. I didnt notice the agression till fall. I requeened two of them then, the next year they were still hot, but productive. Last year I came across one again (they were very distinctivly marked red), and it was still hot but one of my best hives, so I used her to breed one round of daughters. Daughters seemed fine.


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