COMMERCIAL CARNIOLAN QUEENS
Commercial queens are random mated queens from selected high quality colonies, suitable for production hives. The selection is focused on higher honey yields, cleaning instinct, calmness, lower swarming tendency and general characteristics of the Carniolan bees. They are open mated with drones from selected colonies.
All queens are a product of years of experience and careful selection that is regulated by two national institutes and a national bee health institution, as well as additional selection criteria chosen by the breeder. All of the queens are open mated with drones from a selected paternal colony. They are also marked with a serial number and colour code according to the year of production. All queens are certified 100% authentic Carniolan. After mating, they are inspected for good brood laying pattern and general health to ensure the best quality and excellent health of the queen.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CARNIOLAN BEES
Carniolan honey bees are the second most popular honey bee subspecies in the world. They are favoured among beekeepers for their gentle and calm behaviour, high yields and rapid spring development. They adapt the bee population and brood production according to nectar availability. The queen stops laying eggs during winter months, then rapidly increases brood production in spring, when pollen and nectar again become available, expanding the worker population rapidly, so the colony is capable of collecting early spring honey. They create large honey stores during periods of good honey flow. During research, the Carniolan bees have been proven to be more resistant to certain bee diseases. They are used to harsh winter conditions and are therefore ideal for climates with cold winters and abundant spring honey flow. To find out more, you can read our Why Choose Carnica post.
BREEDING PROGRAMAll queen bee breeders in Slovenia are subject to the regulations of the Carniolan honey bee breeding program and are supervised yearly by the Beekeeper’s Association and the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia.
The main goals of the Breeding Program are as follows:
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QUALITY SUPERVISIONAll bee colonies are kept in excellent health condition, which is supervised by the National Veterinary Institute. The Institute also regularly checks colonies for any sign of bee diseases. All colonies at the breeding station must be disease free and out of the 3 km range of any eventual American Foulbrood disease outbreak, which are reported by other beekeepers. The licenses for breeding queens are issued under strict conditions by the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia.
Every year, the Beekeeping Association awards queen bee breeders that have achieved best results in a certain breeding category (calmness, honey yield, resistance to swarming... etc.) Some of the Certificates of Excellence can be seen here. |