Instrumentally inseminated queen bees
Product information
- Price
- $200 (Price is per item, excluding GST, and in NZD)
- Order size
- 1 to 10
- Available types
- Instrumentally inseminated Italian queen bees
- Instrumentally inseminated kiwi hybrid queen bees
- Availability
- to
Widen your hive’s genetic pool by using our instrumentally inseminated queens. These queen bees can be breeder queens for your hives, either as queen mothers or drone mothers.
We only sell breeder queens proven to be Italian or Kiwi Hybrid, so each instrumentally inseminated queen bee is allowed to lay until we’re confident her brood is the right type and her brood pattern is good.
Instrumentally Inseminated (II) queens are carefully selected for their:
- genetic diversity
- sealed (capped) brood pattern
- productivity
- calm temperament
- hygienic behaviour
- queen longevity
- anti-swarm behaviour
Drone selection for II queens is based on the qualities that drone mothers display of calm temperament, genetic diversity, hygienic and anti-swarm behaviour, so you can be sure your queens come from good genetic stock.
All instrumentally inseminated queens are clipped and numbered, so we can identify them and trace their performance when they’re introduced to their nucleus colony.
We’re among the few people in New Zealand with the proven expertise to instrumentally inseminate queen bees, helping you to keep your bees healthy, productive and diverse.
About our Instrumentally inseminated queen bees
Italian queens
We’re proud of the characteristics of our Italian queens. The hives they lead are easy to work, productive and demonstrate hygienic behaviour. Their fast brood-building is particularly effective for hives for pollination or honey production.
Kiwi Hybrid queens
These bees retain the good characteristics of the Italian but have some Carniolan traits such as smaller overwintering clusters and fast spring build up. Their colour is less yellow/brown and shows distinctive striping on the abdomen.
Our producer
Penny is our instrumentation specialist. She has been producing instrumentally inseminated queen bees for our own stock for the last eight years. She has also more recently worked as an inseminator in the UK.
Here's what Luke Hutchinson from Northumberland Honey Company had to say about Penny…
Looking for a queen bee inseminator? Look no further. Pen is without doubt one of the best in the world.We have experience over a couple of seasons of breeding queens alongside Pen in our black bee and buckfast breeding programme. This is where Pen comes in, she not only has great results, but is highly critical of her own work, and one of the most open and honest people you’ll come across in the beekeeping industry – a rare gem indeed.
We have records going back 2 years showing excellent survival rates of Pen’s queens, great laying patterns and what is most impressive about her work is that she is genuinely interested in the field, keeps up to date with new research and has assisted us with our own audits. Pen is not afraid to try out new techniques or methods in helping to advance the area of instrumental insemination in bees which is also refreshing to witness. She comes with the most high recommendation.
-- Luke Hutchinson, Director at Northumberland Honey Company, August 2024.
Ordering Instrumentally inseminated queen bees
Pricing
Prices exclude GST and postage and packaging
Quantity
Limited instrumentally inseminated queen bees are available, so we recommend ordering in advance of when you need them.
Order
Use the order form to place your order. We want to meet your needs, so let us know your preferred delivery time frame and any special instructions you have. We’ll be in touch within one working day to let you know availability.
Once we’ve agreed on a plan for delivery and what you need, we’ll confirm your order.
Payment and delivery information
Payment
We’ll send an invoice for payment closer to the delivery date, before the bees are shipped.
Delivery
We can deliver almost anywhere in New Zealand overnight so wherever you are, you can benefit from our decades of experience in bee-keeping and breeding.
All queens are delivered by overnight courier and we use the last delivery of the day to minimise time out of the hive. We post queens Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to avoid any weekend delays.
Your queens are sent in a cage with escort bees and food and we’ll send you the courier tracking number once the queens are sent.
Your instrumentally inseminated queen bees can go into the hive and start laying straight away.