> The price of single queen bees is almost always ten times the going
wholesale price of honey.

Nice observation, Pete!

A few years ago, at a queen producers meeting, one of the producers showed
us graphs that he had created of queen prices vs almond pollination
prices.  He pointed out that the queen producers' prices had not kept up.

Being a minor queen producer myself, I look at the labor involved,
especially if it involves shipping.  Queen cells are very cheap to
produce--the labor starts to add up when you add in making and maintaining
the mating nucs, mate out success, finding and caging the queens, preparing
them for shipment, TIME ON THE PHONE WITH BUYERS, etc.

It's profitable to sell orders of 100 queens to beekeepers who know what
they're doing.  We typically lose money on any queen sale to small buyers
who pick them up in person, simply due to the time involved speaking with
them.

IMHO, a freshly-pulled, well-mated, queen that has been given time to
demonstrate vigor and a good laying pattern is cheap at $30.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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