I will become a new beekeeper April 14 when my four 4 pound bee packages
arrive in Fairbanks on Alaska Airlines. We have a short beekeeping season
here in the interior of Alaska and overwintering bees is possible but not
generally considered economical. I have read some about the two queen system
and how it can be useful in northern areas during the nectar flow. Generally
what I've read seems to start with the premise that a beekeeper has hives
that have been overwintered and that he or she will introduce a second queen
into the colony rather than establishing a new colony with two queens from a
package. I've asked around here to find out who locally uses the the two
queen system. There are only about 400 hives in the Fairbanks area and only
a few people with more than perhaps a dozen hives. One man told me he had
tried it but that generally the workers would dispatch one of the queens.
Any suggestions on successfully starting a two queen hive with carniolan
bees from a 4 pound bee package?

Lance Gillette