Obviously some people have had problems with shipped queens.  There are more than enough stories to make that unquestionable in my opinion.  The number of queens I have gotten by mail is small as is the number my son has gotten so maybe my experience is meaningless.  I had one II queen that the bees wanted to supersede from three week after I got her until I finally let them do it in the fall.  Other than that one II queen every other queen I have gotten has made it past the first winter, including another II queen.  My son got four and one had all dead attendants on arrival and she was not looking good and died the next day.  One other was not accepted.  Two did fine.  So, maybe we have been lucky?

It seems obvious some get damaged during shipment as there are enough stories about whole shipments being a problem.  But, I also wonder how many are the bee keepers fault?  Possible errors are things like introducing to a very weak hive where she is not adequately covered with bees to stay warm before release.  A hive already diseased with undetected EFB.  Too many inspections too soon after introduction.  Mite issues not well controlled.  Wax loaded with chemicals.  Not giving any open and sealed brood so new bees emerge fairly soon after introduction.  And, probably any number of other issues.  A lot of queens are purchased because the hive is queenless.  Why is it queenless?  Is there some problem that caused it to become queenless that still exists?

Looking for one single silver bullet is likely not the solution.  Do not get me wrong.  I am not saying it is all the bee keepers fault.  I just think there are lots of possible reasons.  As imperfect as buying a replacement queen is it sure beats not having the option of buying a new queen.

Dick


" Any discovery made by the human mind can be explained in its essentials to the curious learner."  Professor Benjamin Schumacher talking about teaching quantum mechanics to non scientists.   "For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong."  H. L. Mencken

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