> The anomaly here is the Southeastern US package/queen producers, some
> relying on a pretty ragtag bunch of subcontractors to actually provide the
> bees and the queens.  The reseller of bees with subcontractors is different
> from the vertically integrated producer of something for which they strive
> to establish "brand name recognition".  Note that there are no "brand
> names"
> for any specific bees among the Southeastern US suppliers of bees and
> queens, while the California producers have a name for everything, the most
> recent being "Razzmatazz" or something like that.
>

Which is why I buy my Carnies from California suppliers who specify the
kind of bee they sell.

>
> I played with raising my own queens for a few years, but a queen is just
> about the cheapest thing I can buy in beekeeping, so a
> professionally-raised
> queen is not a luxury, it is a sound business decision.
>

Excellent advice and I pass that on to my mentees. Only thing in favor of
raising your own is that is it is fun to raise your own as long as you are
not interested in honey surplus and occasional failures. Plus, I would
never let my bees raise their own if there was a short supply of other
beekeepers in the area. A long time ago, that was the case for me, and the
outcome was going from really successful bees to some which were not.
Inbreeding is not good, as I learned the hard way. So I like to bring in
new blood every few years as well as grow my own from the good guys (guys
includes all genders/races/national origins/and any other thing I missed in
my effort not to offend).(For those concerned about the term, blood, in
reference to bees, before posting please take a paper bag, breathe into it
20 times and then consider the term, metaphor which you learned in HS
English many years ago. ) (For any other whom I have offended by saying
whom or any others who are offended by anything I said or did not say, I
can provide you with plans for a human sized deep usable as a safe space. A
paper bag is included.) (TMTOMH)

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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