I was sent this interesting study today. Very relevant for us very northern beekeepers. Typically the 1st queens available are those bred for the mass market (Californian). Canadian queens are not really available until sometime in June. I have gotten mixed results (Cali Queens) - either great or poor. We have a few beekeepers building small (hobby - 10-20 hive indoor facilities - aka insulated ventilated T controlled sheds).

In the study, they compared the survivability of mated queens banked (20 per frame) in colonies housed indoors. They used 3 indoor temperatures (6C, 11C and 16C). The goal was to determine if those housed at above clustering temperatures would do better. They did 84% survival (Nov-April), 88% of which were accepted in Nucs May and 66% where still fertile mid-August.
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/5/402/html 

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