I appreciate Dave Green weighing in on the queen topic.  I have had
good experiences with Wilbanks and Parks (as well as son-in-law of
Park named Wooten).  The queens are everything, but service is
right up there too.  I ordered 50 queens from Spell Bee Company
last week on the advice of a beekeeping friend for a trial.  When
I discovered I had to leave town for a couple of days I called up,
got Mrs. Spell, and they were able to get me the order 3 days
early.  I was leery of Spell's queens because they were cheap
($4.00 each), and when I called up they added .35 per queen for
Apistan.  It was a bit of deceptive advertising, but I wasn't price
shopping.  I used to buy queens from Hardeman in Ga. and have 50
on trial this year.  The jury is out on them.   They looked good
early on, good buildup, good temperament,  but as the season
progresses they are showing a lot of variability, or I have had a
lot of supersedure.  I will let you know later.
 
I ordered some Starlines last summer to give them a trial again and
was most disappointed.  But Starlines are a whole topic (and
potential can of worms) unto themselves.  I would like to hear some
evaluations of the ARS-Y-C-1 queens if anyone has had any in the
harness.
Bill Lord
Louisburg, NC
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WILLIAM G LORD
E-Mail  : wglord@franklin
Internet: [log in to unmask]
Phone   : 9194963344