>.Question:
>Is it nessesury that package-bees have a full developt queen with it. Would
it
>be possible to send them just with a piece of open brut? Horizonticly fixt
in
>the package-box? Or is it thinkeble to offer the pachage-bees just a piece
of
>foam material enriched with the smell of a queen? I think this bees could be
>used to strengthen a small colony in spring without the cost of a queen, or
the
>queen could be added somewhere else.
>Any experience and answers? Thanks at all.
 
It is hard to ship bees without a queen. The main reasons for  this is
without a Queen they tend not to cluster and run around alot. This makes it
difficult for them to maintain their temperature and thus the bees experence
high mortality. While a peice of comb with open brood may help it is illegal
in some states to import Comb. Most of the large package bee supplers will
sell you a booster package but depending on how long they take to arrive you
may or may not receive bees in good shape. Most of the booster packages tend
to be picked up or shipped with other packages containing Queens.
 
Dean M. Breaux
Hybri-Bees
Breeding Better Bees