My question with the Pettis paper is that in my experience shipping has not changed significantly in the last few decades while the claims of queen failure due to shipping have gained a lot of attention. If anything shipping has improved. We now have UPS overnight and USPS next day or 2nd day air. I well remember queens bouncing about in the USPS for up to 4 days and arriving at least alive and without noticeable increased failure. Even to my deeply rural site a hundred miles from nowhere in eastern WA.

If I might some personal experience. In the late 90s I too was experiencing what I considered unacceptable supersedure rates after what appeared to be a successful introduction. I said to myself "self your a smart boy, raise your own queens" I began with new world carnies straight from the source and for the last 12 years grafted from my own not very scientifically selected out performers. I do what I can to keep an ample drone population in my mating yards but there are 2 large commercial locations within flight distance so plenty of rough boys in the neighborhood. Only to say these are not highly selected and bred queens but just good all around bees. I keep close records and every queen is marked so I can stand by my claims. Over 80% of the queens are still there the next year and if I like the looks of the colony I let her go an additional year when better than 50% are still there. I never remove a queen that has made it to the breeder class and it is not unusual for them to go into her 3rd year and rarely I see a 4th year queen. 

3 years ago I had a unauthorized virgin clean out a batch of cells that I expected to transfer that day and had the mating nucs all ready so I called my friend in Orland with the same PH initials as mine (we won't name any names) an ordered a couple dozen of his carnies. They arrived next day and went straight into the waiting nucs. I treated them the same as my own virgins and let them get going in the nucs for a few weeks and then into production colonies. They did as well or possibly better than my own. 19 of 24 there the next spring, 11 the second spring.

So I don't personally see problems with Calif queens and shipping seems mostly OK. It certainly can't be any of us conscientious and skilled beekeepers, that goes without saying,so the only remaining culprit must be those damn ungrateful bees. 

Paul Hosticka
Dayton WA

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