> On the same vein ( ie. getting started) I'm in Calif., right above
> Sacramento on the way towards Tahoe,
> and I'm all set up-hives, equipment, etc., and am looking for a source of
> either Midnite or Starlite
> bee packages..however, the local bee folk around here tell me that "they"(?)
> won't ship to our area
> or won't gaurantee live delivery. The sources they know of are back east, or
> south.  Is there anyone
> around my area that has packages w/queens of the above strain for sale? If
> not, has anyone had any
> experience with shipping from back there? The other problem is that they
 
One thing you may want to consider is to get bees from your favorite local
source now and order a Starline/Midnite queen as well.  When the queen shows
up replace the old queen.  Costs more and more work, depends on how bad you
want those "brands" of bees.  Also takes a while before the bees are of
that variety but I think most packages aren't necessarily of the type of
bee the queen is anyway.  York Bee in Georgia sells those queens but that's
Georgia.
 
> won't ship till April, guess
 
May not be by then, since you didn't order early.  I just ordered a package
(to replace an apparently mite-killed hive) and that supplier can't ship until
May 1, they're sold out on what they have.
 
-Mike