Chris wonders why US beekeepers seem intent on purchasing queens rather than
raising our own.
 
The standard advice in the US seems to be that the average queens from
knowledgeable queen breeders will consistently be superior to the average
queen raised by a hobbyist, sideliner, or commercial honey producer.  While
I am certain there are exceptions, this makes sense to me.
 
There is much that can go wrong with producing good queens:
1. Selecting the queen mother without proper evaluation.
2. Selecting larvae that are too old.
3. Chilling the larvae.
4. Having insufficient pollen to feed the larvae.
5. Having insufficient nurse bees to feed the larvae.
6. Improperly handling of the sealed queen cells.
7. Insufficient number of drones.
8. Drones from inferior stock.
I am certain there are more items to list, but that is a start.
 
The theory is that queen breeders, who will go out of business unless they
consistently produce superior queens, can control all the variables better
than someone who just raises queens occasionally.
 
Chris, I suspect that the numbers of queens raised in California is many
times the number raised in Florida, but that is a quibble and is more for
your information than anything else.  As you know, the queens are produced
in those two states (as well as in Texas, Georgia, etc.) almost solely
because their season starts 4-6 weeks before the season in the major honey
producing areas...the northern part of the country.  Moreover, an increasing
number of queen breeders are producing queens that are specifically bred to
do well in the northern states and will not do particularly well in the
states they are bred in.
 
The classic example, of course, is the Carnolian.  When I started beekeeping
in the mid-60's, Carnolians were not well known in the US.  Today, they are
surely at least number two to Italians in the northern part of the country,
and in some areas may exceed Italians in popularity.  Most Carnolians are
raised in California, but do not do particularly well in that hot dry
climate.  Italians are superior in that climate, but many, many breeders
raise Carnolians because they do better for their customers.  This, of
course, addresses one of your points concerning having queens that are bred
for local conditions.
 
Personally, I raise my own queens for needs from mid-May through June, which
is our strong swarming period.  The theory, which I borrowed from others, is
that the bees will make up for my mistakes when producing queens during a
period when their natural instinct is to produce queens.  Queens that I need
in April and August I purchase from professionals.
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds(tm)  the finest in comb honey production.