Hello Paul and welcome to the ranks of beekeepers. I hope you will enjoy working your bees as much as I do. In the beekeeping schools we give, we recommend requeening only every other year. If this is your first year, your queens should be good for another honey season. There are pros and cons to both fall and spring requeening. I have between 15 and 20 hives, and I usually requeen in the fall. The prices are better now (the breeders are trying to get rid of their stock) and it gives you a strong queen to enter the winter with. This past year, our winter was so mild, that my bees were cranking it up in January. You would not be able to get a new queen that early. Seasons are different from one year to the next, so we always hope for a better honey flow than last year. Good luck!! Steve Genta President-Piedmont Beekeepers Association Greenville, SC [log in to unmask]