In another thread Bob Harrison of Busy Bee Acres of Odessa, Missouri
said, “In 2006 I predict we will see the price of a single queen rise to
the $20
dollar level in the U.S. for the first time in history. In the $50 range
for a package will be the norm!”.

I am afraid that Bob’s predictions may just hold true. It will be
interesting to see what the larger package and queen businesses will price
their queens and packages this winter. AFAIK most of these folks are
already “sold out” for April and early May shipments. Firm orders have
been made during September and October without pricing. Why? The package
and queen operations that supply and support early spring sales have been
hit hard. In particular, the Gulf Coast States have taken a hard hit from
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Even as I type, Hurricane Wilma is doing a
number on South Florida, which supports honey production, pollination of
winter grown vegetables, overwintering of pollinators, and a few queen and
package producers.  In addition, fuel, sugar and HFCS prices are currently
higher that those we “enjoyed” last spring and will most likely not return
to those levels anytime soon. “Old Man Winter” has yet to storm through
the door and California’s almond and strawberry pollination requirements
will be hard to fill even with support from Australian imports.  November
is just around the corner and most of us still have time to feed our bees
and finish preparing for winter.  Increasing your chances of winter
survivability will most likely pay off big this spring. Making
preparations now for spring with thoughtful planning, most likely by
raising your own queens, will help to defray the cost of spring queen
replacements and splits. And, IMHO those who wait until late winter or
early spring to order packages, splits, and queens either locally or from
out of state will be hard pressed to fill their needs.


Chuck Norton
Norton’s Nut & Honey Farm
Reidsville, NC

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