Theoretically, you have a good point, Chris, about raising queens
locally.  I cannot comment about experience in the UK or on the
continent (Europe, that is).  However, in the USA, I have routinely
bought queens from the south (sent from Georgia to Michigan) for twenty
years and have always been most pleased with the results.  I would like
to rear my own queens, but find that my summer is always so tightly
filled with other commitments that the precise timing necessary for
queen rearing never quite works out for me.  It is just easier for me to
buy queens, and using commercial queens has never has been a problem.
Georgia raised queens winter perfectly in Michigan.
 
Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA