>I don't think I know anybody who buys queens and packages In the U.S. the queen & package business is big business! The Wilbanks operation is featured in the November issue of Bee Culture and is not the largest. Quote from pg. 30 of the November 2005 issue: "Wilbanks Apiaries operate approx. 6000 hives for the production of package bees, which results in 15,000 to 20,000 packages a year. They produce over 60,000 queens for shipment worldwide." I would guess from the number of queen advertisements that there are around 20+ queen & packages producers in the U.S.. I do not know what the total production of queens & packages for a year might be. Most commercial beekeepers raise their own queens/cells or buy cells. Buy packages if they have serious losses . Buy packages in the far north where they depopulate hives. The northern tier beekeepers buy early queens before they can raise their own queens many times because of poor mating weather and the lack of mature drones (myself included). I am not sure how many of the above Wilbanks customers are hobby, sideline or commercial buyers. Bob -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and other info ---