{"product_id":"golden-west-queen-bee-shipped-ups-next-day-air-copy","title":"OHB Golden West Queen Bee, Marked -SHIPPED UPS Next Day Air","description":"\u003ch1\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(43, 0, 255);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLAST DAY TO ORDER IS 9-10-26\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #ff2a00;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUPS Next Day Air\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"color: #ff2a00; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eWe ship Queens on Tuesday for a Wednesday delivery.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"color: #ff2a00; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eUPS Next Day Air charges are built into the price of the queens.  No additional charges.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eGolden West Queens\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRandy Oliver and his sons Eric and Ian run the successful migratory beekeeping operation of \u003cstrong\u003eGolden West Bees\u003c\/strong\u003e in the California foothills, taking their hives to almond pollination each year, and then selling a thousand nucs each spring. This is all without using any synthetic miticides since the year 2001.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile monitoring their hives for mite infestation in 2017, they discovered a colony that maintained mite counts of zero, without any treatments. Sensing an opportunity to free their bees from the plague of varroa, Randy decided to begin a serious selective breeding program, starting with daughters grafted from that \"\u003cstrong\u003eQueen Zero.\u003c\/strong\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"yellow\"\u003eEach year they split and requeen all their 1500 hives, solely with daughters of queens that headed the previous season's most mite-resistant colonies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStarting with only a single resistant colony out of 1500, over the years they have slowly increased the percentage of their hives that exhibit complete or partial mite resistance. In the first years, heritability was frustratingly low, but by the 2023 season, in some yards over half their colonies maintained infestation rates below 2% over the entire course of the season, right in the middle of crowded apiaries with plenty of mite drift, without the application of any miticides.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Oliver's do not select for \"looks\" and use their queens' variation in color patterns as an indicator that they are maintaining enough genetic diversity in their stock. But they do select for performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"yellow\"\u003eThey breed only from queens whose colonies are very gentle and healthy, exhibited above average honey production, and proved strong for almond pollination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe are now proud to announce that Randy and Olivarez Honey Bees are collaborating to produce production \u003cstrong\u003eGolden West queen bees for sale\u003c\/strong\u003e. OHB has an isolated mating yard, which will allow the Oliver's to better control their drone pool. This is a win-win for both of us, allowing OHB to sell open-mated Oliver queens mated to Oliver drones, while allowing the Oliver's to focus upon their successful selective breeding program, which involves performing thousands of mite washes throughout the year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep in mind that there is no such thing as a mite-resistant queen. It is the workers produced by the queen and the drones that she mated with that exhibit resistance behaviors. That said, the Oliver's want to make clear that they have not yet \"fixed\" the genetics for mite resistance into their bloodlines, so they do not yet make any claim that their stock is \"mite resistant.\" But it looks like you have currently got about a 50% chance that any of their queens might produce a resistant colony, a figure that we expect to improve each year. Keep in mind that even their \"partially-resistant\" colonies require fewer treatments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Oliver's have put a heck of a lot of work over the years into their selective breeding program, and OHB is very impressed by their progress. By producing and selling their Golden West queen bees, we hope to support them in their efforts to free us all from the scourge of varroa!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"yellow\"\u003eTo learn more about Randy and the development of the Golden West Queen, visit\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/scientificbeekeeping.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eScientificBeekeeping.com\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HillCo, LLC","offers":[{"title":"8\/27\/26","offer_id":53928679670043,"sku":"GWQ","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"9\/3\/26","offer_id":53928679702811,"sku":"GWQ","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"9\/10\/26","offer_id":53928679735579,"sku":"GWQ","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"9\/15\/26","offer_id":53928679768347,"sku":"GWQ","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0827\/5142\/2747\/files\/RandyOliverQueen_e180c8f9-4a90-4e03-91c4-a5d5ccf66150.jpg?v=1789147491","url":"https:\/\/expo.hillco.buzz\/products\/golden-west-queen-bee-shipped-ups-next-day-air-copy","provider":"HillCo LLC - Bee Expo ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}