2025 Carniolan Queens

Betterbee is proud to offer quality mated Carniolan queens to beekeepers across the country. The Carniolan honey bee, Apis mellifera carnica, is one of the two subspecies of the Western honey bee commonly used in American beekeeping. The other subspecies is the Italian bee. Carniolan bees originated in Carniola (which is part of Slovenia) and surrounding regions. They are known for their gentle disposition, resistance to mite infection and their ability to rapidly control hive populations in response to nectar flows. Brood production increases rapidly in the spring in response to nectar flow. The brood production decreases rapidly at the end of the honey flow. These bees typically are very frugal with winter stores, successfully over wintering with lower honey consumption than Italian bees.

The mark color for 2025 is blue. Extremely warm weather may delay shipment, in which case we will contact you.

Please note queens can be picked up at Betterbee, or shipped by FedEx Overnight.

Overnight shipping offers overnight delivery of queens to the entire US and offers arrival of delivery Tuesday through Friday. Price is $32.00 for up to 10 queens. Please note we do not ship queens on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Please see drop down for the dates of delivery. If you need a specific day of delivery, please call us at 800-632-3379. Generally, queens are shipped on Tuesday and received by customer on Wednesday, although delays or holidays may change the schedule. Monitor your email for a tracking number when the queen(s) ship. For pickups, queens may be picked up on the date stated, or perhaps the day prior (call first before driving to Betterbee).

If you are ordering two different dates, please order them on separate orders. There will be two shipping charges, as they will be shipping on two separate dates.

Cancellation/Replacement Policy and Terms:

• Queen acceptance depends on several factors beyond our control and for this reason we are only able to offer replacement if the queen arrives dead or if she is a drone layer
• Queens are living creatures and are perishable. Betterbee is not responsible for the loss of queens due to overheating once they are received by the customer. Bees must be kept cool (room temperature) and out of direct sunlight until installed in the hive. Queens should be installed within 1 to 2 days of receiving the queen and attendants. Give 1 drop of water daily until installed in the hive. 

Factors Important for Queen Introduction:

• Know the queen status of the hive. Hives with virgins or queen cells will often kill introduced queens.
• Place the queen cage between frames, preferably between frames containing brood.
• Hives that have been queenless for several weeks may develop laying workers. Consider adding a frame of young brood 1 or 2 days prior to queen introduction.
• Check carefully for queen cells and remove at the time of introduction.
• Push-in cages are one method that works very well for introducing queens.

Click Here for Installation Instructions.