virgin queen

[kdm]

I have had bees for many years,but i haven't done much in the line of breeding queens. So if i want a certain strain of bees can i buy virgins this early fall and use them for drones with a breeder queen the next spring to get a basic stock.

[Michael Bush]

If you get virgin queens of the stock you want, the drones will be only from the queens (and not the drones they mated with) so in theory, the drones will be from the queens only and not the local drones.  But what do you have against the local drones?  The local stock is exactly what I want...

[kdm]

Michael My bees swarm a lot more than i like, and my honey crops suffer. I thought i would try this on a out yard to see how it would work. Thank you for the info on virgins drones.

[johng]

you would have much better luck getting mated queens of the variety you want. If you just get virgins they are gonna mate with whatever drones you have in the area. Then you could start breeding from only the queens you that do what you want from them.