Mated Ligustica Queen Bee - Apis Mellifera Ligustica

We are now taking reservations for 2026 mated Ligustica queens. £5 deposit is paid to reserve your queen, the balance will be invoiced when the queens are ready. Please do bear in mind the dates are provisional and the weeks may slip back depending on the weather. As soon as we have information on dates we will email you with an update.

*If you are ordering for the 4th May onwards please specify the week you would like them in the special instructions box as you check out.

Queen Qualities - The Italian honey bee is known for its gentleness and most beekeepers find them a pleasure to handle. They display a good hygienic behaviour and their resistance to disease is very good, especially the darker sub-variety. They can be less inclined to swarm than some other races and are willing to enter supers, they are excellent comb builders. The queens are very prolific, colonies build up early in the season. They are excellent honey gatherers as well as being low propolis users which are ideal characteristics for hobbyist and commercial beekeepers alike. There are a few drawbacks, they have a strong urge for brood rearing regardless of nectar flow and they have a poorer sense of orientation meaning they are more prone to drifting and robbing than other races. They also need notably more stores in preparation for winter, but they do over-winter extremely well.

The queens are bred our EU breeder, they are naturally open mated and come marked. You can learn more about the Ligustica Queen as well as different queen strains here.

About Delivery & Ordering
First queens are available from early to mid April but this is heavily weather dependant. Whilst we will do our best to send the queens the week you request, we cannot always guarantee this however we do keep you informed of any delays by email and we also email when the order is dispatched so that you are aware your queen is on her way.

Delivery will be added to the invoice that we raise for the the balance due when the queens are ready, options will be as below*:

• Tracked 24 - £4.95 - no signature required.

• Guaranteed Next Day no time specified, signaurture required £8.00

• Guaranteed next day by 1pm delivery, signature required £9.50

Further advice about queen introduction can be found here. You may also consider using a queen introduction cage; this cage fits directly onto a comb with brood and increases the acceptance rate of the queens.

*Delivery costs are subject to change. Furhter information about delivery can be found here.