Please read carefully before ordering your queen bee.

Saskatraz hybrids are produced in Northern California (Orland area) exclusively by Olivarez Honey Bees using Saskatraz breeder queens constructed in Saskatchewan, Canada by Meadow Ridge Enterprises.

Saskatraz breeder queens are selected for honey production, wintering ability, temperament, tracheal mite resistance, Varroa tolerance/resistance, and brood diseases. The Saskatraz breeding program uses recurrent natural selection to select for Varroa tolerance in productive colonies with good economic traits.

Saskatraz hybrids are being produced in Northern California using virgin queens from diverse families of Saskatraz breeder queens and open mating them with unrelated drone populations in the Orland area. These queens produce colonies with genetically diverse workers. This diversity results in increased vigor, and analyses of hybrid queens in Canada show fast spring build-up and increases in honey production. Your attention to fall stores for wintering and in the spring is necessary.

Use of Saskatraz hybrid stock in your apiaries should provide drone populations which will increase the frequency of alleles for honey production and Varroa tolerance, as well as other economic traits. This is because drones from the hybrids carry the genetics of their mother, the breeder queen.

Saskatraz breeder queen traits:

• Excellent honey production
• Good wintering ability
• Selected for increased Varroa tolerance and resistance to brood diseases
• Show increased hygienic behavior

We keep our queens in a well-fed queen bank at one of our apiaries. We do this to ensure that the queens are as healthy as possible. Because we only bring in enough queens to fulfill the day's orders, you must order them in advance through our website or via phone.

Queens purchased through our website will be collected from our apiary and brought to To Bee or Not To Bee after noon the next day we are open. You must pick up your queen on that day. Refunds will not be given for queens not picked up on time.

If you order a queen bee through our website, you must choose the in-store pickup option during the checkout process. We do not ship bees. Your queen will be at To Bee or Not To Bee after noon the first day following your order, provided that the store is open. For example; queens ordered Wednesday will be in-store on Thursday. Because the store is closed on Wednesday, queens ordered Tuesday and Wednesday will be available Thursday after noon.