Why We Can’t Raise Our Own Queen Bees in Arizona—and the Best Times to Order Them
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Many new beekeepers in Arizona wonder why they can’t simply raise their own queen bees. After all, bees naturally raise queens all the time, so why not let nature take its course? The main reason comes down to one unavoidable factor: Africanized honeybees.
Arizona Beekeepers Import Their Queens
Unlike other parts of the country where beekeepers can successfully raise and mate queens with known genetics, Arizona’s dominant honeybee population is Africanized. This means that any virgin queen you allow your hive to raise will almost certainly mate with Africanized drones, leading to colonies that are more defensive, harder to manage, and less suitable for backyard or small-scale beekeeping.
Because of this, most Arizona beekeepers must rely on ordering queens from reputable breeders to maintain gentle, productive colonies. But timing your order is key—there are certain months when getting a new queen is much harder due to demand from large-scale commercial beekeepers.
Common Reasons to Order Queens
Even if your hive seems to be thriving, there are several common reasons you’ll need to introduce a new queen:
1. Your Hive Swarms
When a colony swarms, the old queen leaves with a portion of the workers to start a new hive. The remaining bees will try to raise a new queen from the eggs left behind, but any virgin queen that emerges will mate with local Africanized drones.
Solution: To keep your colony from turning Africanized, it’s best to remove any queen cells and introduce a mated queen from a breeder.
2. You Want to Make a Split
Splitting a hive is a great way to expand your apiary and prevent overcrowding. But if you allow the new split to raise its own queen, she’ll mate with Africanized drones.
Solution: Order a mated queen to ensure the split remains gentle and manageable.
3. Your Queen Dies Unexpectedly
Sometimes, a queen dies for no obvious reason. When this happens, the colony will attempt to raise an emergency queen, but once again, she’ll mate with local drones—resulting in an Africanized colony.
Solution: If you notice your hive has gone queenless, it’s critical to act fast and introduce a new queen before the colony becomes aggressive, starts declining, or workers begin to lay.
4. Your Hive Is Taken Over by a Usurpation Swarm
In Arizona, usurpation swarms—where a group of bees invades a healthy hive and replaces the existing queen—are common. These swarms often bring an Africanized queen, quickly changing the temperament of the colony.
Solution: If your hive suddenly becomes more aggressive, it may have been usurped. Requeening with a breeder queen is the best way to regain control.
When to Order Queens—and When It’s Hard to Get One
Because Arizona beekeepers must replace their queens to prevent Africanization, knowing when to order is essential. But the availability of queens depends on the broader beekeeping industry, especially commercial pollination demands.
February to April: The biggest challenge in ordering queens happens during and after almond pollination season. Every spring, commercial beekeepers send their hives to California to pollinate almond orchards. When they return, they need to requeen thousands of colonies, placing enormous demand on queen breeders. Because of this, these can be tough months to get queens, as many breeders are focused on fulfilling large commercial orders. If you wait too long, you may struggle to find a queen when you need one. However, our colonies are building up, and it’s the perfect time to requeen or make splits. Our beekeeping group, The Arizona Backyard Beekeepers Association places large queen orders at this time so that we can get them in. Check to see if your local beekeeping group can do the same.
April to October: In our experience, these months are when you will find it easiest to order queens. After October it is often too cold for queen breeders outside of Hawaii to have queens available.
The Key to Successful Queen Management in Arizona
Since raising your own queens in Arizona will almost always result in Africanized genetics, ordering queens from a reputable breeder is the best way to maintain calm, productive colonies. The most important thing you can do to maintain a non-feral colony is to mark your queen and make sure you see her during inspections.
Key Points to Remember
- A queen can be replaced instantly from a usurpation swarm or raised from an egg in less than two weeks.
- Marking your queen is non-negotiable. Get this! One-handed queen catcher.
- Be aware of when queens are available.
- Do your research on reliable queen breeders (Scammers are ready to take your money.)
- Get in on group orders or create one yourself.
I’m Here For You
For weekly updates on beekeeping in Arizona and what do do with your bee products, sign up for my newsletter. You’ll also receive a FREE Quick Guide to Beekeeping in Arizona. You’ll love it!
If you would like more personalized help, book a mentorship session with me. Simply send me a message and we can set it up.
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Why We Can’t Raise Our Own Queen Bees in Arizona—and the Best Times to Order Them
This page may contain affiliate links. Learn more.
Many new beekeepers in Arizona wonder why they can’t simply raise their own queen bees. After all, bees naturally raise queens all the time, so why not let nature take its course? The main reason comes down to one unavoidable factor: Africanized honeybees.
Arizona Beekeepers Import Their Queens
Unlike other parts of the country where beekeepers can successfully raise and mate queens with known genetics, Arizona’s dominant honeybee population is Africanized. This means that any virgin queen you allow your hive to raise will almost certainly mate with Africanized drones, leading to colonies that are more defensive, harder to manage, and less suitable for backyard or small-scale beekeeping.
Because of this, most Arizona beekeepers must rely on ordering queens from reputable breeders to maintain gentle, productive colonies. But timing your order is key—there are certain months when getting a new queen is much harder due to demand from large-scale commercial beekeepers.
Common Reasons to Order Queens
Even if your hive seems to be thriving, there are several common reasons you’ll need to introduce a new queen:
1. Your Hive Swarms
When a colony swarms, the old queen leaves with a portion of the workers to start a new hive. The remaining bees will try to raise a new queen from the eggs left behind, but any virgin queen that emerges will mate with local Africanized drones.
Solution: To keep your colony from turning Africanized, it’s best to remove any queen cells and introduce a mated queen from a breeder.
2. You Want to Make a Split
Splitting a hive is a great way to expand your apiary and prevent overcrowding. But if you allow the new split to raise its own queen, she’ll mate with Africanized drones.
Solution: Order a mated queen to ensure the split remains gentle and manageable.
3. Your Queen Dies Unexpectedly
Sometimes, a queen dies for no obvious reason. When this happens, the colony will attempt to raise an emergency queen, but once again, she’ll mate with local drones—resulting in an Africanized colony.
Solution: If you notice your hive has gone queenless, it’s critical to act fast and introduce a new queen before the colony becomes aggressive, starts declining, or workers begin to lay.
4. Your Hive Is Taken Over by a Usurpation Swarm
In Arizona, usurpation swarms—where a group of bees invades a healthy hive and replaces the existing queen—are common. These swarms often bring an Africanized queen, quickly changing the temperament of the colony.
Solution: If your hive suddenly becomes more aggressive, it may have been usurped. Requeening with a breeder queen is the best way to regain control.
When to Order Queens—and When It’s Hard to Get One
Because Arizona beekeepers must replace their queens to prevent Africanization, knowing when to order is essential. But the availability of queens depends on the broader beekeeping industry, especially commercial pollination demands.
February to April: The biggest challenge in ordering queens happens during and after almond pollination season. Every spring, commercial beekeepers send their hives to California to pollinate almond orchards. When they return, they need to requeen thousands of colonies, placing enormous demand on queen breeders. Because of this, these can be tough months to get queens, as many breeders are focused on fulfilling large commercial orders. If you wait too long, you may struggle to find a queen when you need one. However, our colonies are building up, and it’s the perfect time to requeen or make splits. Our beekeeping group, The Arizona Backyard Beekeepers Association places large queen orders at this time so that we can get them in. Check to see if your local beekeeping group can do the same.
April to October: In our experience, these months are when you will find it easiest to order queens. After October it is often too cold for queen breeders outside of Hawaii to have queens available.
The Key to Successful Queen Management in Arizona
Since raising your own queens in Arizona will almost always result in Africanized genetics, ordering queens from a reputable breeder is the best way to maintain calm, productive colonies. The most important thing you can do to maintain a non-feral colony is to mark your queen and make sure you see her during inspections.
Key Points to Remember
- A queen can be replaced instantly from a usurpation swarm or raised from an egg in less than two weeks.
- Marking your queen is non-negotiable. Get this! One-handed queen catcher.
- Be aware of when queens are available.
- Do your research on reliable queen breeders (Scammers are ready to take your money.)
- Get in on group orders or create one yourself.
I’m Here For You
For weekly updates on beekeeping in Arizona and what do do with your bee products, sign up for my newsletter. You’ll also receive a FREE Quick Guide to Beekeeping in Arizona. You’ll love it!
If you would like more personalized help, book a mentorship session with me. Simply send me a message and we can set it up.
Pin Me!
