Queen flight distances

[nursebee]

Book I am reading says that queens will often fly several miles away from their own hives to find a drone congregating area with drones from other hives. Given a dearth of local hives, does this mean I need several yards around where I am trying to raise queens or on a fairly small scale is this just not needed. ANy thoughts?

This is just one area that could be responsible for my poor success...

[JBJ]

What type of “poor success” have you had? Some times queens and drones will fly much further. I know of a study where they put out virgins in remote areas with no known apiaries in a 10-mile radius and still ended finding some mates. Ample drone supply is important for high quality mated queens, but sometimes they can surprise you.
JBJ

[Robert Brenchley]

If your own hives have plenty of drones, the queens should mate satisfactorily.