[xcugat]

Hello,

I just wanted to know if anyone here has any experience with Carniolan Queens from Big island Queens in Hawaii. I placed an order for 10 queens all the way back in the first week of January for 10 Carni queens from Olivarez in California.

I called today to check in and they said they would still honor the order but the queens would come from Hawaii to me in New York in TWO DAYS (which I know they are getting slammed on the shipping for but credit to them are not passing the costs to me)

Apparently Olivarez has purchased this queen producer in Hawaii

http://www.ohbees.com/BIQ.php

Does anyone here have any experience with Big island queens or queens from Hawaii in general? I really am not a fan of non localized queens, especially from a tropical locale as I am in the frozen northeast, but I need these early to make some spring splits that hopefully will make some honey this year.

Thanks for any input.

 

[mahobee]

I'm sure it's too late, and you've already gotten your queens....
I ordered from them last year. The queen was actually shipped from California. I paid for overnight shipping, which cost more than the queen! They were very nice to deal with, and helpful in the face of my urgency to get a queen in April.

 

[melissodes]

If anyone is still interested, I ordered two Italian queens from Olivarez in early April and they said the queens were coming from Hawaii (BIQ). I got them exactly on time, they were in perfect condition, and were accepted quickly, and are now doing great. At this point, two months in, I am a happy customer. Total cost including shipping to CA was $90.