LASI Hygienic Queens

[Neils]

So it looks like LASI are now in the business of selling queens:
http://www.lasiqueenbees.com/

Will be interesting to see how this progresses.

[Adam]

I wonder if the odd queen, scattered around the country will be very effective?

[madasafish]

I wonder if the odd queen, scattered around the country will be very effective?

I am sure it will be - as effective as BIBBA are..

[Neils]

I suppose in some respects it will depend on whether people buying the queens perceive them to live up to the claims. I know enough people who regularly buy in queens on the basis that they're better than the resulting open mated variety that they end up with after a season or two. If these are perceived as such then presumably they'll do ok with repeat custom.

[Jon]

I see the main problem here as one of supply and demand. Unless Lasi is churning out hundreds of queens there is likely to be a backlog very quickly. Virgin queens at £20 are overpriced.

[Neils]

All their queen options seem to be priced at a premium to me. Perhaps that is reflective of the current volumes that they'll have available in addition to the claims made of them.

[Adam]

If people buy the LASI queens as an alternative to their usual supplier, I suppose that over time some of the hygenic genes will spread - but would they fade away if beekeepers just treated with apiguard and oxalic acid as they had done in the years prior. A better idea might be to encourage local breeding groups to buy a bunch of queens and actively try to continue the hygenic trait.

Introducing virgins is not always successfull; I wonder what percentage will be accepted.

[Jon]

Introducing virgins is not always successfull; I wonder what percentage will be accepted.

Introducing a virgin with a scoop of wet bees in an apidea is near 100% successful but she still has to fly and mate which is very much weather dependent.
Selling virgin queens for a tenner would be great business as it is so easy to produce vast quantities of virgin queens through grafting. It's getting them mated properly with the right drones which is more of a challenge.

[busybeephilip]

Introducing a virgin with a scoop of wet bees in an apidea is near 100% successful but she still has to fly and mate which is very much weather dependent.
Selling virgin queens for a tenner would be great business as it is so easy to produce vast quantities of virgin queens through grafting. It's getting them mated properly with the right drones which is more of a challenge.

Lassi queens, from the blurb on the website, seem to be open mated. So I suppose there will be a pool of drones flying about in years to come carrying lassi varroa resistance - hardly a bad thing. Its also very easy to churn out hundreds of virgin queens. As Jon says a tenner or less will create a lot of interest

[fatshark]

I've commented elsewhere on this rather interesting business model ... most Universities charge commercial activities a minimum of 100% overheads. Irrespective of how good or bad the queens are, they're cheap as chips considering they're presumably being produced using university staff, facilities and time (that could be being used for something else ... including the eyewateringly good Professorial salaries academics enjoy, er not). Sussex are clearly aware of the activity as the queens are being sold via their website. This could all work out very well ... if Varroa 'resistance/tolerance' or whatever gets widely spread and this can be attributed to the LASI queens they'll have a great Impact case for the next research excellence framework (REF).

Good luck to them.