Queen Bees
Queen bees are essential to a healthy hive, serving as the sole fertile female responsible for laying eggs and maintaining colony dynamics. Hawaii Island is renowned for its quality queen bee breeding programs, supplying beekeepers worldwide with resilient, high-performing queens.
Queen bee production involves selective breeding to ensure traits like disease resistance, robust colony growth, and gentle behavior—qualities in high demand by commercial and hobby beekeepers alike. In Hawaii, the year-round warm climate and relative isolation provide ideal conditions for controlled mating and a reduced threat of invasive bee diseases. As a result, Hawaii Island has become a global leader in queen production, shipping queens to mainland U.S. states and international markets.
Beekeepers typically receive queens in specialized “queen cages,” often accompanied by a few attendant worker bees. Once introduced to a new colony, the queen begins laying eggs—potentially thousands per day—ensuring the hive’s continued expansion. The high-quality queens from Hawaii command a premium price, reflecting the island’s innovative breeding expertise and the indispensable role queens play in sustaining healthy, productive bee colonies.