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Free Delivery £60+ | Free Gift £70+
Virgin Queen Bees – 2027 Season
Our UK-reared virgin queens are produced from selected breeding stock as part of our queen-rearing programme here in Northumberland.
For 2027, we will not be taking advance pre-orders for virgin queens. Instead, virgin queens will be released for sale throughout the season as batches become available.
Availability will be shown live on this page, allowing customers to order queens that are available at the time rather than booking many months in advance.
For customers looking for a queen with planned seasonal availability, please see our Northumberland Buckfast Mated Queens.
£19.00
Out of stock
We rear virgin queen bees throughout the beekeeping season as part of our professional queen-rearing and breeding programme here in Northumberland.
Our virgin queens are UK-reared from selected breeding stock and are suitable for experienced beekeepers looking to introduce a young queen into a prepared colony or mating nucleus.
For the 2027 season, we will not be taking advance pre-orders for virgin queens.
Instead, virgin queens will be released for sale throughout the season as individual queen-rearing batches become available.
This means customers will be purchasing from queens that are actually available at the time of ordering, rather than reserving queens many months ahead of the season.
Availability will be shown live on this product page, with queens available to order whenever suitable batches are released.
Because queen rearing is naturally influenced by colony development, weather and seasonal conditions, exact availability and quantities will vary throughout the season.
Our virgin queens are produced here in Northumberland from selected breeding stock within our established queen-rearing programme.
Our breeding programme is centred around our Northumberland Buckfast bees, with selection focused on characteristics important to successful beekeeping, including good temperament, productivity, colony strength and suitability for British conditions.
As with all honey bees, genetics and subsequent colony performance are subject to natural variation. The characteristics described are traits we select for within our breeding programme rather than a guarantee that every individual queen or resulting colony will express every characteristic to the same degree.
Virgin queens require different management from mated queens and are most suitable for beekeepers who are familiar with queen introduction and mating.
A virgin queen must first be successfully accepted by the receiving colony before completing her mating flights and beginning to lay.
Successful mating can be influenced by weather, drone availability, colony conditions and the local mating environment. Customers should therefore have an appropriate queenless colony or mating nucleus prepared before receiving their queen.
Please read our Terms & Conditions for Purchases of Bees & Queens before ordering.
For beekeepers looking for a queen that has already been naturally mated and assessed for laying, our principal queen offering for 2027 is our Northumberland Buckfast Mated Queen.
Our mated queens are UK-reared here in Northumberland and are available with planned seasonal dispatch dates.
| Weight | 0.01 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 10 × 10 × 10 cm |
| Delivery or Collection Week | W/C 18th May 2026, W/C 8th June 2026, W/C 22nd June 2026, W/C 25th May 2026 |
| Delivery Day | Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday |
| Type | Buckfast NHC 100, Dark Bee H1 |
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haggart.gordon430 (verified owner) –
i got 2 virgin queens a week a go looking good .
haggart.gordon430 (verified owner) –
HI BACK ON GOT 3 MORE VIRGIN QUEENS FOR A ATTITUDE HIVE , NOT MINE , SPLIT IN TO 3 NUKS TWO DAYS BEFOUR INTRODUSED NEW QUEENS IN TRANSPORT CAGE FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS THEN LET OUT ACCEPTED OK.
Harry Thomas (verified owner) –
Really happy with the virgin queen that I ordered over the summer. She was accepted in a split that I made and was laying within a couple of weeks.
liamas11 –
I can only review the service and what I initially seen of the queens as they are currently in mating nucs and won’t be inspected until the 3 week mark is up.
I was happy I received an email to state virgin queens would be in stock and I promptly ordered 3. These were delivered as stated and look as expected (triangle back and small until fully mated) Hand released into hopelessly queen-less nucs after 12 hours in cage, all seem initially accepted at the time so fingers crossed they all mate and come back. I will be keeping notes and monitor how well they do in my area and will be interested to see what traits they possess and if a viable option for me in the future, obviously much of this will depend on my local bees and drones, past swarms have not been good temperament but let’s see!
Linda Graham (verified owner) –
I was delighted to be able to buy one of your dark virgins about 3 weeks ago. On arrival, the bees were unusually sluggish and 3 attendants had died on the journey. The queen sat on my finger and I was a bit worried about putting her into the nuc in case she was ill. I rang for advice and was told they had probably been put near an air conditioner in the post office van, and I should put her in the nuc where the bees could warm and feed her, so I did, and I was advised not to disturb for 2 weeks. In spite of the awful weather, she’s now in good health, mated and much larger, and has produced 3 frames of eggs and larvae. I’m very pleased indeed, and thinking about getting another one, when they become available !