Queen Bees

APICOLTURA LA FENICE QUEENS

Apicoltura La Fenice, relying on the previous experience inherited by Giacomo Acerbi with Tenuta Ritiro, can be considered a reference for quality queens in the international market. Specialized mainly in Buckfast genetics, we collaborate with the best breeders of the European scene and we have been active for years in the development and selection of lines resistant to varroa.

The breeding is located in the heart of Salento, near Lecce, a territory that can count on early blooms that, together with our targeted stimulation program, allows us to have mature and selected drones already in mid March.
The work is done by an high, specialized team. Under the coordination of Luca Consigli, the operations involve maniacal care in the grafting and preparation phases of the breeders, to obtain well-nourished royal cells perfectly of the same larval stage. Queens collection takes place in several apiaries with a large number of drone banks. The parameters that our beekeepers must respect are rigid. They never collect mated queens if they didn't find at least two wide Apidea's combs of brood. For this reason our collection averages hardly exceed the 65%.

Another important detail: during the final stages of the previous season we choose the two male lines to be adopted for the following season, and then we produce several nucs, all with selected sister queens.

Only from these nucs we will withdraw combs of male brood for the creation of "drone banks" that will be placed in the mating stations.

in sufficient quantity to ensure that all the virgin queens gonna get mated comfortably all over 4 weeks. Despite all the areas surrounding the mating stations are saturated by our certain genetics hives, and although we can not define 100%, genetically controlled matings, we trust in this demanding work of saturation of the area, purposely planned.

All our mother breeders are selected for: health, productivity and docility and we test daughters for 1 years in our hives before using them for grafts.
The customer will receive cages on which indicated queen's genetic origin code , in order to facilitate him at the time of order if he had particularly enjoyed a specific line.

For us, the customer is in the first place either a hobbyist or a big company professional. We know that there are a thousand different ways of keeping bees, different needs, and different territories and climates. Precisely because of all this, we never stop to travel in free time to search for the best genetic material to bring to our headquarters to test it.

To safeguard our genetic heritage over time, we organize annual meetings with expert inseminators who will cross the material we have indicated to fix the desired genetic characteristics.

We are working to find

the fastest way

to ship safely queens all around the world.

Last but not least in terms of importance and impact factor on the quality of the queen, the variable "shipments“. Normally within 48 the couriers we work with arrive everywhere. But sometimes speed is not enough, especially when the temperatures are very cold or high. In fact, direct exposure to intense cold or heat of a few minutes is enough to definitively undermine the health of the queen, leaving her sterile or compromised due to thermal stress. To reduce the risks we have equipped ourselves with polystyrene boxes, with ventilation holes, ideal for protecting from the cold and also from the heat with the use of dry ice inside them.

As in everything we do, the passion and customer care requires us to never stop innovating and improving.

OUR QUEENS

BUCKFAST

The word "Buckfast" is now popular and undoubtedly on everyone's lips, Nowadays our queens are the Ferrari of the sector. Perfect for professional beekeepers. who work for the best harvest. We are the Buckfast specialist from the first hour.

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LIGUSTICA

Despite our Buckfast specialization, At the beginning also Apicoltura La Fenice had exclusively pure Italian queens.

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CARNICA

F1 cross with Buckfast drones makes this generation even more stable and productivity all season long.

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APICOLTURA LA FENICE - QUEENS TEAM

OUR STAFF

EMANUELE SHIPPED

QUEENS TEAM

Born in 1977, from Lecce. Graduated from the Art Institute of Lecce. Lavoratore multitasking, amante delle moto e della pesca in apnea.

DANIELA SIEPI

QUEENS TEAM

Born in 1986 in Varese, he lived for most of his life in Salento. Graduated from the Pietro Siciliani linguistic high school in Lecce, she gets closer to bees thanks to her husband Roberto, owner of Apicoltura Clori.

ANGELA WIFE

QUEENS TEAM

Born in 1997, nata a Lecce. Graduated in Accounting from the institute “Francesco Calasso”. Lover of nature and animals.

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ENRICO NUZZACI

QUEENS TEAM

Born in Lecce in 1989, before approaching bees he worked as a baker.