Martha Carpenter Mite Mauler Queens $45 each

By completing this purchase, you agree that you have read and understand everything discussed in this description. 

 We will start taking orders for 2024 queens open mated with Iowa drones (winter hardy) when we have started our grafting process, are assured that there has been a good mating, and have new queens that are up to our strict standards.  Please remember that we are in Iowa and our daily temperatures are volatile.  Our plans are to start grafting in April to have queens available mid to late May.  It can be as late as mid-June before they are available if the weather remains cool like it did last year.

Martha Carpenter Mite Mauler honeybees are a gentle Italian strain with very good mite resistance, strong honey producing characteristics, and able to adapt to different climates.  An all-around winner.  They were developed by William and Martha Carpenter through 20 years of selective breeding. *

Martha Carpenter bees are known for chewing up mites.  Their mouths are strong enough to be able to bite through the exoskeleton of the mite.  Sometimes they pull the legs off the mites, but usually they bite through their body and toss them aside.

Cost per Queen is $45.  Iowa residents will be charged Iowa sales tax.  Shipping charges are according to shipping zone distance, but at a discounted rate. 

Please call Spears Bee Farm at 641-224-2233 if you are interested in purchasing more than 10 queens to verify availability and shipping prices.

These bees are adept to surviving our unpredictable Iowa winters as well as Florida's hot and steamy summers.  Of course, there are weather circumstances that none of us can predict that will influence seasonal survival.   This, along with beekeeping practices not under our control, leads us to the following policies.

Our queens are healthy and have proven to be laying a good pattern when we ship them.  We are not responsible for loss of production or disappearance of your queen once you receive it.  You are always welcome to call us to discuss any situation.

Shipping:  Due to declining quality in shipping services, along with shippers' unwillingness to honor insurance claims, we can no longer offer a guaranteed live delivery, replacement, or refund policy.  You are placing this order at your own risk!  That said, please understand that we will always do our best to get your order to you alive and healthy!  This is also why we are only offering USPS Priority Express or UPS Next Day Air shipping options.  We prefer UPS.  They seem to be more consistent across the US in their care of the bees and have quicker delivery than USPS. These options are what we have had the best luck with.  Many queen breeders are now having to implement similar policies in order to stay in business and still offer our customers the best queens possible.  We recommend that you pick your order up at the UPS facility and we require pick-up at the Post Office for USPS.  

In the unlikely event that we are unable to make or supply your queen order within the current season, then we will refund your payment.  We assume no other responsibilities and will not be held responsible for any additional funds past that which you paid us for your order.

Please understand that these queens raise bees that are mite resistant.  Your mite numbers will not diminish until the eggs she lays grow into mature, working honeybees.  It is imperative that you introduce your new queen into a low mite environment.  

We currently do not sell or ship queens to California, or outside of the United States' lower 48.

By completing this purchase, you agree that you have read and understand everything discussed in this description. 

The Queen Pictures are a representation of our queens, but NOT a picture of the queen that you will receive.  

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* History of the Martha Carpenter Queen

by William Carpenter

Carpenter’s Apiary was established in 1968 in New York state.

We were a migratory apiary with 2000 hives of bees, which moved between New York, Florida, Iowa, North and South Dakota.

Since I retired from migratory beekeeping, I began raising survival queens, by not using mite controls. . . Read More