Carniolan Mated Queen
£45.00
Carniolan Mated Queen Bees
Welcome to Black Mountain Honey, your trusted supplier of UK-mated Carniolan Queen Bees. Selected from high-quality European stock and carefully bred in the UK, these queens combine the calm temperament, adaptability, and productivity that have made the Carniolan bee (Apis mellifera carnica) one of the world’s most popular honey bee subspecies.
The Heritage of the Carniolan Bee
Originating from the mountainous regions of southern Austria and Slovenia, the Carniolan bee, often affectionately called the “grey bee” is celebrated for its balance of gentleness and resilience. It naturally adapts to changing nectar flows, expanding rapidly in spring and reducing brood production during nectar shortages, allowing for efficient resource use and strong honey yields.
Why Choose Carniolan Queen Bees
Fast Spring Build-Up: Rapid colony development once nectar becomes available, ensuring strong foraging populations early in the season.
Gentle Temperament: Exceptionally calm on the comb, making inspections easy and enjoyable—perfect for teaching and new beekeepers.
Cold-Weather Hardiness: Excellent overwintering success with compact winter clusters that conserve stores efficiently.
High Productivity: Excellent on major nectar flows, producing large quantities of honey and pollen during favourable conditions.
Disease and Pest Resistance: Naturally resilient, with strong hygienic behaviour that supports colony health.
Appearance and Behaviour
Carniolan bees are medium-sized and easily recognised by their dark brown-grey bodies with lighter, silvery bands. They are extremely docile and efficient foragers, maintaining harmony within the hive and reducing robbing behaviour.
Bred for the Modern UK Apiary
Our Carniolan Mated Queens are produced using responsible breeding practices focused on genetic diversity and consistency. Each queen is carefully selected for temperament, health, and performance, ensuring colonies that thrive in a wide range of UK conditions - from cool coastal climates to inland nectar flows.
Why Buy from Black Mountain Honey
At Black Mountain Honey, we combine proven genetics with precision breeding to deliver queens that help beekeepers build productive, calm, and sustainable colonies. Whether you’re an experienced beekeeper or just beginning your journey, our Carniolan Mated Queen Bees provide the reliable foundation for long-term success.
Black Mountain Honey – trusted suppliers of Carniolan Queen Bees for strong, gentle, and high-performing colonies.
Quantity
Shipping Info
We only send queens via RM Special Delivery
24hr Royal Mail Special Delivery (Pre 1pm). Signature REQUIRED. Queens are guaranteed to arrive alive. CANNOT be posted through letter box - £9.50
Queens are forecast to arrive the day AFTER 'day of dispatch'. We are unable to guarantee the day or time of delivery.
We guarantee the live arrival of your queens using ONLY THE ROYAL MAIL SPECIAL DELIVERY SERVICE (£9.50). If queens arrived damaged or dead, we will replace free of charge when paying for the premium Special Delivery service.
Please ensure your address is 100% correct. We cannot be held liable for any failed deliveries if the address is incorrect or you aren't available to sign for your delivery.
Dead on Arrival
We will replace Queens that arrive dead on arrival ONLY if they are still in their SEALED cage and reported within 8 hrs of the FIRST recorded delivery slot. You will be required to take a video of the queen alongside a copy of your order number. All dead queens must be returned to us in their sealed cages.
We only offer our 'dead on arrival' guarantee when using the Premium Royal Mail Special Delivery option.
All queens sent using RM 24 ARE NOT COVERED IF THEY DIE WHILST IN TRANSIT, REGARDLESS OF ANY DELAYS INCURRED WHILST WITH THE COURIER.
Important Delivery Dates
To ensure you receive your queens at the right time, please select a date of DISPATCH. The queens will arrive the following day. If you select 'ASAP' we will send them as soon as they are available but queens that are ordered against specific dates will take priority.
Queens are forecast to arrive the day AFTER 'day of dispatch'. We are unable to guarantee the day of delivery.
Cancellations
ALL CANCELLED ORDERS WILL INCUR A £5 RESTOCKING AND PAYMENT PROCESSING FEE.
We work closely with our breeders to ensure we have a steady supply of queens and cancelled orders make it very difficult for us to accurately assess the needs throughout the course of the year.
Our payment processing facility on the website incurs fees regardless of whether the balance is refunded to the customer.
From Sunday 17th July 2022 all cancelled orders will incur a £5 surcharge. By placing an order on this website, you acknowledge and accept that any transaction that is cancelled, will incur a £5 cancellation charge.
Full Description
Carniolan Mated Queen
Please ensure your address is 100% correct. We cannot be held liable for any failed deliveries if the address is incorrect or you aren't available to sign for your delivery.
To ensure you receive your queens at the right time, please select a date of DISPATCH. The queens will arrive the following day. If you select 'ASAP' we will send them as soon as they are available but queens that are ordered against specific dates will take priority.
Queens are forecast to arrive the day AFTER 'day of dispatch'. We are unable to guarantee the day of delivery. They are sent on a fully tracked 24 hr service (Royal Mail Special Delivery pre 1pm) and MUST BE SIGNED FOR ON DELIVERY.
You will receive email and text tracking notificiations of when your order will be delivered. We cannot take any liability for failed deliveries or dead queens when there is nobody in attendance to sign for the consignment on the first delivery attempt.
By placing your order you agree to the terms detailed above.
When ordering Carniolan Mated Queens you will receive the following:
- A marked (yellow for 2022), open mated, Carniolan Mated Queen in a slow release queen introduction cage. Queens are not clipped and we do not offer this service. If you order more than one queen, they will arrive in separate cages (along with attendant bees).
- A5 introduction postcard detailing successful methods for introduction and QR codes for support videos on our YouTube channel.
- Orders will arrive in a ventilated cardboard container. Your consignment will require a signature on arrival.
- On placement of order you will receive an email confirmation. On the day of dispatch, you will receive a tracking code which can be tracked at Royal MaiL
Queens should be introduced to the beehives as soon as they are delivered. They can be introduced into a colony on the same day as dispatching the queen but fondant tabs should only be opened once the colony is hopelessly queenless.
Here is a link to our YouTube channel on how to successfully introduce queens. We cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions. Bees are wild creatures and successful introduction is never guaranteed.
Mated queen bees are natural creatures and although we can advise you on how to achieve the best introduction success, we cannot be held liable for any failed queen introductions.
The Carniolan honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica, Pollmann) is a subspecies of the western honey bee. The Carniolan honey bee is native to Slovenia, southern Austria, and parts of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The bee is the subspecies of the Western honey bee that has naturalized and adapted to the Kočevje (Gottschee) sub-region of Carniola (now in Slovenia), the southern part of the Austrian Alps, Dinarides region, southern Pannonian plain and the northern Balkans. These bees are known as Carniolans, or "Carnies" for short, in English. At present this subspecies is the second most popular among beekeepers (after the Italian bee).
It is favored among beekeepers for several reasons, not the least being its ability to defend itself successfully against insect pests while at the same time being extremely gentle in its behavior toward beekeepers.
These bees are particularly adept at adjusting worker population to nectar availability. It relies on these rapid adjustments of population levels to rapidly expand worker bee populations after nectar becomes available in the spring, and, again, to rapidly cut off brood production when nectar ceases to be available in quantity. It meets periods of high nectar with high worker populations and consequently stores large quantities of honey and pollen during those periods. They are resistant to some diseases and parasites that can debilitate hives of other subspecies
Royal Mail Special Delivery
We send all of our live products using Royal Mail's Special Delivery Service
DASH Accredited
As responsible, sustainable and committed bee farmers, we hold full DASH accreditation.
Customer Service
Got a question? Drop us a message or call. We are always happy to help you!
Reviews
Can’t fault the service,good communication, everything was perfect.
Queen was as advertised,many thanks.