Brood pattern and colony productivity

About 5% of the readership of The Apiarist are from Canada — or, more accurately, that's where their IP addresses are. You can never be sure with the internet … they might be in Tora Bora using a VPN 😉.

Wherever, they're very welcome.

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, at 53° N is about 250 km closer to the equator than my home in the Scottish Borders, but has harsher winters. Like Scotland, the Canadian summer is appreciably shorter than at lower latitudes, meaning there is less time for queen rearing than enjoyed by those living in the balmy south.

As a consequence, large numbers of queens (~250,000/annum) are imported to Canada from warmer locations, like Hawaii or New Zealand. A recent study (Holmes et al., 2025) has compared the characteristics and performance of 'home grown' queens (actually from neighbouring British Columbia) with those from Hawaii or New Zealand.

Are they physically similar? Are they as productive? Do they overwinter as well?