Thanks to everyone across the US who ordered queens this year! I hope they keep your hives happy through the winter and provide lots of workers in 2012. I will bring in some Carniolans and Italians for splitting season next spring, and my Iowa-raised queens will be available in late May/early June as usual. I'll try to get an online ordering system put together to make the process simpler for everyone next year. Mentioning splitting season reminds me of an episode from earlier this year. I had just brought in about 20 new hives and had nowhere to put them at the moment, so I dropped them in the driveway for a couple of weeks. I split them right there and hauled them to other locations for the honey season. Here are those hives with excluders and 3rd story splits ready to head for their new homes and new queens.