06/04/2026
We have a few extra Golden West Queens from Randy Oliver’s queen line at Olivarez Honey Bees, and they’ve just arrived. Pickup is available only from our Virginia Beach location, with a final cost of $69.00 each. For more details, contact Steve at [email protected] or call/text 757-408-5201.
Golden West Bees is run by Randy Oliver and his sons, Eric and Ian, in the California foothills. They manage a thriving migratory beekeeping operation, taking their hives to almond pollination each year and selling around a thousand nucs each spring, all without using synthetic miticides since 2001. In 2017, while monitoring mite levels, they found a colony that maintained zero mites without treatments, inspiring a selective breeding program starting with daughters from “Queen Zero.”
Every year, they split and requeen their 1,500 hives with daughters of queens from the most mite-resistant colonies of the previous season. From one resistant colony out of 1,500, they’ve steadily increased the number of hives showing full or partial resistance. By 2023, some yards had over half their colonies keeping infestation rates below 2% all season, even in crowded apiaries with heavy mite drift, and without any miticides.
The Olivers don’t breed for appearance but for performance, using color variation as a sign of healthy genetic diversity. They select only queens from colonies that are gentle, healthy, produce above-average honey, and perform well for almond pollination.
To learn more about Randy and the development of the Golden West Queen, visit ScientificBeekeeping.com
