Our Queens are raised right here in our apiaries. Queens are started from grafts of our best colonies. The queen mothers are selected based on a variety of factors including docility, disease and pest resistance, wintering, honey production, color, and etc.  The grafts are placed in queenless "starters" and finished over queenrite "finishers".  These cells are placed in my mating nucs, or directly into the nucs that are sold, and allowed to open air mate with surrounding colonies (which are mostly ours!).