Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p> Winter queen banking has emerged as a promising strategy for increasing the availability of domestically produced honey bee queens ( <italic>Apis mellifera</italic> L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) early in spring. For this approach to be adopted commercially, banked queens must withstand long-distance shipment without compromising their quality or colony establishment. This study assessed the effects of shipping overwintered banked queens across Canada on reproductive quality, acceptance into nucleus colonies, and resumption of oviposition. Domestically reared queens were banked from August to April and shipped to three destinations across Canada. Temperature was monitored throughout shipment, and queen body weight, sperm viability, colony acceptance, and oviposition onset were assessed upon arrival. Queen survival during winter banking averaged 77.3 %. During spring shipping, queens exposed to moderate temperatures (12–27 °C) maintained high quality, with body weight and sperm viability comparable to unshipped queens. In contrast, queens exposed to prolonged cold temperatures exhibited a ~ 15 % reduction in sperm viability. Despite this, acceptance rates remained high across all groups (> 90 %), and queens resumed oviposition rapidly. These findings indicate that banked queens can be shipped successfully over long distances under appropriate transport conditions, supporting queen banking as a practical tool for reducing reliance on imported queens in northern beekeeping regions. </p>