i got 4 new queens this past Saturday thru my local bee ass. they seemed to be on the small side. I've heard it mentioned that some breeders ship some queens prematurely to get their orders filled. if these queens are smaller than average could this be the case? i was also surprised that they did not come with attendant bees, just the queen in a 3/4" x 3" cage. if these are queens in early development how might their future performance be affected?
Have you placed these queens in hives? They won't last long without attendants. And if they are virgins, they need to mate within a few weeks of emerging or they will never mate property and will become drone layers.
It's possible that the queens were undernourished from the beginning or that they are virgins. But some mated queens are small and still do a good job, so size is not everything.
They may have been real local bees that have been banked for a little while. They got small from not laying. Odds are they were breed before you bought them. Virgin queens cost much less.
these are mated queens. the e.m.b.a. got these queens & nucs out of louisiana. & yes they are in the hives now. when i brought them home sat eve. i put them on top of my cable tv box to keep them warm after moistening the screen. i installed them by 9:00 am sunday. one of the queens seemed listless from the start. i do not think she will survive. i checked today & they have eaten about 1/4" of the candy plug of 3 cages & 1/2" thru the 4th.