Brian, Kona queens from Hawaii are very popular. These queens were wonderful, gentle offspring and yes, they did raise massive amounts of brood, not as great for honey production, in my opinion. These were the some of the colonies that I lost last winter (8 of 9), some of the colonies had Carniolan queens from California. The Carniolan colony was the only one to come through winter. I recall Finsky telling me to requeen the Kona queens because they were not indigenous to my area and were not built for cold. Shoulda listened, smiling. Have a wonderful day, love our life, health. Cindi