Jim and All,
  Queen longevity , is a real problem I have been tracking for years.  Yes , it has been going down but I don't think that we have good science to point out one problem.  I lean towards genetics of the queens. I could see  a difference in the queens from different producers. That should be expected. I do not believe there has been good in-depth study done on the problem. I would like to know if we did have a good study. We do know of certain chemicals that down regulate the genes in Queens. How much inherited is still not explored. 
 This thread does show how complex our problems are in beekeeping. I would like to compliment the researchers that has helped us so far in beekeeping. It is not easy to get the funds needed to do good research. 
Best Regards
Roy Nettlebeck    

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html