On Wed, 25 Mar 1998, Aaron Morris wrote:
 
> I personally suspect (reader beware, Aaron's speculating here!) that
> the most likly culprit (if indeed this is a new problem) are trachael
> mites and mite treatments.  Note I've avoided discussion of Varroa mites
> here - varroa mites simply ARE NOT interested in queens.
 
I've seen queens with varroa mites on them.
 
The single most important aspect of queen quality after proper queen rearing
technique (i.e. nutrition, and larval age) is selection of breeding stock.
 
I have heard some "very interesting" selection stories from queen breeders.
 
Adam
___________________________________________________________________________
Adam Finkelstein               Internet Apiculture and Beekeeping Archive
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