I cannot say that I have a lot of in-depth discussions with those that call themselves 'Queen Breeders', but I think few do any testing of their breeders for resistance to Tracheal Mites. On two occasions I have raised the subject and have found it very difficult to get a straight answer. Most of those who sell queens to the like of ourselves are really Queen Producers, not Queen Breeders. Queen Breeders are those such as Glenn Apiaries, Charlie Harper, Sue Cobey, and others who are going through the long and arduous selection process for the queen breeders and then the equally arduous process for the $500 Breeder Queens sold to the Queen Producers. These guys, the true Queen Breeders, would not last long without testing for Tracheal Mite resistance. Sue Cobey used to make the results of her tests public...and may still, but I have not checked. SOME queen producers solely use the (tested) queens they purchase to produce (daughters) queens that they sell to us for $15-$20 each. Other queen producers will use the Queen Breeders they purchase to produce more queens, which they use to produce queens they sell to us. Still other queen producers will not purchase any of their queen breeders and will grow them all 'in house'. I have always felt that the best queen producers are those that produce queens for me directly from the II queens they buy from the true Queen Breeders. I have never been bashful about asking, and have never felt I have been lied to. (Some of those I have asked have said they do all their own selection of queen breeders.) As my personal preference is for New World Carniolans, I buy from those that sell daughters of Queen breeders bought from Sue Cobey. I agree with those who say 'put on a grease patty in late summer, and replace if necessary'. It is cheap insurance. Lloyd -- Lloyd Spear Owner Ross Rounds, Inc. Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections, Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels. Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************