I welcome your comments to this post, since it is a bit of conjecture on
my part.

I have three colonies now and like it that way since I do not need the
extra honey. Up until last year I grew my own queens, but after the
winter before last, saw a disconcerting lack of the usual vitality of my
bees. So last year I brought in two new queens and left one colony with
the old stock. It continued to dwindle while the new stock thrived.

The recent article in Bee Culture by Larry Conner on drones brought home
to me what my problem most likely was. Drones which are from the same
genetic makeup of the mated queen result in less surviving brood. This
is normally not a problem since there are plenty of bees in an area and
the genetic mix is more than adequate to insure viability in the stock
of bees in that area. But in his work, to maintain purity, there was
some loss of viability because you continue to select for the best
queens and narrow the gene pool.

I also selected for the best queens and for many years had no problem
with viability since there was an adequate pool of other colonies in the
area. With Varroa, that all changed. I once had at least five beekeepers
in my area. They all quit. So over the past few years, the gene pool in
my area is probably only my three colonies, totally inadequate to keep
the bees healthy. Which is what probably happened. Last year, as I
looked at the two new colonies compared to the old one, all treated the
same, it had to be the stock.

I could go back to raising my own queens, but I would need to start with
at least twenty colonies of non-AI queens and would have to raise queens
from ten different colonies to maintain diversity with some margin.

The trigger for this post was I decided to try some 4.9 foundation, and
after making up one deep, wondered why I was embarking on the same path
that caused the lack of vitality in my bees. With 4.9, I would have to
raise my own queens, since store bought would not fit. There are still
no other beekeepers in my area, so the experiment is doomed from the
start. I might get great varroa resistance, but poor laying queens and
eventually, failure. I wonder if many other 4.9 experiments by hobby
beekeepers are also going to go down this road. Unless you have 20 or
more colonies or are in an area with many other beekeepers, the drone
problem will eventually be the overriding factor in the health of your
hives.

The final result with me, was to stop then and forget any 4.9
experiment. I also am now a queen purchaser and will not grow my own. In
essence, I was a victim of my own success as a beekeeper, keeping my
bees going while others in the area quit. Pride does go before a fall.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::