Hi Eric,
Since we are talking breeder selection:
Here is an article from a study done by Tarpy and Seeley in the link
below. It is rather interesting to me because it comes at a time when I
have been emphasizing in my breeding an intense selection to increase my
brood viability in my colonies. I have been seeing low brood viability in
my coloneis which although testing above an acceptable 85% was rather
sickening to me and I felt in needed to be increased. This realization
came as a result of seeing brood viability of 100% in ferals found
in,,,,. Well, we’ll just say an "undisclosed location" to try and avoid
the inevitable argument that ferals are all the same in all areas. :)
From observing the brood viability in my colonies throughout the season,
it seemed viability was higher in the spring, and then would get a bit
worse in the summer, and then up tick again in the fall. The fluctuation
seems not to be varroa related, but instead I think it might be queen
related. Some queens had the ability to circle back and re-lay in these
cells, and being fond of this trait, I spared these queens that were
exhibiting this behavior. Not sure what the cause is, but I my
suspicions are for the moment that the low viability might be possibly
susceptibility to virus related. Which although NO clinical signs of a
virus exist. According to the prevailing research, viruses might affect
queen performance, and as the experts suggest could be a contributing
cause of the high incidence of queen supercedures and failures noticed by
some beekeepers lately.
I moved up my integration of this feral stock exhibiting higher brood
viability and am now seeing much higher brood viability in the daughter
queens, testing between 98 to 100% season long. I am very happy now, and
what ever the cause, I may have solved my viability issues for now and at
least know that the proper breeding and genetics can solve the issue.
Also, varroa symptoms have been at unnoticeable levels and colonies very
strong. But it will be interesting to see if colonies maintaining high
brood viability and large brood nest can manage to keep mites at
unnoticeable levels. The article in the below link seems to suggest that
increased brood viability as a result increased queen polyandry could help
me accomplish just that.
Promiscuous queen bees make healthier hives-
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10173-promiscuous-queen-bees-make-
healthier-hives.html
Best Wishes,
Joe Waggle
EcologicalBeekeeping.com
'Bees Gone Wild Apiaries'
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject
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