> So would that be called "queen failure," or "failure of a colony to
replace a failing queen"?

My question was not about what occurred, but rather terminology.
A honey bee colony has the potential to be immortal -- replacing its queen
every year or so.
Every colony has to potential to replace a failing queen -- the behaviors
necessary are hard wired.
We use the generic term "queen failure."  All queens will eventually
"fail."  But that doesn't mean that the colony needs to go hopelessly
queenless or settle for a failing queen.

A question to those of you who keep USDA Russian stock -- how often do you
see colonies "fail" due to a poor queen?  I ask this since the Russians are
notable for building supersedure cells.

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
ScientificBeekeeping.com

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