Janet wrote:
>....in 2016 a lot of the club newbees bought packages composed of bees off the almonds and queens from ??? Those packages had such high queen failure >rates we were galvanized to start pushing all club members to:

>-breed their own queens from their best colonies and don't allow the "lesser" colonies to raise their own queens or drones....

FWIW I think that is a great idea not just for getting better queens, but also for really learning about and effectively managing colonies.  Back before my current life on the road profession I got into raising my own queens by grafting from my best colonies and loved it.  Besides being fascinating in and of itself, it got me into all the hives on a regular basis, enabling me to nose about and see what was going on.  During that time I had my best overwintering survival rates (up to 100% across 12 hives).  These days I'm only home a day or two on weekends, and don't have the time or the schedule to raise queens.  I've tried the next best thing, which is to buy queens from a local and well-respected beek, who raises his own, but he has been sold out the past two years.  This year he has promised me queens by mid-summer, so we shall see.  Even just going into every hive to find and replace the queen is a great exercise.  So, for your club, if one or two beeks show an ability for raising queens, maybe they can provide stock for everyone?  For me, I am looking down the road about three years, when I can start the next chapter of my life, of which a few paragraphs will involve, once again, raising queens.

Bill
Claremont, NH US

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