Last year when I purchased two packages of bees with queens, one of the
queens was superceded within a few months.  The queen in the second package
left the hive _without_ the swarm (I witnessed this happen. The swarm was
ready to leave earlier in the day, but the queen wasn't.  She then left
later in the afternoon on her own.).  The queens currently in my hives are
the offspring of the two original queens.  I have noticed that these queens
also seem to be of questionable quality.
 
Do the methods that the queen breeder uses have an affect on the quality of
queens?  Will these queens pass these traits on to future generations?
 
As a result of what I consider questionable quality of these queens, I have
new queens on order and will be requeening.
 
Laura Downey
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