I would find longevity to be very difficult to judge outside of a
vacuum. Amount of foraging and field activity would cause this to be a
difficult variable to isolate.
        A grower questioned me this year on the number of dead bees he saw on
the dirt near my trailer containing pollination colonies. I had to go
into a discussion of the bees working wear and tear and find some
recently dead and show him recently emerged as a comparison. The wear
and tear was apparent. Death can be caused by performing lots of work. I
could breed a colony that lived a long time, was disease free, nice
population, pretty brood pattern, but would not work at all. (I had one
last year, had to feed 'em. 1 new queen later and they are great.)
        Thus, the longevity attribute may be skewed by more lazy bees. While
longevity is important the best is a work/longevity ratio that will be
more difficult to quantify. We know which ones are successful or not,
longevity enters here but becomes more art than science from a practical
standpoint. Other attributes can be quantified much easier, we measure
hive deaths from disease and queens that don't lay, we can tell if a
colony is aggressive, etc.

Thom Bradley

Computer Software Solutions Ltd wrote:
>
> My question on this is 'Why have I not come across any discussion on this
> particular attribute before?'
>
> It would appear on the face of it to be a most important consideration when
> it comes to selecting bees, since the longer lived bees can put in an
> additional three weeks harvesting.
>
> Can anybody shed any light on this for me please?.
>