>I suggest the real test of a quality in bees is if you can mail the queens to somebody in another part of the country and they are able to take advantage of whatever quality it is you are advertising. If it cannot be passed on then the trait(s) you claim to have bred for are simply not heritable and probably have to do with location, or management, or some such other thing. 

I purchased several queens from a Northwest breeder who does not treat and reports good results from his bees. None survived the fall/early winter, even though I did treat them in August. I don't believe it was beekeeper error but the result of not being acclimated. Multiple queens, made into nucs at the same time and made similarly are still thriving, even with this brutal winter we're experiencing. I try to bring in queens from different areas each year for diversity and looking for the bee with very low mite counts and good production. the only queens who have fit that bill so far are the Pol-Line and I'm getting good winter survival with them. I am still treating the Pol-Lines because they do not keep the mites below my threshold, which is 6 mites/300 bees.

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