[log in to unmask] wrote:

>I see the same in my colonies.  I used to think this was night
>temperature related - cooler nights in the spring and fall cause the
>bees to cluster tightly restricting the queen to lay a tighter
>pattern?

Hello Waldemar,

This is a good observation you have made.  The (a) size of the brood 
pattern and (b) brood viability are BOTH very important, but they are 
different (although related to each other).

For Largeness of Brood Pattern- I would Look size of the brood patterns on 
brood frames during flows of nectar and pollen.  This may increase and 
decrease in size according to the seasonal changes and in bee population 
changes.  This is OK with me if I see fluctuating brood pattern size as 
long as it is justified by seasonal conditions or in response to cluster 
size. 

These pics on Daves link illustrate very well what is meant by largeness 
or size of brood pattern:

http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/broodest.html
 
Brood viability which is also very important, is a bit different in what 
to look for:

Solidness of Brood Pattern- (Brood Viability).  Denotes out-breeding 
associated with open mating (Brother Adam I think).  Look for solid flat 
brood pattern, absence of empty cells.  There are significant correlations 
of brood viability to winter survival (Tarpy & Page).  A colony’s 
phenotype is a reflection of the tasks performed by its workers and a 
significant concave relationship exists between brood viability and worker 
population (Tarpy & Page).  Increased genetic diversity has a direct 
influence on task diversity, disease resistance and other factors 
determining colony fitness (Oster and Wilson), and provides a buffer 
against fluctuations in the environment (Crozier and Page).  Multiple 
mating promotes colony fitness by lowering the probability that the queen 
will produce a high proportion of unviable diploid males within her brood 
(Tarpy & Page).  Colonies with a high level of polyandry will have a 
substantial fitness advantage  because of differences in growth rate 
during colony development (Cole & Wiernasz).  


Here in this article, studies by Tarpy and Seeley support the importance 
of brood viability in disease resistance in honeybee colonies:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10173-promiscuous-queen-bees-make-
healthier-hives.html

"This is convincing evidence that multiple-mated hives seem to suffer less 
disease," says Francis Ratnieks.


Here are a few links that explain brood viability and what to look for:


Breeding Improved Honey Bees
Mackensen Brood viability method
http://www.beesource.com/pov/usda/breeding3.htm 

Glenn Apiaries
The State of the Art of Bee Breeding
http://members.aol.com/queenb95/breeding.html


Best Wishes,

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA  
EcologicalBeekeeping.com
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
Feral Bee Project: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FeralBeeProject/

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