Hello R & All,
Beekeepers buy queens for many reasons. New lines(Russian,Yugo or hygenic
lines). Beekeepers in the Midwest(U.S.A.) buy queens most of the time
because they need queens at a time they can't raise their own queens because
of lack of mature drones for the queens to mate with.   In your part of the
world and in your climate maybe you can raise queens year around.  In the
Midwest (U.S.A.)we can only start to raise queens when the bees have started
to raise drones.  In other words for early queens you are forced to buy
queens or overwinter fall queens. My first queens are coming the last of
March. Impossible for me to produce my own queens at that time. The first
date I can get my own queens mated and ready to go is at best a full month
later. Many beekeepers do raise their own by the methods described and split
then but for two queen and reckons you really need early queens.  However
that's only my opinion and the way I keep bees but for me my system works
best.

  For those new beekeepers I will try to answer the below questions.
Robert wrote:
  Why should we think the bees are less skillful than we are in choosing the
best egg to make a new queen?

Most commercial queen breeders choose exactly the right age larva to graft.
Bees will (at times) use a larvae of older age which will (at times) make a
less than perfect queen but of course not always.

Indeed,  how much choice is involved in 'grafting'?

Most queen grafters choose the right age eggs but in my opinion the new
queen systems(Jenter) can make the procedure even more exact.

 Is there any theoretical reason  to think we can do as well as the bees?

I believe researchers have shown queen breeders can do as well. I like you
have raised many excellent queens myself but also a few less than desirable
ones. Plus many  queen breeders try to control the drones their queens mate
with by using remote yards. Not a fool proof system but better than using
all the drones in the apiary and risk a mating with a drone from your worst
hive.

 Is a queen freighted from a remote  region likely to be as good as one bred
in the local habitat?

You have a good point here and shipping problems do occur.  With early
queens one doesn't have a choice.  I get mine in a battery box(not car
battery). They all come without attendents in a box of at least 50 with
about 2-3 pounds of bees to cover.  I also drive and pick up at the
postoffice. My queen breeder is dependable and I know when they are comming
and they arrive when they are suppose to or she calls to tell me.

   For a decade I had good success with this method:

I always stick with whatever works best.  If I lived in your part of the
world I probabbly would do like you also.  There are many many ways to get
the bees to raise their own queens but none I have found to raise early
queens without drones.  I did a post early last year to see if any of the
worlds beekeepers had a way to force the bees to raise early drones.  None
did. The post got many replies but ended up without a solution other than
raising queens the year before and overwintering.  I see nothing wrong with
either method put forth by you or Kim but buying queens does have its merits
if you live in a northern climate and want early queens.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison
Odessa,Missouri