Hi Lloyd

> Allen correctly referred to those with stock tested for tracheal mites
> as "queen producers", and not "queen breeders".

Now here is a difference that I have never before fully appreciated...

It explains the vast difference in cost of US/UK queens.

I believe that queens should be 'up to a standard' rather than 'down to a
price'. Breeding in UK is not on the large scale as in US, but it is true
'breeding & selection' with plenty of qualitative testing going on as well.

The problem that I see with Allen Dick's proposed 'benchmark' system is the
natural racial and between strain variances, apart from variability.

Variability is 'future generations' of stock... Might we be blunting the
edge by striving for a prescribed set of standards?


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman
Beekeeping and Bee Breeding Website
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman