Swintosky, Michael D. wrote:

> Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the mechanism behind re-queening
> isn't so much the genetics (though that could be a factor) as it is the
> break in the brood cycle.  I understand that this allows the bees the
> opportunity to clean up the brood comb prior to more eggs being laid.

      Actually, when I requeen a colony of bees, I hope not to have a break in
the brood cycle. If you requeen with a "laying" queen or a nuc, where is the
break in the cycle?
    I have been battling chalkbrood for years now. I locate my apiaries in good
spots where possible. Full sun, good air and water drainage, and some wind
protection. Yet even in "perfect locations", I find colonies rotten with chalk.
On the other side of the coin, I also find colonies that won't get chalky even
if they are standing in water,when all those around it do. How could this not be
a genetic trait?
    I've tried requeening for chalk. That didn't really work either, that is
until I used hygienic bees last summer. For example - I got a severely chalky
colony ready to requeen. I made a queenless nuc out of the top chamber, and
placed it above the parent on a nuc board. A hygienic queen was installed the
next day. Three weeks later when it was time to kill the old queen, and reunite
the two, The nuc was very weak, and there was a pile of chalkbrood mummies on
the nuc board a half inch deep. The two were not united. One month later, I
checked again. The nuc was thriving. I could not find a chalkbrood mummy
anywhere in the nuc(the parent colony was still rotten with it). Although there
were no mummies, there were many empty cells within the brood (is this
resistance?) where I believe a pupae had been dragged out and disposed of.  I
united the two, and they went into winter in good shape, although I didn't check
the brood again.
    I believe I was told that about 10% of nonselected colonies are hygienic. If
so, a colony could be requeened many times with nonselected hygienic queens, and
no control would occur. Anyone whe doesn't believe that there can be genetic
resistance to a spore forming disease should do a little test like this. Mike