Fellow Bee-Heads,
 
I have to make a decision, and wondered if anyone out there can help me with
any advice or opinions.
 
I have been keeping bees for about a year, fulfilling an ambition I have had
since I was 10 or 11.  Finally I stopped playing the vagrant student,
settled down and bought a hive.  It has proven to be every bit as fascinating
and satisfying as I hoped - even a duel with Varroa to spice it up !
 
Anyway...this spring I would like to split my one hive, and start a second,
partly to forestall swarming, partly to satisfy an urge to multiply ;).  I live
in south-central Wisconsin, in the enlightened city of Madison, where I am an
urban guerilla beekeeper operating illegally (no, I don't wear camouflage
overalls and keep my hive in a bunker)..more on that situation another time.
 
My present colony is Dadant's  Midnite hybrid, and I want the second colony
also to be gentle.  My choice of locally bred queens is between an Italian
strain, which I am led to believe is quite docile, and a Carniolan strain.  My
understanding is that perhaps the Carniolan would be more suited to northern
climes, but may produce less honey (not a big deal to me), and be prone to
swarming.  My concern with the Italians is that they could be more irritable,
and perhaps winter less well here.  Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
 
Gotta fly now, I hear sirens....
 
 
 
Alistair