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Subject:
From:
Murray McGregor <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:48:49 +0000
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In message <[log in to unmask]>, Robert Brenchley 
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>That's how  it's done in the
>UK, where we have no significant queen breeding industry.

LOL..thank you VERY much...... I don't suppose the 2000+ I raise each 
year, a lot of them for sale, as queens or heading new seasons nucleii, 
counts. Of course relative to the USA larger breeders you are correct, 
but against that we are a mere puddleduck of a country in the bee trade 
but we also seem to have a disproportionate amount to say for ourselves.

> We  still have to
>cope with people incessantly importing queens, as people in the US 
>would have to
>cope with neighbours buying in queens.

I don't have a problem with this. There is a tendency, particularly 
among the smaller entities in terms of colonies, to assume, for their 
own reasons, that local = good, and far afield = bad. Over many years 
experience I find this is often wrong. Many good genetics have come from 
outside our shores, and the modified black bee prevalent today in many 
parts is what it is because of outside genetics becoming incorporated 
into the local strains over many many years. (In particular after IOW 
disease) I also do not worry about my neighbours buying in 
unsatisfactory stock, which HAS happened in large amounts, as this does 
not last long in our harsh environment and plethora of diseases and 
pests.

> But you've got to start  somewhere,
>and I never cease to be surprised at the bees' capacity for  maintaining a
>strain without too much outcrossing. I think mating with drones  from the home
>apiary is a lot more important than we sometimes  assume.

If the drones in the area are of similar colouration you probably don't 
notice how much outcrossing goes on, even if the drone(s) involved are 
of a very different type. If someone moves a few really yellow Italians 
into the dark bee area you see some sporadic striping turn up in nearly 
all the young queens in varying amounts. Visually you need a really 
stark marker to show up what really is going on.

I know what you mean about strain stability though, and any fresh import 
reverts to the local mean through the outcrossing to local drones over a 
very few generations. Sadly here that tends to mean a loss of vigour as 
well making it hard to build the real busters of colonies we need for 
the heather, and we can only get round that by selecting only the best 
of our own stock, plus adding a little bit of fresh genetics every few 
years (newest lot are some lovely black bees, gentle and vigorous, from 
the Baltic coast of Poland) and by not mating the virgins (other than 
when requeening a colony by a conventional split/reunite) near the 
apiary of their mother.

Willy nilly use of unsuited genetics does not work and such entities 
usually don't hang around too long, and things get back to normal in a 
relatively short time.


-- 
Murray McGregor

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