Dee Lusby  wrote:
>So why have so many switched then to importing factory like
>production queens of lessor quality/fit for their given
>

This is an unnecessary slam on queen producers. I have worked in the queen
industry and the methods have changed very little over the past one hundred
years. Beekeepers have more hives and bigger trucks, but queen rearing is
still stock selection, grafting, and mating nucs. 

It can be done well and it can be done poorly. If you buy the cheapest you
won't get the best. But good queens can be gotten for a price. Many
beekeepers find queen rearing to be too time consuming at time of the year
when they are already busy.

I have always tried to obtain stock from people I respect, and I don't think
much of any of the local stock I have seen. You won't get very far by
breeding from your best hives and then getting the queens mated off with the
neighborhood drone gang.

I bought an expensive Carniolan breeder from (name omitted) and raised
beautiful looking queens from her. But the bees that came from them were
nasty; I sure wouldn't have used any of THEM as breeders! I ended up
replacing all the queens with store-bought ones. (True story)

pb

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