> The objective of this study was to identify risks factors associated with winter losses in temperate climate honey bee colonies in Argentina. Beekeepers who reported replacing less than 50% of the queens in their apiaries showed higher winter losses than apiaries who replaced more than 50% of their queens. Although we evaluated numerous potential risk factors for winter mortality, queen replacement was the most important driven variable explaining colony losses registered during 2013 in Argentina. Beekeepers who did not frequently replace their queen were 18 times more likely to have high winter losses (more than 10% of the colonies per apiary).

Agostina Giacobino, Ana Molineri, Natalia Bulacio Cagnolo, Julieta Merke, Emanuel Orellano, Ezequiel Bertozzi, Germán Masciangelo, Hernán Pietronave, Adriana Pacini, Cesar Salto & Marcelo Signorini (2016): Queen replacement: the key to prevent winter colony losses in Argentina, Journal of Apicultural Research, DOI: 10.1080/00218839.2016.1238595

[While this is not new, it reinforces the practice of progressive beekeepers to replace queens annually. Queen bees do their best work the first year. While some queens do well subsequent years, the law of diminishing returns applies. The ultimate question boils down to the cost/benefit ration. E.g., is it cheaper to buy a new car to avoid repair costs or drive a beater which is in the shop half the time. PLB]

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