Hi Jose
Thanks for writing. I think the following examples help to illustrate the problem. One can put a lot of time and money into stock improvement and end up empty handed

Australia, 2002:

> 32 colonies derived from various commercial lines kindly supplied by Mr. Linton Briggs were tested for expression of hygienic behaviour using the liquid nitrogen field assay. Of these colonies, 4 (12.5%) exhibited distinct hygienic behaviour, 13 (41%) were distinctly non-hygienic and the remaining 15 (46.5%) intermediate between the two. It is very surprising that there has been no improvement in the frequency of the hygienic trait since 1995, as industry has made considerable efforts to distribute hygienic stock (Wilkes & Oldroyd, 2002).

Almost ten years later:

> Few bee breeding programmes have been successful in the long term, constrained by limited progress in trait improvement, the detrimental effects of inbreeding and poor returns on investment. (Oxley & Oldroyd, 2010).

Peter Loring Borst

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