Ever mindful of the old adage that a closed mouth gathers no feet and admittedly as one who does not have the credentials to even have an opinion, a few points come to mind. I think we are not giving enough thought to the question of nature versus nurture. Not all the desirable traits we hope to find are necessarily selectable. Some dominate genetic traits such as color, temper, hording,  brooding, hygienic behavior, (interesting that even this is recently coming under question) and others have been selected for and maintained by skilled breeders. Long life, fecundity, and general vigor I believe may have more to do with nurture. When I  took Sue Cobey's queen rearing class many years ago she stressed that a queen of ordinary genetic makeup that is well fed and cared for by the cell builders then well mated will outperform one of superior genetics that is poorly nourished and cared for. I have had conversations with really smart people that have been doing this for a really long time and they all agree that it ain't easy. Selecting for one trait is usually doable, selecting for multiple traits quickly becomes murderously difficult.

Dick's method of requeening your under performers with queens from your best colonies is I believe the surest way to improve your overall stock. As he points out you will not necessarily improve your best but will bring up the lagers. Add to that paying great attention to providing the best cell building conditions that you can will also make a big difference. Super populous cell building colonies over stocked with real pollen and honey will make much better queens than stressed colonies. I like them to pull out long cells with more royal jelly then the larva can eat before she pupates. Moved to a well stocked mating nuc and add good weather and ample drones and you have a recipe for some nice queens. 

Charlie's question of where to begin. In this day and age I believe the best place is with a PHD in genetics. The next is a $100 million 10 year grant to set up a lab of experts. We have tools now that the pioneer breeders could not dream of. Instrumental insemination, we have mapped the honey bee genome, there are gene manipulating technologies that I have only vague understanding of, and we can save promising genetics through drone sperm cryopreservation indefinitely so that they don't get away. 

Significant and enduring genetic improvement is beyond the scope of most of us, especially me. There are exceptions on this list and to them I say god's speed. The rest of us can stick to our knitting and pay close attention to all the little details of good husbandry and raise some good queens. The one thing that I doubt we will be able to select against is PPB.

Paul Hosticka
Dayton WA

   

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