In the previous post, I quoted a queen breeder who advertised:

> The queens we produce from these breeders are open-mated with all of our stock for genetic diversity and hybrid vigor.

Anyone who understands basic genetics will tell you this is a complete misrepresentation of the principles of "genetic diversity and hybrid vigor." You don't just throw a bunch of bees together and, presto, you get "genetic diversity and hybrid vigor." So, strike one against commercial queen breeder claims. 

Cale Jr, G. H., & Gowen, J. W. (1956). Heterosis in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Genetics, 41(2), 292.

Rothenbuhler, W. C. (1958). Genetics and breeding of the honey bee. Annual Review of Entomology, 3(1), 161-180.

Roberts, W. C. (1961). Heterosis in the honey bee as shown by morphological characters in inbred and hybrid bees. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 54(6), 878-882.

Oxley, P. R., & Oldroyd, B. P. (2010). The genetic architecture of honeybee breeding. In Advances in insect physiology (Vol. 39, pp. 83-118). Academic Press.

López-Uribe, M. M., Appler, R. H., Youngsteadt, E., Dunn, R. R., Frank, S. D., & Tarpy, D. R. (2017). Higher immunocompetence is associated with higher genetic diversity in feral honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera). Conservation Genetics, 18(3), 659-666.

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