Lloyd you are correct that the only way to get true pure NWC queen is to
buy one from Sue Cobey in Ohio. I was there this past May and all of her
queens are II. A tested breeder is $500.00 but she has available select
untested breeder queens that are also II for $200.00. She is a very
fascinating lady with and inquisitive mind.
Sue approaches the bees as a superorganism that is made up of subfamilies
fathered by different drones. My impression while she is interested in SMR
as a VD resistiance factor, she prefers to maintain selective pressure on
the bees as she has in the past, but adding selection for SMR naturally.
She prefers a more wholeistic approach. This was my view of her philosophy.

It didn't hurt that that I learned a whole lot more about queen rearing
than just philosophy at her lab. I learned more in 1 week than I had taught
myself in 4 years.

Frank Wyatt
Eden, NC

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