Chuck asks: Does that mean on a for par (equal) basis that your Italians should have two (2)to four (4) frames more bees and brood than your NWCs at the same given time which is your first real inspection? My Italians always come out of winter with bigger clusters. Although rare I also see at times a comparable cluster with other strains. (1) When is that in reference to say the plum or pear tree bloom in your area? A month ahead of fruit bloom. (2) When do the NWCs catch up to the Italians? I always prefered the Italians which can be seen by going back to when I first posted on BEE-L an rereading old posts. As a general rule I can make an extra super of honey by using Italians. The italian bee has always been the bee of choice for the majority of commercial beekeepers. I am not an expert by any means on NWC. Perhaps certain lines do out produce the Italians. The NWC lines and NWC hybrids I have tried have not. I know George I. swears by the NWC *but* they are all he has used for decades. I try many lines. I plan on picking up some queens from a friend in Georgia to evaluate in hives in Missouri this spring. They are the results of almost a decade of his queen rearing selection and crossing with II breeder queens. (3) What are the differences between the two when your main flow starts and what is that particular flow? The following only applies to my area and perhaps your area would produce different results with the two strains of bees. Our main flow is from Clover. Before the main flow NWC will shut down egg laying during blackberry winter. If you figure a week lost egg laying then and the Italians expolding earlier in the season combined with a larger cluster in spring you end up with more foragers at the start of the honey flow with the Italians . With proper preparing for the main honey flow I can get the most out of about any strain but the Italians I use are very prolific and respond to stimuli better than other strains I have used. I have used a carniolan/Italian cross which I am happy with and installed around fifty of those last year out of necessity (only queens I could get at the time) but they can not hold a candle to the Italians I have used for years as far as honey production and being prolific. At times I get and try a few queens from other beekeepers from their queen shipments. Many queen breeders queens vary greatly from queen to queen. One is prolific and one is not. One uses a bunch of propolis and the next does not. One is swarmy and the next is not. One point which I like about the NWC line is that the queens all are similar which means to me that Sue is working hard to constantly improve the stock. I have seen a big movement to NWC over the last decade. Richard Adee is a big fan of the NWC and I understand Ohio Queen breeders supply his breeder queens. Perhaps if I could try a few of *those* queens I would throw rocks at the production Italians I use. I will admit that I am spending a great deal of time trying to find a bee which will tolerate varroa. Hence the Russian project. My honey production has suffered since I have moved away from using mostly Italians from my favorite queen breeder. If the Russians do not work out for me then I expect I will be back using my favorite line of Italians or perhaps Sue will let me get a few of those NWC queens she provides to Richard. To take a quote from my friend George I: " There are many queen producers in the U.S. but only a handful of queen breeders" George I spent a couple hours doing an interview last week with a beekeeper of age 101 which is still running over a hundred hives. Look for the story in an upcoming bee magazine article. USA Today did an article on the old gentleman last month which I expect many on BEE-L read. The focus of the USA Today article was on his age however over his beekeeping. On our return from eating lunch and walk back to the meeting place the old gentleman leaped a mud puddle to show how agile he still was! He has a valid drivers license and drives daily. Sincerely, Bob Harrison :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::