The first thing I would have asked in regards to the statistics is how many queens are we talking about for each batch.  I have found in some cases simply marking queens is not adequate since some groups of bees or some paint colors seems to be removed quicker than others.

Condition in the two years (have not calculated the mean but that seem to be ABOUT the average life span of the queens reported) would have been an important variable.... most certainly if at any time the season was above or below average.

Casually (ie having none of the above variables) the variation reported does not seem all that signiciant.

Gene in Central Texas... and Merry Christmas to all...

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